July 22, 1998

   To:Chairman and Members, Etobicoke Community Council

 From:Karen V. Bricker, MCIP, Commissioner of Urban Development, Etobicoke

 Subject:Terms of Reference - Review of the Kipling/Islington Centre Secondary Plan

  Purpose :

 To provide Terms of Reference for a review of the Kipling/Islington Centre Secondary Plan.

 Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

 There are no funding sources or financial implications, at this time. Should any aspect of the transportation component of the review require outsourcing, based on future discussions with City traffic and transportation staff, staff will report further on the possibility of providing the necessary funding in the 1999 budget for consultants.

 Recommendation:

It is recommended that the Terms of Reference for the Kipling/Islington Centre Plan (Exhibit No. 1) be approved.

 Background:

 The need for a comprehensive review of the zoning, land use, property ownership and transportation requirements to facilitate redevelopment of the Kipling/Islington Centre was identified and approved, as part of the departmental work programme for 1998.

 Comments:

 A secondary planning study of the Centre area was last initiated in 1978 and culminated with the adoption of the Kipling/Islington City Centre Secondary Plan (C-59-86) by the former City of Etobicoke Council on May 20, 1986, with final approval granted by the Province on November 24, 1987. Current Official Plan policies support and encourage the creation of a multi-functional, mixed-use city centre incorporating residential, commercial, institutional, recreational, transportation, utility, and industrial uses in this area. While the general principles underlying the Plan are still considered valid, the Plan is over ten years old and the original assumptions underlying development/redevelopment of the area at least 20 years old.

   As indicated in the attached Terms of Reference, a number of factors have changed over the intervening period which would support a general review of the original planning parameters guiding development/redevelopment of this area, including its future status as a centre within the context of the amalgamated City of Toronto's overall urban structure, the future disposition of a number of city-owned land holdings in the area, the future configuration of the Six Points Interchange and its ultimate impact on the development/redevelopment of sites in the Kipling/Dundas area, as well as the development industry's impartiality to build in accordance with the very specific urban design guidelines put in place to guide development or to build certain residential housing forms.

 While the original principles guiding development in the area may be found to remain valid following this review, alternative ways of achieving them and/or implementing them may be suggested which may more accurately reflect current trends/updated assumptions regarding development/redevelopment.

 It is anticipated that this review will be completed within one year, depending on staffing commitments and departmental priorities. Staff will include a senior policy planner as project co-ordinator and urban design and development control staff, as needed, to attend meetings and develop new development policies and design guidelines, where necessary, and to generally provide feedback throughout the process. Transportation planning staff will also be required to undertake a major review of the transportation system and impact on existing/future development in the Centre, including an update of the Kipling/Islington Transportation Study and related development cap. Preliminary discussions with traffic and transportation staff indicates, that should no in-house capability or resources exist to conduct such a review, staff will report further on the possibility of providing the necessary funding in the 1999 budget for consultants.

 While this review may have implications for the forthcoming City Official Plan, it will not preclude any future options and will advance the area specific work that may be needed to complement the Official Plan.

 Conclusions:

 It is recommended that the Terms of Reference for the Kipling/Islington Centre Secondary Plan be approved as the basis for undertaking this review.

 Contact Name:

 L. Gary DysartTel: (416) 394-8233

Principal Planner, Policy and Information ServicesFax: (416) 394-6063

Karen V. Bricker, MCIP

Commissioner of Urban Development

 Exhibit No. 1

  Terms of Reference

Review of the Kipling/Islington Centre Secondary Plan

  Purpose:

 The purpose of this exercise is to review and update the principles and objectives, and the general development concept, including the land use, open space and transportation plans, guiding the development/redevelopment of lands within the Kipling/Islington Centre Secondary Planning area in achieving a multi-functional urban centre in this location. Such a review would also necessitate revisiting and reassessing the site specific development policies and urban design guidelines of the Plan in light of current circumstances within the new City of Toronto, as well as the requisite implementation measures to ensure ultimate development.

 Background:

 A secondary planning study of the lands both contiguous to and extending between the Kipling and Islington subway stations was initiated in 1978 and culminated with the adoption of the Kipling/Islington City Centre Secondary Plan (C-59-86) by the former City of Etobicoke Council on May 20, 1986, with final approval granted by the Minister of Municipal Affairs on November 24, 1987. Its major objective was to establish a viable "downtown" for the former City of Etobicoke, with a strong civic presence, particularly in the vicinity of the Kipling/Dundas area.

 To this end, current Official Plan policies support and encourage the creation of a multi-functional, mixed-use city centre incorporating residential, commercial, institutional, recreational, transportation, utility, and industrial uses in this area. Development policies and urban design guidelines are incorporated into the Plan: to maximize development within walking distance of subway stations, to ensure that built form, density and design are sensitive to adjacent uses and surrounding communities and in keeping with the objective of reinforcing a pedestrian orientation; to relocate as many transportation functions as possible away from the Islington subway station to lands in the vicinity of the Kipling subway station; and, generally, to incrementally upgrade the transportation and hard services infrastructure to accommodate future development/redevelopment activity.

 While these principles are still considered valid today, the Plan itself is over ten years old and the original assumptions underlying development/redevelopment of the area at least twenty years old.

As development/redevelopment interest in key sites such as the Michael Power/St. Josephs site appears to be increasing, and land assemblies are occurring, it is considered timely to conduct a comprehensive review of the original planning parameters guiding the development/redevelopment of this area, including a re-examination of the land use expectations and design guidelines specific to this area.

 The review would not address the broader City-wide issue of the function of the Centre but would proceed within the context of this area remaining as a high intensity node within the structure of the new City of Toronto, given its current development pattern and transit oriented location. As such, this review would assist future consideration of the status of the Centre during the new Official Plan process by providing for an updated Plan and more current information.

 The Plan envisaged a major civic presence in the Bloor/Kipling/Dundas area, which is unlikely to occur given amalgamation. The original premise that lands surrounding the Kipling subway station would develop as a major office and transportation centre, has been expanded to include high density residential uses. Key issues affecting development in the area, identified at the time the Plan was adopted, have yet to be fully resolved, eg. the future configuration of the Six Points Interchange and possible freeing up of additional developable lands and associated access considerations, the future disposition of the former Metro-owned Westwood Theatre site, which is now closed, the realization of the Kipling station area as a major regional transportation centre, including a Mississauga bus terminal, and the freeing up of lands surrounding the Islington subway station currently serving that function. These issues were further compounded by jurisdictional hurdles that should be mitigated somewhat with the advent of amalgamation.

 Another overriding issue affecting development in the Centre area concerns densities and the development cap (3,300 apartment units and 376,000 m² of office space), which was based on the transportation capacity of existing and future roadways/improvements in the area. This potential is the maximum amount of development to be permitted until a comprehensive review of the transportation network demonstrates that additional capacity for development exists.The Plan currently provides for a major review of the transportation system to be undertaken once development reaches 80% of this development cap. While existing and proposed development has not yet reached this level of activity and is not anticipated to do so in the near future, and the Plan is only at mid-point in achieving its horizon year, the Plan does provide that this development limit be reassessed in the event any of the planning/transportation assumptions change.

 Review Area:

 The Kipling/Islington Centre area is a centrally located node of mixed development within the Etobicoke Community, comprising 178 hectares which abut and are located within 700 metres of two major stations on the Bloor/Danforth subway system. It has an elongated wedge shape extending from Shorncliffe Road to Montgomery Road and includes lands abutting on Bloor Street, Dundas Street, and the C.P.R. (see attached map).

 High density residential apartments are concentrated in the area south of Dundas Street, generally west of Islington Avenue; commercial office development, in high and low rise forms, is concentrated at Islington Avenue and Bloor Street and along the south side of Dundas Street at Subway Crescent, while retail strips are found along both Dundas Street and Bloor Streets. Institutional uses formerly occupied a substantial area immediately east of the Six Points Intersection, in addition to other scattered church and school sites in the vicinity. Public open space areas are provided by Central Park and the valleyland areas associated with the Mimico Creek. Development of the lands west of Kipling Avenue consists of mixed commercial office/retail/residential, transportation, industrial and isolated residential communities, while the south-west boundary abuts a large industrial area and hydro electric complex.

I.Study Outline:

 A.Phase 1: Background Review

 (1)review of current development trends and recent approvals within and outside the Centre area, i.e. land use, density/f.s.i, height, design guidelines, etc.;

(3)review of original assumptions, principles, development policies underlying development within the Centre area, in general and on a site-by-site basis, to determine if they remain valid today, i.e. heightened civic presence/within the context of the overall urban structure of the amalgamated city;

(4)review development/redevelopment potential of remaining sites, i.e. land use designation, density/f.s.i., height, ownership, design considerations, etc.;

(5)review and update the Kipling/Islington Transportation Study and the potential impact of transportation issues on permitted densities and the development cap, i.e. future configuration of Six Points interchange;

(6)review urban design guidelines and the implications on development and overall built form;

(7)review other opportunities/constraints to development/redevelopment within the area, i.e. Westwood Theatre site, hard and soft service infrastructure.

 B.Phase 2: Development of Alternatives

 (1)update of existing development policies/design guidelines to better reflect current trends/assumptions and a change in emphasis from a city centre with a strong civic presence to one which is based on the concept of a major multi-functional urban centre serving the Etobicoke Community and the western Toronto area (status quo);

(2)investigate a blending of the key development objectives for the area into a plan which places less emphasis on land use designations, site specific development policies and design guidelines; more reliance on providing for an appropriate range of as-of-right uses, broad based built form and other urban design guidelines and general performance standards/criteria.

C.Phase 3: Implementation Tools

 The review will include an examination and assessment of how best to achieve and promote development/redevelopment objectives within the secondary planning area:

A.through existing site plan control standards and zoning regulations; or,

B.alternative implementation measures: i.e. development permit system; and,

C.discussions with prospective developers and the review and approval of applications to amend the Zoning Code and/or the Official Plan.

 Public Input

 An open house/information session or community meeting will be held to inform interested people and agencies of the review's progress, to explain any proposed changes to the planning parameters affecting this area, and to solicit comments, prior to a recommendation report being forwarded to City Council for approval and a public meeting being held. Other public consultation venues may be determined as the review progresses.

 Time Frame and Staff Requirements

 It is anticipated that this review will be completed within one year, depending on staffing commitments and departmental priorities. Staff will include a senior policy planner as project coordinator and urban design and development control staff, as needed, to attend meetings and develop new development policies and design guidelines, where necessary, and to generally provide feedback throughout the review process. Transportation planning staff will also be required to undertake a major review of the transportation system and impact on existing/future development in the Centre, including an update of the Kipling/Islington Transportation Study and related development cap. Preliminary discussions with traffic and transportation staff indicates, that should no in-house capability or resources exist to conduct such a review, staff will report further on the possibility of providing the necessary funding in the 1999 budget for consultants.