Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: September 15, 2023

CASE NO(S).: OLT-22-002343 (Formerly PL140860)

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 17(36) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Appellant: 10 QEW Inc.

Appellant: 100 Metropolitan Portfolio Inc.

Appellant: 1095909 Ontario Limited (Wynn Group of Companies)

Appellant: 1107051 Ontario Ltd.; and others

Subject: Proposed Official Plan Amendment No. 231

Municipality: City of Toronto

OLT Case No.: OLT-22-002343

Legacy Case No.: PL140860

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-22-002343

Legacy Lead Case No.: PL140860

OLT Case Name: A. Mantella & Sons Limited v. Toronto (City)

Heard: In writing

APPEARANCES:

Parties

City of Toronto

Counsel

A. Biggart C. Kapelos

Parties

Samuel Sarick Limited

Counsel

K. Sliwa K. Pirak

DECISION DELIVERED BY C. HARDY AND S. BRAUN AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND

1On December 16-18, 2013, By-law No. 1714-2013 was adopted by City of Toronto (“City”) Council, the purpose and effect of which was to adopt Official Plan Amendment 231 (“OPA 231”) to the City’s Official Plan (“OP”) regarding policies for economic health and the policies, designations, and mapping for Employment Areas. On July 9, 2014, OPA 231 was approved, with limited exceptions, by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (“MMAH”). Thereafter, a total of 178 appeals were filed, including appeals of the whole of OPA 231, and other appeals made on site-specific bases.

2In previous decisions, various panels of this Tribunal (and its predecessors) have provided extensive background on the history of the OPA 231 appeals, including detail with respect to how the 178 appeals were case-managed, and grouped into specific phases.

3One of the aforementioned appeals, appeal No. 155, was commenced by Samuel Sarick Limited (“Appellant”), with respect to the lands at 75 Barber Greene Road, 95 Barber Greene Road, 1911 and 1921 Eglinton Avenue East, 475-505 Ellesmere Road, 2 and 12 Principal Road, 445 Midwest Road and 1860 Midland Avenue. At a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) held on June 8, 2023, the Tribunal was advised that the City and the Appellant had reached an agreement to settle the appeal, and at a further CMC held on August 17, 2023, the Tribunal was advised that the settlement had been endorsed by City Council. The Tribunal directed that the City submit a written motion to settle the appeal.

4For clarity, the motion brought forward by the City sought the approval of the Tribunal for a settlement pertaining to the Appellant’s lands located at 1911 and 1921 Eglinton Avenue East (“the Lands”) only. If approved, appeal 155 will remain alive as it pertains to the balance of the Appellant’s lands, namely 75 Barber Greene Road, 95 Barber Greene Road, 475-505 Ellesmere Road, 2 and 12 Principal Road, 445 Midwest Road and 1860 Midland Avenue.

5In accordance with the Tribunal’s direction, the City submitted motion materials on September 1, 2023 including an Affidavit in support of the proposed settlement affirmed on September 1, 2023 by Registered Professional Planner Pauline Beaupre. Ms. Beaupre is currently a Senior Planner within the Strategic Initiatives, Policy & Analysis section of the City Planning Division. Ms. Beaupre, who has been qualified previously by this Tribunal to provide land use planning opinion evidence, provided a curriculum vitae and an executed Acknowledgement of Experts’ Duty, and based on a review of the foregoing, she was similarly qualified for the purposes of the present motion.

6The City, with the consent of the Appellant, sought an Order of the Tribunal modifying and approving OPA 231 as it relates to the Lands, to redesignate the Lands from General Employment Areas to Regeneration Areas and add a new site and area specific policy to guide development on the Lands, as set out in Exhibit “E” of the Affidavit of Ms. Beaupre. If approved, the settlement would result in the resolution of Appeal No. 155 in its entirety as it applies to the Lands.

SITE CONTEXT

7The Lands are approximately 3.9 hectares in size and located between two currently under construction Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (“ECLRT”) stations, in particular, Golden Mile station to the east and Hakimi Lebovic station to the west. These stations are situated on the south side of Eglinton Avenue East between Lebovic Avenue and Warden Avenue. The Lands are part of the larger contiguous Employment Area, with areas to the east, west and south being designated as General Employment Areas and currently accommodating retail and automotive services. To the north, the lands are designated Mixed Use Areas, which permits residential development and are currently accommodating retail uses. The Lands are located within the Golden Mile Secondary Plan area (“OPA 499”) which sets out a planning framework for the broader area. Schedule 2 of OPA 499 also modified an existing site and area specific policy (“SASP 129”) to remove all lands also subject to OPA 499, including the Lands, the result of which avoids inconsistent policies applying to the Lands.

8At present, the Lands are developed with two low-rise non-residential buildings. One building is occupied by commercial tenants and, until recently, a Provincial Ontario Court of Justice. The other building is occupied with service commercial and retail tenants.

9The General Employment Areas are places for business and economic activities generally located on the periphery of Employment Areas on major roads where retail, service and restaurant uses can serve workers in the Employment Area and would also benefit from visibility and transit access to draw the broader public. Permitted uses include all uses in the Core Employment Area as well as retail, service and restaurant uses.

SETTLEMENT

10Broadly, the proposed settlement (contained within Exhibit “E” to the Affidavit of Ms. Beaupre) would modify Map 2, Urban Structure, by deleting Employment Areas on the Lands and would also modify Map 20, Land Use Plan, by redesignating the Lands from General Employment Areas to Regeneration Areas. The proposal also contemplates the addition of a new site and area specific policy No. 777 (“SASP 777”) intended to guide development of the Lands. SASP 777 includes policies aimed at ensuring no residential or overnight accommodation uses would be permitted prior to the completion of the Regeneration Areas Studies; the completion of various studies and reports; and the provision of a minimum amount of affordable housing.

11For clarity, the proposed settlement before the Tribunal will not remove the Lands from SASP 129. The removal of the Lands from SASP 129 will be addressed through OPA 499, which is currently before the Tribunal under a separate appeal proceeding.

12Ms. Beaupre affirmed that the approval of the proposed settlement is representative of good planning as it will:

a) Enable, through a planning study, the preparation of a development framework to allow for balanced growth of both residential and employment uses in an area where residential uses were not previously contemplated;

b) Establish a priority for the extension of the east-west street connecting Pharmacy Avenue to Birchmount, which would contribute to transportation improvement while serving as a new boundary to the Employment Areas to the south;

c) Not negatively impact the overall viability of the Employment Areas and inform where sensitive uses, such as residential, would be permitted in relation to the existing Employment Areas while the compatibility/mitigation study would inform how to ensure compatibility with existing employment uses;

d) Ensure economic function of the Lands is maintained through the requirement of 10% of employment GFA and 10% of employment and/or other non-residential GFA at full build-out;

e) Approve SASP 777 which will give direction to the redevelopment of the Lands to ensure it is appropriately designed as well as ensure that broader community-wide impacts are considered through the planning process; and

f) Ensure a consistent comprehensive planning approach to the Lands in relation to the surrounding area.

13In light of the foregoing, Ms. Beaupre affirmed that the proposed settlement has regard for matters of provincial interest in s. 2 of the Planning Act and is consistent with Provincial Policy Statement 2020, conforms to the Growth Plan 2006 and is consistent with the general intent and purpose of the City’s OP.

14Based on the uncontested Affidavit evidence of Ms. Beaupre, the Tribunal approves the proposed modifications to OPA 231, having been satisfied that they meet all requisite legislative tests and are representative of good planning.

ORDER

15THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS that:

a) The appeal by Samuel Sarick Limited is allowed in part, and Official Plan Amendment 231 to the Official Plan for the City of Toronto is modified and approved as set out in Attachment 1 and such modifications are hereby in full force and effect as they apply to the Lands at 1911 and 1921 Eglinton Avenue East;

b) This Order and the approval of the above-mentioned portions of OPA 231 is without prejudice to the disposition of the unapproved portions of OPA 231, including but not limited to positions taken by the Parties to any remaining site or area specific appeals. Thus, the Tribunal may render future Orders respecting such unapproved portions of OPA 231 which are inconsistent with one or more aspects of this Order, including without limitation approving site-specific modifications that deviate from, or are inconsistent with this Order or such policies, non-policy text, that are approved hereby on a City-wide basis (or as approved in respect of other lands which are subject to the same policies, schedules and associated text). However, this does not affect the City’s right to assert that the approved policies and non-policy text should be applied to the specific sites or areas without modification on the basis that they constitute good planning;

c) Notwithstanding anything ordered above, the Tribunal hereby retains jurisdiction to consider and approve modifications to any policies, non-policy text, definitions, mapping approved herein as may be appropriate to dispose of any of the outstanding appeals before the Tribunal, in accordance with s. 9 of the Ontario Land Tribunal Act, 2021, S.O. 2021, c.21, Sched.6; and

d) The Panel may be spoken to should issues arise with respect to the implementation of this Order.

“C. Hardy”

c. hardy

MEMBER

“S. Braun”

s. braun

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.

ATTACHMENT “1”