Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement

du territoire

ISSUE DATE:

November 22, 2024

CASE NO(S).:

OLT-22-004571

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant:

1136974 Ontario Inc. (“Dunpar Homes”)

Subject:

Request to amend the Official Plan - Failure to adopt the requested amendment

Purpose:

To create a master plan consisting of new site and area specific policies and urban design guidelines

Property Address/Description:

4195-4221 Dundas Street West and 556-564 Prince Edward Drive

Municipality:

City of Toronto

Approval Authority File No.:

22 149111 WET 03 OZ

OLT Case No.:

OLT-22-004571

OLT Lead Case No.:

OLT-22-004571

OLT Case Name:

1136974 Ontario Inc. (“Dunpar Homes”) 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:

1136974 Ontario Inc. (“Dunpar Homes”)

Subject:

Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal

or neglect to make a decision

Purpose:

To permit 699 apartment and townhouse units containing retail and a relocated EMS Station

Property Address/Description:

4195 Dundas Street W

Municipality:

City of Toronto

Approval Authority File No.:

16 129328 WET 05 OZ

OLT Case No.:

OLT-22-003838

OLT Lead Case No.:

OLT-22-004571

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 9(1) of the Ontario Land Tribunal Act, 2021, S.O. 2021, c. 4, Sched. 6

Request by:

1136974 Ontario Inc. (“Dunpar Homes”)

Request for:

Request for Directions

Heard:

October 28, 2024, in writing

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Counsel

1136974 Ontario Inc. (“Applicant/Appellant”)

Luke Johnston

Michael Nemanic

Giouzelin Mutlu

City of Toronto (“City”)

Uttra Gautam

Mark Crawford

Dundas Developments Ltd.

(added Party)

Jonathan Nehmetallah

Jamie Cole

DECISION DELIVERED BY T.F. NG AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

Link to Order

INTRODUCTION

1The matter before the Tribunal was a hearing by Motion to consider a settlement proposal (“Proposal”) of the Appellant’s appeals of an Official Plan Amendment (“OPA”), and a Zoning By-law Amendment (“ZBA”) of the former City of Etobicoke Zoning By-law No. 717-2006 (“ZBL”) (referred to as the “Applications”).

2The purpose of the Applications was to facilitate the development of a master plan consisting of a new site area, specific policies and urban design guidelines with 699 apartment, townhouse and retail units on lands municipally known as 4195-4221 Dundas Street West and 556-564 Prince Edward Drive (“Subject Lands”) in the City of Toronto (“City”).

3Debra Walker, a Registered Professional Planner, swore an affidavit on October 15, 2024, on behalf of the Appellant in support of the Motion for the Settlement on consent. The Motion Record was marked as Exhibit 1.

4The Motion requested the following:

1. An Order of the Tribunal approving in principle the proposed development of the lands municipally known as 4195-4221 Dundas Street West and 556-564 Prince Edward Drive (the “Subject Lands”) in accordance with the architectural plans and drawings dated August 22, 2024, at Exhibit Q, Appendix B, subject to the satisfaction of the Conditions of Approval at page 14, paragraph 8.2, of the Affidavit of Ms. Walker;

2. An Order of the Tribunal that Counsel for 1136974 Ontario Inc. will advise the Tribunal within 120 days of this Order, on the status of the Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment if these instruments are not finalized; and

3. Such further and other relief as counsel may request and as the Honorable Tribunal may permit.

5The Tribunal, having reviewed the Proposal by consent of Parties, the documents and the unchallenged affidavit of Ms. Walker, allows the appeals for the reasons set out below.

PLANNING EVIDENCE

6Ms. Walker in her Affidavit, described the background to the OPA, ZBA, and the Settlement proposal to the Tribunal. She reviewed the legislative and policy framework in support of the proposed applications and revisions leading to the Proposal.

7The relevant policy framework includes the Provincial Planning Statement 2024 (“PPS”), and the City’s Official Plan (“OP”). She opined that the Proposal, the OPA and ZBA represent good land use planning and recommended approval of the OPA and ZBA in principle subject to conditions.

AREA CONTEXT

8The Subject Lands are located on the southwest corner of the intersection of Dundas Street West and Prince Edward Drive in a mixed-use area. This area along Dundas Street West is currently evolving and transforming to provide more intensification and transit-oriented development through a variety of housing formats and commercial space.

9The Applicant has revised its proposal to reduce the area proposed to be redesignated and rezoned in addition to reducing the overall height and density of the development proposed. The lands proposed for redevelopment no longer include the properties of 4219 and 4221 Dundas Street West and a western portion of 4195 Dundas Street West.

10The Subject Lands are approximately 1.17 hectares (2.89 acres) in area and have approximately 135.7 metres (“m”) (445 feet (“ft”)) of frontage on Dundas Street West and approximately 102.6 m (336 ft) of frontage along Prince Edward Drive.

11The Subject Lands are currently occupied by a three-storey office/commercial building situated at the intersection of Dundas Street West and Prince Edward Drive, a large surface parking area to the west and southwest of the building, and five low-rise single detached dwellings fronting onto Prince Edward Drive.

12Surrounding land uses include a mixture of commercial, retail, residential and institutional uses (existing and planned).

13NORTH: Immediately north of the Subject Lands is Dundas Street West which is identified as a Major Street with a planned right-of-way width of 27 m in the OP. On the opposite (north) side of Dundas Street, there is a mix of mid-rise to tall apartment buildings and older three-storey walk-up apartment buildings with retail at-grade.

14EAST: Immediately east of the Subject Lands is Prince Edward Drive, a Local Street in the OP, which is also identified as a Collector Road by the City of Toronto Road Classification of Streets List. On the opposite (east) side of Prince Edward Drive where it intersects with Dundas Street West, there is an eight-storey residential building at the southeast corner.

15WEST: Immediately west of the Subject Lands, on the south side of Dundas Street West, is the two-storey Toronto Paramedic EMS Station fronting onto Dundas Street West and the remaining portion of the Original Subject Lands. Further west are a one-storey retail building and a three-storey “main-street” type building containing at-grade retail uses which are well setback from Dundas Street West.

16SOUTH: Immediately south of the Subject Lands are one to three-storey single detached dwellings fronting onto Prince Edward Drive and Government Road. The properties fronting onto Government Road include deep rear yards. Further to the south of Government Road is a low-rise residential neighbourhood.

17From a context perspective, the Subject Lands are well serviced by: a growing amount of retail and commercial uses along Dundas Street West; bus routes along Dundas Street West and Royal York Road, which provide connections to Kipling TTC Subway Station, Dundas West TTC Subway Station, and Royal York TTC Subway Station, and allow for access to other higher order transit stations and broader connectivity within the City. There are three parks in the area namely Lambton-Kingsway Junior Middle School and Park, approximately 140 m to 300 m to the southwest, Home Smith Park, approximately 300 m to the east, and Lambton Park and Humber River Recreational Trail, approximately 500 m to the east.

18In addition to the existing context, the planned context of the surrounding neighbourhood is presently evolving and transforming.

19This portion of Dundas Street West is a designated Avenue, within a Mixed Use Area, where mid-rise buildings are generally directed including some buildings (greater than 11 storeys) where they can be suitably accommodated without impacting adjacent Neighbourhood Areas.

20The Subject Lands are located along a Major Street and an Avenue in the OP where intensification and re-urbanization is anticipated and encouraged to create new housing and job opportunities, while improving the streetscape. The depth and size of the consolidated lands allows for a mid-rise building height to be suitable at this site. The Revised Proposal strikes an appropriate balance between optimizing intensification opportunities and providing an appropriate transition to the Neighbourhood Area it backs onto.

THE REVISED PROPOSAL

21To address the City’s comments regarding the July 2024 Architectural Plans, the Appellant filed further revised architectural plans and drawings dated August 22, 2024 (the “August 2024 Architectural Plans”), which are attached as Exhibit “P” in the Affidavit.

22On August 22, 2024, the Appellant sent the City a settlement offer based on the August 2024 Architectural Plans which the City Council approved on September 5, 2024.

23The City Solicitor was instructed to request the Tribunal to withhold its Order on the Zoning By-law Amendment until such time as the Tribunal has been advised by the City Solicitor that certain conditions had been cleared.

24Given the height, density and scale have been reduced in the Revised Proposal, the Proposed OPA was also largely scaled back. The Proposed OPA now simply redesignates a portion of the Subject Lands that is the residential properties along Prince Edward Street, from Neighbourhood to Mixed Use Area.

25The Appellant has been able to secure additional adjacent lands along Prince Edward Street to ‘square off’ the panhandled shape of the existing property, allowing for greater development potential at this key location and improves access, reducing turn movements off Dundas Street West.

26As a result of this land consolidation, the Proposed OPA expands the boundary of the Mixed Use Areas designation to include the four residential lots fronting Prince Edward Street that are currently in the Neighbourhood designation.

27The current Mixed Use Area designation follows the original property fabric and does not follow a consistent depth from Dundas Street West. The proposed redesignation will provide for a more consistent depth of the Mixed Use Area designation in this stretch of Dundas Street West than what currently exists.

28The planning rationale for the Proposed OPA continues to remain valid and relevant even though the details of the Proposed Amendment have changed:

a. The proposed Amendments would effectively ‘square off’ the Mixed Use Area designation and allow for a comprehensive redevelopment of this underutilized site with a high-density mixed-use complex including a mixed-use apartment building with retail uses at-grade and residential uses above, a townhouse block and a public usable park space closer to the Neighbourhood Area at the rear of the site.

29The Proposed ZBA is required to add the Dundas Street West Properties to By-law No. 569-2013 and rezone the Subject Lands to Commercial Residential with Exceptions (CR-XXX) Zone. The proposed mixed-use building and townhouses are permitted uses within the CR zone. The amendment will permit site specific regulations for the entire site.

30The planning rationale for the Proposed ZBA as it relates to height, density, angular plane and setbacks remains valid for the Revised Proposal.

ANALYSIS/FINDINGS

31The Tribunal finds that the Proposal has proper regard for the matters of Provincial interest as set out in section 2 of the Planning Act (the “Act”). In particular, sections: 2(h) on the orderly development of communities, 2(p) on the appropriate location of growth and development, 2(q) on the promotion of development that supports public transit and is oriented to pedestrians, and 2(r) on the promotion of built form that is well-designed, encourages a sense of place and provides for public spaces that are high quality, accessible, attractive and vibrant.

32The proposed development is consistent with the PPS issued under s.3 of the Planning Act. The PPS which came into effect on October 20, 2024 streamlined the land use planning policy framework replacing both the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2019.

33Ms. Walker opined, and the Tribunal agrees that the Proposal is consistent with the policies within the PPS and conforms to the OP.

PPS

a) The vision in the PPS 2024 emphasizes the provincial goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031. The land use planning framework focuses on the establishment of complete communities and prioritizing compact and transit-supportive design (where appropriate).

b) The PPS 2024 implements this vision and continues to support intensification on sites like the subject lands as proposed by the Applications.

c) This proposal is a residential redevelopment of underutilized Subject Lands. Such housing development is supported on the site as it supports the transit infrastructure investment and will contribute to the minimum density targets (PPS s. 2.2 and 2.4.2).

d) The Subject Lands are within the settlement area with municipal services and infrastructure, making this site a priority for residential intensification (PPS s. 2.3 and 2.4).

e) The proposal will support the achievement of complete communities, a range and mix of housing options, intensification and more mixed-use development (PPS s.2.4.1.2).

f) This proposed development conforms with the OP as follows:

OP

1. The OP identifies the Subject Lands within the “Avenues” overlay of Map 2: Urban Structure. The City undertook an Avenue Study for this area of Dundas Street West which resulted in the adoption of Site and Area Specific Policy 277 (SASP 277) which prohibits townhouses on the north side and within 60 m of the south side of Dundas Street West and the adoption of related design guidelines (the Dundas Street West Urban Design Guidelines [DSWUDG]), which were intended to establish character and cohesive development in the area. The OP states that Avenues are important corridors along major streets where re-urbanization is anticipated and encouraged to create new housing and job opportunities, while improving the pedestrian environment, the look of the street, shopping opportunities and transit service for community residents. The proposed development is within the avenue corridor and along a major street where the scale and form of residential intensification is encouraged.

2. The OP designates the majority of the Subject Lands as “Mixed Use Areas” on Map 14: Land Use Plan with the residential lots fronting onto Prince Edward Drive as “Neighbourhoods”. The OP states that Mixed Use Areas are to permit a combination of uses such as residential, offices, retail and services, institutions, entertainment, recreation and cultural uses to achieve the objectives of being able to live, work, and shop in the same area. Mixed Use Areas are to provide people the opportunity to rely less on private vehicles and more transportation options such as transit, walking or cycling. The proposed development is a mixed use development which is transit supportive and reduces the future residents reliance on private vehicles.

3. The majority of the Subject Lands are located within SASP 277. The SASP 277 amendment was to prohibit townhouses in the Mixed Use Areas designation as a result of the Dundas Street West Avenues Study carried out in 2005. To encourage higher forms of development along Dundas Street West, deep lots on the south side of Dundas Street West were intentionally kept out of the SASP 277 area.

4. The policy put into effect by SASP 277 specifically prohibits townhouses in the first 60 metres of depth from the Dundas Street West frontage on the south side of Dundas Street West within Mixed Use Areas. The Revised Proposal does not propose townhouses within 60 m of Dundas Street West, thus no amendment was deemed necessary as part of the Proposed OPA.

5. The proposed development has regard for the DSWUDG which are not policies and has regard for the other Guidelines such as the City of Toronto Mid-Rise Building Design Guidelines, the Privately-Owned Publicly Accessible Spaces Guidelines, and the Growing Up Guidelines.

ZBL

34The majority of the subject lands fronting Dundas Street West is currently designated Mixed-use Areas under the Official Plan and is located within an area subject to SASP 277. In addition it is zoned General Commercial Avenues, subject to a Holding provision (CG-AV-H) under the former Etobicoke ZBL 11737 (as amended by ZBL No. 717-2006). The portion fronting onto Prince Edward Drive is designated Neighbourhoods and zoned Second Density Residential R2. The CG-AV zone permits a range of uses, including but not limited to residential, commercial, recreational, and institutional, including apartment houses, dwelling units above a business use, retail and/or office uses, and townhouses which are located more than 60 m south of Dundas Street West. The R2 zone permits one-family single-detached dwellings, as well as, but not limited to, some business, recreational, and institutional uses. A maximum floor space index of 2.5 and a maximum height of six-storeys is permitted. The Subject Lands are subject to a Holding (H) symbol until such time as the City Council is satisfied as to the availability of all road improvements, infrastructure, servicing and school capacity, to accommodate the proposed development.

35The major portions of Subject Lands are not subject to the Zoning By-law No. 569-2013, with exception of the residential properties along Prince Edward Drive which are zoned Residential Detached (RD (f13.5; a510; d0.45)(x35) Zone. The RD Zone permits single detached dwellings as well as some other institutional and service type uses.

36The Tribunal finds that the Proposal:

a) is consistent with the relevant policies of the PPS 2024;

b) conforms to the applicable policies of the OP;

c) conforms to SASP 277;

d) provides growth, revitalization and intensification in the area through a well-designed built form;

e) revitalizes an underutilized site by providing retail commercial space on the ground floor with commercial opportunities within the residential community.

f) provides a range and type of residential units by expanding the choices for future and existing residents in the community including large or larger units, to accommodate people at different stages of life;

g) permits re-development of the subject property while optimizing the use of existing municipal infrastructure;

h) provides a well-planned and designed transit supportive development for a healthy and active complete community living close to the existing parks and bike and trails network;

i) provides a compatible development with adjacent and surrounding land uses.

CONCLUSION

37The Tribunal is satisfied that the Proposal represents good planning and that the proposed OPA and ZBA have regard for the matters of Provincial interest as set out in section 2 of the Planning Act, are consistent with the PPS and conform to the OP.

38The Tribunal will grant the appeals in part and approve the proposed OPA and ZBA in principle subject to conditions.

ORDER

39THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT the Appeals are allowed in part and,

1. That the revised Official Plan Amendment and revised Zoning By-law Amendment are approved in principle subject to the satisfaction of the following conditions of approval:

a. The final form and content of the Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments are satisfactory to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor;

b. The owner has provided a revised Functional Servicing Report, Site Servicing Groundwater Summary, Hydrological Review Summary Form, a revised Hydrological Report, a revised Stormwater Management Report, and a revised Geotechnical Report to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services;

c. The owner has provided a revised Traffic Impact Study and a Transportation Demand Management Plan satisfactory to the General Manager, Transportation Services and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

d. The owner has made satisfactory arrangements with the City and has entered into the appropriate agreements for the design and construction of any improvements to the municipal infrastructure, should it be determined that upgrades are required to the infrastructure to support the development, according to the accepted Functional Servicing Report, Stormwater Management Report and accepted by the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services and the Traffic Impact Study accepted by the General Manager, Transportation Services;

e. The owner has provided loading spaces, parking spaces and accessible parking spaces, as well as drive aisle widths and turning radii, in accordance with the supply and dimensional requirements of City-wide Zoning By-law No. 569- 2013 to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Transportation Services;

f. The owner has provided a revised Pedestrian Level Wind Study, including wind tunnel test, Block Context Plan, Planning Rationale, Sun and Shadow Study to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

g. The owner has provided a revised Arborist Report, Tree Inventory and Preservation Plan, Landscape Plan, Planting Plan, and a Public Utility Plan (PUP) with a Quality Level A (QLA) overlay on the Soil Volume plan, to the satisfaction of the Supervisor, Tree Protection and Plan Review, Parks, Forestry and Recreation;

h. The owner has provided a Toronto Green Standard Checklist and Statistics to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; and

i. The owner has satisfied the requirements of the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board regarding signage and warning clause.

2. Counsel for 1136974 Ontario Inc. to advise the Tribunal within 120 days of this Order, on the status on the Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment if these instruments are not finalized;

3. The final draft Official Plan Amendment and draft Zoning By-law Amendment are to be forwarded to the Tribunal for approval prior to issuance of the final Order.

4. The Tribunal may be spoken to in the event of any issue arising in the implementation of this Order.

“T.F. Ng”

T.F. NG

MEMBER

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.