The Parks and Environment Committee recommends that:

1.         City Council direct the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to update and refine the Parkland Acquisition Strategic Directions Report as part of the City-wide Park Plan which will be used to guide staff in making the City’s parkland acquisition decisions.

2.         City Council direct that the updated Parkland Acquisition Strategic Directions Report be informed by the approach proposed in the School Lands Property Acquisition Framework and Funding Strategy, as amended by City Council.

This report reviews parkland acquisitions achieved by the City since Amalgamation and provides an overview of the land acquisition activities during that period. The report outlines the Council approved policies and strategic directions that guided these activities, particularly the Official Plan policies and the principles outlined in the Parkland Acquisition Strategic Directions Report (PASDR), which was adopted in November 2001. The report examines the Division’s acquisitions over two time periods – the period between 1998 and 2001, before the new city-wide policies and strategic directions were developed and the period between 2002 and 2009, after the new policies and directions were approved by Council and came into effect.

Most of the land purchases recommended by staff were guided by the policy directions for parkland acquisition that are included in the Official Plan, Parkland Acquisition Strategic Directions Report, the Recreation Facilities Report or other Council approved policies. However, some purchases resulted from Council directions to acquire sites in medium or high parkland provision areas for various reasons, such as, the preservation of sites having cultural or historical significance, or to acquire surplus school sites in order to expand existing parks or to retain public open spaces that would otherwise be lost.

Parks, Forestry and Recreation staff are recommending that the Parkland Acquisition Strategic Directions (PASDR) report be updated and refined and that this updated report be informed by the proposed School Lands Property Acquisition Framework and Funding Strategy. The proposed framework report, as amended, was recommended for adoption, by the Executive Committee, at its meeting of April 19, 2010. The item will be before Council for consideration on May 11-12th, 2010. If adopted, this corporate acquisition framework will inform both the Park Plan and the PASDR update, which will, in turn, inform the Parks, Forestry and  Recreation Division’s capital budget priority setting for land acquisitions. 

The Parks and Environment Committee recommends that:

1.         City Council outline its concerns to Metrolinx Chief Executive Officer Robert Prichard and Ontario Minister of Transportation Kathleen Wynne that the proposed diesel expansion in the Georgetown South Corridor will have a negative impact on the network of City parks which currently serve as hubs of community life.

2.         City Council request the Premier of Ontario, the Ministers of Energy and Infrastructure and Transportation to require the Air Rail link between Union Station and Pearson Airport to be electrified by year 2015 as a demonstration project for regional transit.

3.         City Council request Metrolinx Chief Executive Officer Robert Prichard to reinstate the Community Advisory Council for guiding the Electrification Project.

The Parks and Environment Committee requested the:

a.         Chairs of the Parks and Environment Committee and Board of Health to invite Metrolinx Chief Executive Officer Robert Prichard, Ontario Minister of Transportation Kathleen Wynne and Provincial Members of Parliament to address the Parks and Environment Committee on issues and concerns raised at the public forum held on March 22, 2010 and on previous motions from the last few years that were adopted by City Council.

b.         Medical Officer of Health and Director, Toronto Environment Office to review the Metrolinx noise and vibration study to ensure the accoustical accuracy of the study in relation to the new MP40 diesel trains or any other proposed diesel trains and to report back on any data that may be missing for every aspect of the Corridor.

c.         General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to report back to the Parks and Environment Committee on the impact of the Georgetown rail expansion on all parks along the Corridor and include in this report proposed options to mitigate against noise and vibration.