The Planning and Growth Management Committee recommends that City Council request GO Transit to accelerate its plans for electrification of its rail network, particularly the Georgetown line.

Mr. Gary McNeil, Managing Director, GO Transit, gave a presentation to the Planning and Growth Management Committee on GO Transit 10 Year Plan.

Presentation by Gary McNeil, Managing Director, GO Transit

The Planning and Growth Management Committee recommends that:

1.         Council amend the Official Plan substantially in accordance with the draft official plan amendment attached as Attachment 1 to the report (April 24, 2009) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

2.         Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the draft official plan amendment as may be required.

The Planning and Growth Management Committee requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to meet with representatives of Home Depot and report directly to Council on the results of the meeting.

The Planning and Growth Management Committee held a public meeting on May 6, 2009, and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

On June 16, 2006 the Provincial Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe came into effect under the authority of the Places to Grow Act, 2005 (the Act). Under the Act, municipalities within the Greater Golden Horseshoe are required to bring their respective Official Plans into conformity with the Growth Plan by June 2009. In order to bring the Official Plan into conformity with the Growth Plan an Official Plan Amendment is required to address the areas of non-conformity identified by the Province.

This report recommends an amendment to the Official Plan to bring the Official Plan into conformity with the Provincial Growth Plan.

This report proposes revisions to the draft official plan amendment presented in the report dated April 17, 2009 regarding the Official Plan's conformity with the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The proposed revisions are minor in nature and are in response to verbal comments received April 23, 2009 from Provincial staff of the Ministries of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Energy and Infrastructure.  

This report recommends revisions to the proposed Official Plan amendment to bring the Official Plan into conformity with the Provincial Growth Plan.

The Planning and Growth Management Committee requested the following reports directly to Council:

1.         the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning on:

a.         the motion by Councillor Vaughan, that all new flat roof garages, regardless of the gross floor area of the garage, be required to have a green roof;

b.         the motion by Councillor Vaughan, that rooftop greenhouses on schools, residential properties and retail complexes, be exempted from the determination of available roof space, when and only if the greenhouses employ rain harvesting technology;

c.         the motion by Councillor Milczyn, that the grandfathering/transition criteria of the draft by-law be amended to add as an exemption from the draft by-law any project that has submitted a complete site plan application by January 31, 2010.

d.         amending the Zoning By-law to permit roof top amenity space in tall residential buildings to be included as a credit in the calculation under the Green Roof draft by-law, the report also to address the maximum percentage of green roof top coverage achievable in tall residential buildings;

e.         a more detailed explanation on how the green roof requirement will be calculated, having regard for the public presentations and communications,

2.         the Chief Planner, in consultation with appropriate staff, on how to define food processing areas and whether they should be partially or fully excluded;

3.          the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the Chief Building Official and Executive Director,Toronto Building on:

i.          a policy that would allow for multiple property owners to retrofit established roofs with solar panels and reflective material as an offset for new projects;

ii.          a provision that would allow for heritage building sites to be exempt from the policy in exchange for a preservation strategy for the listed or designated portion of the project and a commitment to construct a reflective roof on new elements of the proposal;

iii.         a right to sunlight and/or compensation for roofs that comply with policy;

4.         the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building , in consultation with the Fire Chief, on safety issues related to green roofs;

5.         the City Solicitor and the Medical Officer of Health on whether Canadian and U.S. Food Safety Regulations are compatible with the proposed by-law as it would relate to industrial buildings that house food handling, food storage or food manufacturing.

This report recommends that consideration of the Green Roof By-law be deferred to a public meeting scheduled for the May 6, 2009 meeting of the Planning and Growth Management Committee.

The proposed Toronto Green Roof By-law, enacted under the authority of Section 108 of the City of Toronto Act (COTA) requires green roofs on certain types of new buildings and regulates the design and construction of green roofs in Toronto. Toronto will become the only city in North America with a By-law that both requires green roofs and establishes the construction standards for them.

In October 2008, Toronto Building and City Planning reported on a draft proposal to require green roofs and to provide design requirements for green roofs and recommended a focused public consultation. This report provides an update on the public consultations that took place in November and December 2008 and February 2009. The results of the consultation process are reflected in the content of the draft Green Roof By-law for the City of Toronto and the proposed recommendations for consideration in this report.

In considering the March 27, 2009 report "Toronto Green Roof By-law" at its meeting of April 14, 2009, the Planning and Growth Management Committee directed the Chief Planner and Chief Building Official to consider and report on all written communications received on the Green Roof By-law at its meeting including the letter from the Deputy Mayor.

The revisions to the By-law proposed in reviewing this supplementary report would expand the scope of the draft Green Roof By-law to include a greater number of smaller developments city-wide. The recommendations considered include: removal of all exemptions for industrial, school and non-profit housing use buildings; separate requirements for green roofs on industrial buildings; and the decrease of the gross floor area (GFA) threshold to include smaller development.

Requesting that the Planning and Growth Management Committee consider and adopt the recommendations in the Member Motion.

Forwarding amendments to the Planning and Growth Management Committee.

The Planning and Growth Management Committee recommends that:

1.         City Council adopt the recommendations in Confidential Attachment 1 of the report (April 17, 2009) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor; and

2.         City Council authorize the public release of the confidential instructions in Attachment 1, at the end of the Council meeting.

This report recommends modifications to Official Plan Amendment (OPA) No. 38, which authorized the funding of Heritage Conservation District studies as an eligible community benefit under Section 37 of the Planning Act.  Approval of these modifications would facilitate a settlement of the appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) of the OPA by the Building Industry and Land Development (BILD) Association.

If Council adopts the recommended modifications as set out in confidential Attachment 1 to this report, they would be presented by the City Solicitor to the OMB to settle the appeal.

On March 21, 2007, the Toronto Transit Commission endorsed a light rail transit plan for the City of Toronto which included seven projects across the City.  Amongst them was the Don Mills route from Steeles Avenue to Bloor/Danforth subway.  A preliminary planning study is currently underway that will lead to a Transit Project Assessment Process for the project.

The City's Official Plan Map 3 Right-of-Way Widths Associated with Existing Major Streets designates the right-of-way for segments of Don Mills Road from Kern Road to Barber Greene Road/Greenbelt Drive and Barber Greene Road/Greenbelt Drive to Overlea Boulevard planned for 30 and 33 metres respectively and Overlea Boulevard as 33 metres.

The purpose of this report is to seek Council's authorization for the preparation of a City initiated Official Plan Amendment to amend Map 3 of the Official Plan in order to designate the right-of way for Don Mills Road from Kern Road to Overlea Boulevard and Overlea Boulevard from Don Mills Road to Millwood Road to 36 metres.

The official plan amendment would enable the protection and development of a planned right-of-way for a 36 metre corridor associated with the Don Mills Transit City LRT line.

The Planning and Growth Management Committee recommends that:

1.         City Council enact the By-law at Attachment 1 of the report (April 20, 2009) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and the City Solicitor to amend the Municipal Code Chapter 415, Development of Land, to delegate certain powers and authority to the Chief Planner.

In 2000 City Council delegated decision-making authority for certain development applications to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.  The Chief Planner has exercised the delegated authority successfully.  We have identified specific instances where further delegation would result in improved efficiency in processing applications.  Substantive decisions on development would remain with City Council.

This report recommends that a new delegation by-law be passed to enhance the Chief Planner's existing delegated authority.

The Planning and Growth Management Committee received the item for information.

The Official Plan was amended in 2008 to allow Section 37 monies to fund heritage conservation districts studies in areas of the City considered to have potential for study as heritage conservation district. As a result, Councillor Howard Moscoe has requested that Heritage Preservation Services (HPS) Staff consider the additional areas of Elia, including Black Creek Pioneer Village and the Parson's archaeological site.  

This report provides a desk-top analysis of Elia, including Black Creek Pioneer Village and the Parson's archaeological site. The adoption of this additional area would require an Official Plan Amendment (OPA). This report also outlines three additional areas that require analysis and a plan to include all those new qualifying areas on the map under a single OPA process.

The Planning and Growth Management Committee requested the City Manager to submit a report to the Planning and Growth Management Committee on the status of negotiations between the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario on the amendments to the City of Toronto Act relating to the Ontario Building Code.

Despite the significant legislative independence and latitude gained by the City of Toronto as a result of the new City of Toronto Act, there remain some areas in which the City of Toronto should be able to exercise more autonomy.

One of these areas is the Ontario Building Code.  As by far the largest urban area in Ontario, the City of Toronto faces unique challenges and has unique opportunities (such as the opportunities and challenges that result from density) that can only be realized through certain Building Code provisions tailored to Toronto's needs.  Greener building standards and code provisions that deal with reducing noise between semi-detached buildings and row houses are just some examples of the many areas that Toronto residents' interests and balancing of priorities may not always align entirely with other municipalities in Ontario.

A mechanism for City Council to amend by by-law or recommend to the Minister, Toronto-specific Building Code amendments and adjustments would be of great benefit for addressing these unique challenges and seizing these opportunities.

(Submitted to City Council on January 27 and 28, 2009 as MM30.7)

The Planning and Growth Management Committee recommends that when Municipal Licensing and Standards has an open file on a suspected rooming house, the address of the property be forwarded to Fire Services for its consideration.

The Scarborough Community Council on March 26, 2009, considered a presentation by the Scarborough Association of Seniors on the issue of illegal rooming houses and renting of second suites in residential dwellings.

The Planning and Growth Management Committee received the item for information.

This report discusses the various proposed methods of communicating the consultation phase of the Draft New Zoning By-law. TTC advertising will include an advertisement in subway cars. Posters and pamphlets will be distributed to select City operated facilities including the Toronto Public Libraries where free access to internet-based computers will allow residents to view and comment online. Advertisements will be purchased in community newspapers as well as banner advertising on selected websites will be explored.

The Planning and Growth Management Committee deferred the item indefinitely.

Request from Councillor Moscoe regarding taxi stands.

Requesting staff review and report of Employment Areas Policies in the Official Plan.

That the following words in Part 4 of the Planning and Growth Management Committee Decision on Item PG24.1 be deleted:

"in the evening of the regular Community Council meeting dates,"