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Planning Regulations

 

‘This Official Plan is about making the right choices and shaping Toronto's collective future. The Plan is about getting the fundamentals right. It is about having a clear vision for the City - grounded in durable principles that assure a successful future.’ (Toronto’s new Official Plan)                         


What Regulations Apply Today?

The main planning regulations that apply to the Queen Street West Triangle are explained in the following :

  1. Outline of Regulations
  2. Official Plan (1994): in –force
  3. Secondary Plan (part of the 1994 Plan) : in-force
  4. Official Plan (2003) :partly in-force; parts appealed
  5. Secondary Plan (part of the 2003 Plan)
  6. Zoning
  7. Site Plan Control

1) Outline of Regulations

We provide below a brief description of the role of each of these regulatory levels.

The City of Toronto is currently in the process of establishing a new Official Plan. Council passed it three years ago but some 160 appeals have been filed before the Ontario Municipal Board, thus impeding its full enforceability.  This lengthy process of appeals is still going on and as a result both the ‘old’ plan and in-force parts of the new one are applicable for every development proposal made to the city. An Official Plan establishes a vision for the future social and physical condition of the city.  While the general Official Plan affects the city as a whole, some areas which require a more detailed vision are given narrower and more prescriptive policies. They are called ‘Secondary Plans’. They are all shown in blue in the map below, extracted form the new Official Plan. 


Secondary Plans of the City of Toronto (New Official Plan)

Both old and new official plans include Secondary Plans. They are additional sections or chapters that set out more precise planning directions for defined areas of the city. Part of the Queen West Triangle is included in one of these secondary plans, the ‘Garrison Common North Secondary Plan’. The portion of Queen West Triangle  bordering onto Queen Street, East of Gladstone, is not affected by these policies. They are subject to another OP designation called ‘Main Street’. The map below, extracted from the new secondary plan, shows part of the geographical extent of that policy. Any development that will take place within these areas should conform to both the in-force and the new plans.


Area 2 of the Garrison Common North Secondary Plan

For more information on the Secondary Plan please follow this link: http://www.toronto.ca/torontoplan/official_plan.htm#1  
(Go to ‘Web Official Plan Version’, three quarters of the way down the page)

Zoning regulations also apply to the QWTriangle. One of the most important roles of zoning is to determine precise options and limitations for land use, maximum density and maximum building height, and sometimes even the precise location of the building on its lot. Other aspects of these regulations affect the amount of parking required, building shape, front and side yard set backs, servicing requirements, etc.

The following text originates from Urban Development Services’ latest report for 1171 Queen Street West. Although a lot of it is taken directly from the report, it is simplified and illustrted here to summarize and to adapt it to the general QWTriangle area which concerns Active18. For more complete information about each lot for which there is an application, please refer directly to the Urban Development Services reports linked here on this web site (upper right of page).
See zoning maps below.

2) In-force Official Plan for the former City of Toronto

  1. Along Queen Street
    Designation:          Low Density Mixed Commercial Residential Area
    Uses permitted:     Mix of commercial, residential and institutional uses in low-rise form
    Height:                  Generally within the range of 3 to 5 storeys
                                  (ht= 13 & 16m)
    Density:                 Official Plan permits Council to pass by-laws to enable gross floor area 3.0 times the area of the lot

    The Plan also identifies the northern edge of the Queen Street Triangle as a Main Street;
    By definition this entails: contiguous buildings on small lots, which serve as a focus for, and define the edges of, low rise residential neighbourhoods. 

    Housing intensification along Main Streets is specifically encouraged, but only with certain goals, some of which include:
    1. achieve a high quality urban environment with regard to height, bulk, built form, and relationships between Main Street development and adjacent neighbourhoods;
    2. achieve a high quality residential environment for residents of Main Streets:
    3. ensure that the development is in keeping with the built form and residential amenity of adjacent residential neighbourhoods;
    4. encourage an appropriate mix of residential, street-related retail and service uses and other compatible uses;
    5. encourage new development, including infill and additions to existing buildings, in buildings of widths which are compatible with the small sites that typify the dominant lot pattern along certain Main Streets;
    6. preserve and conserve those sites, buildings and structures which are of architectural and/or historical importance;

    In addition, the Plan encourages the creation and/or completion of laneway systems in conjunction with the redevelopment of properties along Main Streets.

    Council may adopt design guidelines for Main Streets buildings and streetscapes to implement these policies.

  2. Former Industrial Lands
    Designation:          Mixed Industrial-Residential Area.
    Density:                 industrial : 3.0 times; residential : 2.0 times maximum
    (but council may adopt lower maximum densities if supported by a study)

    The Official Plan stipulates that Council shall have regard for:

    1. the advisability of retaining existing industrial buildings or uses in terms of the retention of industrial jobs;
    2. the retention of industrial buildings in good structural condition or which may have architectural or historical merit; and
    3. the extent to which a change in use would adversely affect the continued compatibility of neighbouring uses, particularly in those areas where identifiable pockets of a consistent land use exist.

3) Garrison Common North Part II Plan(in-force)

The in-force Garrison Common North Part II Plan sets out the following principles for development.

Development should:

  1. integrate the area into the rest of the City by developing the lands so that they relate to the established city fabric in terms of streets and blocks, uses and density patterns;
  2. complete the open space system by enhancing and completing the existing north-south public open space system, providing both visual and physical connections to Fort York and the waterfront;
  3. introduce a variety of land uses and densities and provide a range of housing types in terms of built form, affordability and tenure;
  4. provide adequate community services and facilities;
  5. be sensitive to and protect industrial operations and areas; and
  6. provide a high level of environmental quality.
The Plan also encourages a high quality of urban design as it relates to structure, form and physical amenity, including:


The Plan identifies the area along Queen Street West as Low Density Mixed Commercial-Residential Area. It re-iterates the in-force Official Plan permission to pass by-laws for densities of up to 3.0 for mixed use buildings, provided that residential densities do not exceed 2.5 and commercial densities do not exceed 1.5.

The Plan identifies the southern (rear) portion of the site as Mixed Industrial-Residential Area ‘B’. It re-iterates the in-force Official Plan’s permission to pass by-laws for densities of up to 3.0 for mixed-use buildings of which residential densities constitute a density of no more than 2.0 times.

4) New Toronto Official Plan

  1. Along Queen Street
    Designation: Mixed Use and Avenue



    Mixed Use areas will, among other things:
    • locate and mass new buildings to provide a transition between areas of different development intensity and scale, particularly providing setbacks from and a stepping down of heights towards lower scale Neighbourhoods;
    • locate and mass new buildings to minimize shadow impacts on adjacent Neighbourhoods during the spring and fall equinoxes;
    • locate and mass new buildings to frame the edges of streets and parks with good proportion and maintain sunlight and comfortable wind conditions for pedestrians on adjacent streets, parks and open spaces;
    • provide an attractive comfortable and safe pedestrian environment; and
    • locate and screen service areas, ramps and garbage storage to minimize the impact on adjacent streets and residences.

  2. Former Industrial Lands
    Designation: Regeneration Area

    The Plan identifies the rear (southern) portion of the site as Employment Lands.

    Employment Lands Policy states that Employment Areas are places of business and economic activity. There is no mention of residential development.

    Regeneration Areas states that Regeneration Areas will provide for a broad mix of commercial, residential, light industrial, parks and open space, institutional, live/work and utility uses in an urban form to:

    • revitalize areas of the City that are largely vacant or underused;
    • create new jobs and homes that use existing infrastructure;
    • restore, re-use and retain existing buildings that are economically adaptable for re-use, particularly heritage buildings and structures;
    • achieve streetscape improvements and the extension of the open space network; and
    • promote the environmental clean-up and re-use of contaminated lands.

    According to the New Toronto Official Plan, the framework for development of the Regeneration Area should be set out in the Secondary Plan, addressing:

    • urban design guidelines;
    • a greening strategy for tree planting, improvements to parks and the acquisition of new parks and open spaces;
    • streetscape, park and open space improvements;
    • the need for new community services and facilities;
    • a heritage strategy identifying important heritage resources and ensuring new buildings are compatible with adjacent heritage buildings;
    • environmental policies regarding contaminated lands; and
    • transportation policies that encourage transit, walking and cycling over use of the private automobile.

5) New Secondary Plan for Garrison Common North

The New Garrison Common North Secondary Plan re-iterates the objectives outlined in the in-force Garrison Common North Secondary Plan and also identifies the site as part of Area 2, shown below.

Map A of the Plan identifies a pattern for the extension of streets through and adjacent to the site, including an extension of Sudbury Street and an extension of Northcote and Abell Streets.


Intended Streets Pattern for the QWTriangle (Secondary Plan)

The Plan states:

"Prior to the approval of significant development [in Area 2], an area study of the lands will be completed to include matters such as:

  1. urban design guidelines;
  2. a parks and open space plan;
  3. a community improvement strategy to identify improvements to streets, sidewalks, boulevards and open spaces;
  4. a community services strategy to monitor the need for new community services;
  5. environmental policies to identify any necessary site and building clean-ups and deal with the issue of separation/buffering from rail corridors; and
  6. transportation policies to encourage transit, walking and cycling.”

6) Zoning

The zoning on the southern portion of the Queen Street Triangle is I1 D3, permitting light industrial uses up to a maximum gross floor area of 3.0 times the area of the site. The maximum height permitted on this portion of the site is 18.0 metres.

Below is a Land Use map for the area showing a range of permitted uses and related densities. The Heights Map shows the maximum permissible heights for a given area.

 






Permitted Land Uses
  
Height Limits in Meters

I1 D3 :
The zoning on the rear (southern) portion of the site is I1 D3, permitting light industrial uses up to a maximum gross floor area of 3.0 times the area of the site. The maximum height permitted on this portion of the site is 18.0 metres. (from Planning Report)

MCR T3.0 C1.0 R2.5 :
The zoning on the south side of Queen Street extending 45.7 metres southward is MCR T3.0 C 1.0 R2.5, permitting commercial and residential buildings up to a maximum gross floor area of 3.0 times the area of the site, of which commercial uses shall constitute no more than 1.0 times the area of the site and residential uses shall occupy no more than 2.5 times the area of the site.  The maximum height permitted at the street edge is 13.0 metres, rising at a 45 degree plane to a total maximum height of 16.0 metres. (from Planning Report)

Toronto’s zoning by-law is not posted on the City’s web site.

7) Site Plan Control

Section 41 of the Planning Act mandates municipalities with powers to review mainly smaller-scale issues such as:

(source: Planning Act, R.S.O. Site plan control area 41. (7); Full address : http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Statutes/English/90p13_e.htm#BK57)