Artis Yonge Street Ltd. v. Toronto (City), 2022 CanLII 75910

ISSUE DATE: August 15, 2022

CASE NO(S).: OLT 22-002502 (Formerly) PL190357

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: 415 Yonge Holding Ltd. (originally by Artis Yonge Street Ltd.)

Subject: Application amend Zoning By-law No. 438-86 - Refusal of Application by the City of Toronto

Existing Zoning: CR T7.8 C2.0 and R7.8 under By-law No. 438-86; and CR 7.8 (c2.0; r7.8) SS1 (x1934) under By-law No. 569-2013

Proposed Zoning: Site Specific (To be determined)

Purpose: To permit a 42-storey addition (450 residential dwelling units) on top of the existing 19-storey building

Property Address/Description: 409-415 Yonge Street & 9-17 McGill Street

Municipality: City of Toronto

Municipality File No.: 17 278848 STE 27 OZ

OLT Case No.: OLT 22-002502

Legacy Case No.: PL190357

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT 22-002502

Legacy Lead Case No.: PL190357

OLT Case Name: Artis Yonge Street Ltd. v. Toronto (City)

Heard: June 28, 2022, by video hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Counsel/Representative*

415 Yonge Holding Ltd.

Calvin Lantz

City of Toronto

Mark Piel and Daniel Elmadany

399Y Corporation

Adam Brown and Jennifer Smuskowitz

Jencel 407 Yonge Street Inc

Christopher Tanzola and Natalie Ast

Covenant House

Fern Opatowski

McGill Granby Village Residents

Rick Kubowicz*

MTCC 565 (The Lexington)

Paul Normandeau*

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY SHARYN VINCENT ON JUNE 28, 2022 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

1The Tribunal convened the fifth Case Management Conference (“CMC”) having been advised in December, differently constituted, that the matter was moving towards settlement. Counsel for 415 Yonge Holding Ltd. (“415”) now requests that the Tribunal set the matter down for hearing, given that 415 has to date received no comments from the recirculation of the revised proposal in late December 2021. The resubmission followed mediation.

2Since that time, a proposal to redevelop the southerly portion of the block, comprised of lands known municipally as 333-405 Yonge Street, seeking amendments to both the Official Plan and Zoning By-law, has been filed with the City of Toronto (“City”), following the pre-consultation meeting with staff. The proponent 399Y Corporation (“399Y”), at that time was requested to prepare and submit a block plan study incorporating all lands fronting on both sides of Yonge Street to the west, Church Street to the east, Carleton Street to the north and Gerrard Street to the south and thereby incorporating the 415 proposal.

3339Y has complied with the request of the City and submitted a block plan study on June 8, 2022, and has requested party status in the appeal by 415. There was consent from all Parties including the City, which prior, to the commencement of the CMC had advised the Tribunal and the other parties, that in light of opportunity and merit of examining the larger area, the City was not in a position to finalize an Issues List and would not be in a position to seek direction on same until December.

4339Y was granted Party status following Counsel’s undertaking that their involvement would not result in any delay in the remedies being sought by 415.

5That stated, the Tribunal queried the status of the related Official Plan Amendment referenced at the last CMC but not yet before the Tribunal. Counsel for 415 and the City had acknowledged the requirement for an official plan amendment to give effect to the resubmission made in response to mediation. While it had been the expectation of 415 that the amendment would be approved by the City, and therefore not invoke a s. 22(7) appeal, it has become apparent to Counsel for 415 that an appeal will now be necessary in order to consolidate the necessary amendment with the appeal of the Zoning By-law, particularly as the Appellant has not yet received any comments arising from the recirculation.

6Counsel for 415 advised that his client continues committed to pursuing mediation to address the ongoing concerns of the City, and understands the four principal remaining issues to revolve around shared access via the rear laneway, i.e., 407 Yonge Street, which is not part of either assembly, is dependent upon; urban design concerns’ building height; and potential shadow impacts. Counsel for 415 urged the Tribunal to establish hearing dates, given the City’s preoccupation with matters subject to summer deadlines.

ORDER

7In light of the City’s agreement that mediation remained a constructive prospect, the Tribunal established the following time frame to consider the Merits of the 415 Appeal:

a. The Parties are to prepare and submit a draft Issues List and Procedural Order before the end of September, which will be considered at a second CMC, on Friday, September 30, 2022, commencing at 10 a.m., at which time the Tribunal anticipates a request to consolidate the appeal of the related Official Plan Amendment. This CMC will be conducted by video hearing with the following link:

GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/660145013

Audio-only telephone line: Toll-Free 1-888-299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373

Access Code: 660-145-013

b. A further CMC is scheduled for Tuesday, December 20, 2022, in order to accommodate the timeframe of the City to get direction from Council on the 415 Appeals, and to scope and finalize the draft Issues List and Procedural Order. The Tribunal anticipates that the combination of mediation and the block study exercise, will have crystalized what, if any matters remain to be adjudicated. This CMC will be conducted by video hearing with the following link:

GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/979388733

Audio-only telephone line: Toll-Free 1-888-299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373

Access Code: 979-388-733

c. Subject to confirmation on the duration at the December 20, 2022 hearing event, a ten (10)-day hearing is scheduled commencing at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 8, 2023 to hear the merits of the 415 Appeals with the following link:

GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/519389173

Audio-only telephone line: Toll-Free 1-888-299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373

Access Code: 519-389-173

8Parties and participants are asked to log into the video hearing(s) at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections.

9Parties and participants are asked to access and set up the application well in advance of the event to avoid unnecessary delay. The desktop application can be downloaded at GoToMeeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html.

10Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoToMeeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the event(s) by calling into an audio-only telephone line.

11Individuals are directed to connect to the event(s) on the assigned date at the correct time. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the video hearing(s) to ensure that they are properly connected to the event(s) at the correct time. Questions prior to the hearing event(s) may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator having carriage of this case.

12This is the Order of the Tribunal.

“Sharyn Vincent”

SHARYN VINCENT

VICE-CHAIR

Ontario Land Tribunal

Website: www.olt.gov.on.ca Telephone: 416-212-6349 Toll Free: 1-866-448-2248

The Conservation Review Board, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Mining and Lands Tribunal are amalgamated and continued as the Ontario Land Tribunal (“Tribunal”). Any reference to the preceding tribunals or the former Ontario Municipal Board is deemed to be a reference to the Tribunal.