February 4, 1998
To: Corporate Services Committee
From: Acting Executive Commissioner of Corporate Services
Subject: Proposed Closure and Sale of Dalkeith Drive and 1 Foot Reserve
(North York Centre South - Ward 9)
Purpose:
To dispose of the subject lands, located east of Yonge Street between York Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East, see map in Appendix >A=.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1) Staff be directed to proceed with the road closure and sale in accordance with the requirements of the Municipal Act;
(2) Council fix the sale price for the subject road allowance and 1 foot reserve at $550,000.00 plus all costs associated with road closure and sale;
(3) The City accept the offer to purchase from Sergei Rozin and Maia Rozin and the appropriate City officials be authorized to execute such agreement;
(4) The other abutting property owner at 113 Donwoods Drive (Thomas Butt) be given right of first refusal to purchase the west half of the subject road allowance and 1 foot reserve at $275,000.00 plus his share of costs associated with road closure and sale;
(5) Council fix the date by which the other abutting property owner at 113 Donwoods Drive (Thomas Butt) must exercise his right to purchase the west half of the subject road allowance and 1 foot reserve at $275,000.00 plus his share of costs associated with road closure and sale at 4:30 pm on April 3, 1998, by which date he must execute an agreement of purchase and sale, failing which the City shall be entitled to sell the west half of the subject road allowance in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Act;
(6) If the other abutting property owner at 113 Donwoods Drive (Thomas Butt) executes the agreement by the date fixed by Council, the appropriate City officials be authorized to execute such agreement;
(7) The proceeds from the sale be credited to account No. 007-435-0000-9110; and
(8) The appropriate City officials be authorized to do all things necessary to finalize this matter.
Council Reference/Background/History:
Please refer to extract of Clause 1 of Development and Economic Growth Committee Report No. 6 dated September 29, 1997, adopted, as amended, by Council on October 6, 1997 by Resolution No. 97-17.
Comments:
On October 6, 1997, North York City Council gave consideration to a joint report from the City Solicitor, the Deputy Commissioner of Finance and the Deputy Treasurer concerning the closure and sale of the subject property.
Staff recommended the acceptance of an offer to purchase from the abutting property owner at 1 Knightswoods Road (Sergei Rozin and Maia Rozin) - the offer was for the entire parcel of land. It was considered to be fair, equitable and in the City=s best interest to accept.
Dalkeith Drive being an open road allowance must be closed and disposed of in accordance with the requirements of the Municipal Act. The Act stipulates that each abutting property owner has the right of first refusal to purchase the land to its middle line.
There is one other property owner abutting the subject road allowance. He resides at 113 Donwoods Drive (Thomas Butt). The offer from the Rozin=s and the recommendations to Council address Mr. Butt=s right of first refusal to purchase half of the subject road allowance.
At the Council meeting on October 6, 1997, Mr. Butt made a presentation proposing that the City sell him half of the subject property at 10 percent to 15 percent of the appraised value, subject to a restrictive covenant being registered on title to prohibit any development on the land until arrangements are made to remove the covenant at some future date.
This proposal was not acceptable to Council, however, they referred the matter back to staff to try to negotiate a tri-party agreement between the City and abutting owners.
In accordance with Council=s directive, staff contacted the abutting property owners to attempt to negotiate such an agreement. On December 8, 1997 Mr. Butt submitted the following proposal:
A
Thank you for this opportunity to present my option for the future of the Dalkeith Road allowance as discussed at our last meeting.
The background to this option reflects the historical use of this road allowance. One third of the allowance has been used by 113 Donwoods Drive, one third has been used by 1 Knightswood Drive and the remaining third has been used by local residents to access the golf course. I propose that this split be used to dispose of the Dalkeith Road Allowance.
I am prepared to pay one third of the identified $550,000.00 cost for the third of this property that I have maintained over the past fifteen years. I assume that Sergi Rozin would also be supportive as he is willing to purchase half of the road allowance to augment his property at 1 Knightswood Drive. The remaining third would continue to be Aowned@ by the community as an access route to the golf course, especially in the winter for cross-country skiing. There would be no expectation on North York to provide any maintenance as this access route has been used by the community for over forty years without requiring formal maintenance by the City or the neighbours.
Wayne Long, Chair of the Property and Development Committee of the York Mills Valley Association, is very supportive of this option. He suggests that all three parties sit down with your team to finalize this arrangement. I believe that this approach will allow full discussion among the parties affected by the sale of Dalkeith and ensure a quick solution for all concerned.
Regardless of the outcome of this approach to the disposal of the Dalkeith Road allowance, I remain committed to purchasing the one third of this property that I have maintained over the years. As discussed at our meeting, I am sure that this option falls within the realm of possible options that the Council suggests be explored by staff.
I appreciate that you must review both options with the staff of the Economic and Development Committee. Following your deliberations, I am sure that Wayne Long, Sergi Rozin and I could meet and finalize an appropriate solution very quickly.
Thank you again for the opportunity to discuss these options with you over the past weeks and I look forward to a mutually successful conclusion to this process of disposing of the Dalkeith Road allowance.@
Staff and members of the Development and Economic Growth Committee subsequently gave consideration to the foregoing proposal and found that it was unacceptable, as the former City of North York did not wish to retain any part of the unimproved subject road allowance.
Mr. Butt has been informed that staff will now be recommending the disposal of the subject property in its entirety as was originally proposed.
The subject land be disposed of in its entirety at market value.
