Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE:
May 05, 2023
CASE NO(S).:
OLT-23-000059
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant:
FCTH Holdings (Ontario) Corporation
Subject:
Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description:
To permit a 39-storey tower rising from a five-storey pedestrian scaled podium with retail uses
Reference Number:
20 229112 NNY 18 OZ
Property Address:
5051-5061 Yonge Street
Municipality/UT:
Toronto/Toronto
OLT Case No.:
OLT-23-000059
OLT Lead Case No.:
OLT-23-000059
OLT Case Name:
FCTH Holdings (Ontario) Corporation v. Toronto (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant:
FCTH Holdings (Ontario) Corporation
Subject:
Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Description:
To permit a 39-storey tower rising from a five-storey pedestrian scaled podium with retail uses
Reference Number:
20 229112 NNY 18 OZ
Property Address:
5051-5061 Yonge Street
Municipality/UT:
Toronto/Toronto
OLT Case No.:
OLT-23-000060
OLT Lead Case No.:
OLT-23-000059
Heard:
April 14, 2023, by Video hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
FCTH Holdings (Ontario) Corporation
City of Toronto
5925 Yonge Street Inc. and Carmela Battista
R. Gill, D. Bronskill (in absentia)
M. LaFortune, J. Braun (in absentia)
J. Streisfield
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY GREGORY J. INGRAM AND P. TOMILIN ON APRIL 14, 2023 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1The Tribunal convened the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) on an appeal filed by FCTH Holdings (Ontario) Corporation (“Applicants/Appellants”) against the City of Toronto (“City”) regarding Council’s non-decision of an application for an Official Plan Amendment (“OPA”) and rezoning applications for the properties at 5051-5061 Yonge Street, Toronto.
2The applications, as revised, would permit intensification of the Property with a 39-storey tower rising from a five-storey pedestrian scaled podium with retail uses at-grade, along Yonge Street and on part of the second floor to animate the street frontage. Space for a potential 465 square metres (“m2”) community facility, as requested by City staff, is located adjacent to the retail uses on the second floor with an entrance on Yonge Street. Further, a 308 m2 privately owned publicly accessible open space ("POPS") is proposed to be located along Yonge Street. It is proposed to house 365 dwelling units with a mix of unit sizes. There will be 26,954 m2 of residential gross floor area ("GFA") in addition to 2,029 m2 of non-residential GFA. The Property is located on the east side of Yonge Street south of Hillcrest Avenue with approximately 59 metres (“m”) of frontage along Yonge Street and 46 m of frontage along Hillcrest Avenue, for a total site area of approximately 2,855 m2. The existing building on the Property includes one and two-storey retail uses. The Property is identified as part of North York Centre on Map 2 (Urban Structure) of the Official Plan, and as Mixed-Use Areas on Map 16 (Land Use). The Property is also subject to the North York Centre Secondary Plan (the "NYCSP"), which designates the Property as both Mixed-Use Area A and Mixed-Use Area C and within the area identified to contain the highest densities in the NYCSP. Transit is accessible within 170 m from the North York Centre subway station.
3As originally submitted, the Application proposed the intensification of the Property with a 42-storey tower rising from a 6-storey podium containing a mix of uses and retail at grade. Following further discussions with staff and a community consultation meeting held in May 2021, FCTH Holdings (Ontario) Corporation, filed a resubmission of the Applications on October 20, 2022.
4The purpose of this CMC is to determine if there are additional persons or organizations who seek Party or Participant status, background, and current status of the proposal, investigate opportunities for mediation or settlement and set deadlines in preparation and expectations for the next hearing.
5The Affidavit of Service of Mina Siskopoulos sworn March 9, 2023 affirming compliance with respect to the Directions as to service of the Notice of this CMC is marked as Exhibit 1 to the CMC.
STATUS REQUEST
6One request for Party status was received by the Tribunal. Jeffrey Streisfield indicated that his client owns properties in close proximity to the subject property and is concerned with the potential impact on the neighbouring properties of the OPA and re-zoning applications. A significant concern for this applicant was the need for a ‘block’ plan for the area prior to or as part of this application. Counsel for the other Parties did not object to this applicant receiving Party Status but did indicate that discussing the need for a ‘block’ plan was not appropriate at a CMC.
7The Tribunal was satisfied that 5925 Yonge Street Inc. and Carmela Battista raised genuine land use planning issues regarding this matter and with no opposition from the other Parties granted the requested Party status.
8Six requests for Participant status were received by the Tribunal. Each application was considered by the Tribunal, and all were supported by the Parties. The Tribunal was satisfied that each applicant demonstrated interest in this matter and given no objection from the Parties granted Participant status to the following:
YCCA (Yonge Corridor Condominium Association), Sally Gustin (representative)
Gautam Chaudhuri
Shashi Joglekar
Murad Jiwani
Dusan Toth
Ayvun Jeganathan
STATUS OF APPLICATION
9The Tribunal received an update from the Parties as to the background and status of the application. Counsel for the Applicant indicated that the City received the application in January 2021 and there has been no action by the City to move the proposal forward despite alterations made to the initial proposal by his client. He expressed frustration with the delays and asked that the Tribunal move forward with the process as quickly as possible.
10Counsel for the City indicated that direction from City Council has not been received yet and felt that they would be in a better position to create a draft Procedural Order (“PO”) and Issues List (“IL”) following the June City Council meeting.
11Counsel for the third Party, 5925 Yonge Street Inc. and Carmela Battista, recognized that the City was not in a position at this time to create a PO with an IL and asked that once they are in a position to do so, that he has some additional time to review it.
MEDIATION
12The Parties were advised that mediation services are available from the Tribunal. Counsel for the Applicant indicated that it was premature to engage in mediation but that his client would be open to considering it later in the process and in particular, once the IL is formalized.
PLANNING FOR HEARING
13The Tribunal engaged the Parties in a discussion to set dates for completion of a Draft PO and IL and a second CMC.
14The purpose of the second CMC will be to review the Draft PO and IL, plan a Merit Hearing and set dates.
15The Tribunal directed, with consent from the Parties, the following in preparation for the second CMC:
a. A Draft PO and IL, jointly prepared by the Parties, is to be provided to the Tribunal on or before Friday, June 29, 2023.
b. A second CMC will be held on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, commencing at 10 a.m. by video.
16Parties and Participants are asked to log into the video CMC at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/519389173
Access code: 519-389-173
17Parties 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
18Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoToMeeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the event by calling into an audio-only telephone line: Toll-Free 1-888-299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373. The Access Code is as indicated above.
19Individuals are directed to connect to the event on the assigned date at the correct time. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the CMC by video to ensure that they are properly connected to the event at the correct time. Questions prior to the hearing event may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator having carriage of this case.
ORDER
20The Tribunal orders that:
5925 Yonge Street Inc. and Carmela Battista are granted Party status.
The following are Participants in this proceeding:
YCCA (Yonge Corridor Condominium Association);
Gautam Chaudhuri;
Shashi Joglekar;
Murad Jiwani;
Ayvun Jeganathan; and
Dusan Toth.
A further Case Management Conference will be held by video hearing at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 4, 2023.
The Parties are directed to submit a draft Procedural Order and Issues List for the Tribunal’s review on or before Friday, June 29, 2023.
21There will be no further notice.
22This Panel is not seized.
“Gregory J. Ingram”
GREGORY J. INGRAM
MEMBER
“P. Tomilin”
P. Tomilin
MEMBER
Ontario Land Tribunal
Website: 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.