May 12, 1998

 To:East York Community Council - May 27, 1998

 From:Richard Z. Tomaszewicz

Commissioner of Development Services

East York Office

 Subject:Preliminary Evaluation Report

Application for Official Plan and

Zoning By-law Amendments

Katmandu Investment Corporation

c/o The Goldman Group

1590 O=Connor Drive

 Purpose:

 This is an information report to the May 27, 1998, East York Community Council. It concerns applications for Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments, by Katmandu Investments Corporation, for a 2.25 hectare property which currently belongs to Imperial Life Assurance Company of Canada but which has been optioned by Katmandu Investments Corp. The applicant proposes to develop this site with housing consisting of 72 semi-detached dwellings and 34 live-work townhouse units located along the site=s O=Connor Drive frontage.

 Recommendation:

 It is recommended that the East York Community Council:

 1.Convene a simultaneous evening public meeting for this application and the larger O=Connor Employment Area Study and that Staff be directed to set up this meeting within a 3 to 4 month time frame.

 Background:

 The first version of this application was submitted on December 29, 1997. It showed 116 freehold semi-detached units. Staff determined at the time that the proposal required a planning justification; a further comprehensive review of the O=Connor Employment Area policies would help us to address the issue of whether residential development is appropriate in the context of emerging city wide policies.

 The applicant responded by commissioning Urban Strategies Inc. to prepare a planning analysis. The analysis was submitted for review on April 29, 1998, and showed a revised design for the site: 72 semis; 34 live work townhouses; and a corner park.

Comments:

 You will recall that the applicant, Mr. Goldman, spoke to the April 1, 1998 East York Community Council about the Planning Division's Work Program. He questioned the need for one of the items, on that program, namely the APlanning Study of the O'Connor Employment Area@. Mr. Goldman felt that his upcoming consultant=s study, which he commissioned for the proposal at 1590 O'Connor, would adequately address the area wide issues, and that our review of his proposal should not be delayed pending the outcome of a Staff area wide study. We advised that Staff were not prepared to delegate our professional planning judgement to a developer's consultant, and that we would review Mr. Goldman's study, once submitted, and then determine how to deal with his proposal and whether the larger area study identified in our work program needed to be modified.

 Following the receipt of the consultant=s report, we met with Mr. Goldman and his consultant and advised them that their report was not an adequate substitute for the study of the O'Connor Employment Area identified in the Planning Division Work Program. Furthermore, Mr. Goldman=s consultant=s study does not, in our opinion, adequately resolve all of the issues related to the development of this site. In particular, it does not reconcile how live-work uses will prosper on this site after conceding that Athe retail and commercial character with the exception of White Rose) appears physically and economically in decline, as evidenced by numerous vacancies and empty sites along the entire length of O'Connor Drive@. The study further refers to appropriate setbacks and buffering between the proposed residential and existing adjacent industrial areas, but does not demonstrate them. Also, there does not appear to be any analysis of the project's impact on the municipality's finances, and hard and soft services. For these reasons, we intend to retain the AO=Connor Employment Area Study@ on our Work Program and we hope to complete it within 3 to 4 months.

 Notwithstanding the incompleteness of the applicant=s study, we believe there is merit in processing the application. Two alternatives would have been to recommend refusal of the application right away or to consider it premature and suspend processing until Staff complete the larger area study. We are not convinced that the findings of a larger area study will preclude consideration of residential and live-work uses on these lands. This is not meant to prejudge our conclusions in the area study, or the merits of the land use changes, or to signal our support for the proposed design. These issues will be fully examined in our future Staff reports.

 The site's frontage on O'Connor, its vacant condition and its proximity to existing residential and supporting uses merits circulation to commenting agencies and preparation of a staff report parallel to our undertaking the larger area study.

 At one time it may have been appropriate for us to immediately recommend refusal, based in part on the assessment balance issues that drove much of the policy making in the former Borough of East York. Now, as part of a larger amalgamated municipality, we will view these municipal financial impact issues more broadly. We are also aware of a general study currently being undertaken by the Economic Development Division, which is re-examining the merits of continuing to convert industrial and employment lands to other uses throughout Toronto.

 Although we intend to process this application parallel to the larger area study, we will account for it within the larger area study and we recommend that the Planning Act Public Meeting required for both be combined into one meeting given the inter-relation of the issues. The attached Appendix 1 outlines our expectations of the larger area study.

 Conclusion:

 Since the review of this application is closely dependent on the results of the larger O'Connor Employment Area Study, we are recommending that these two items be dealt with concurrently and as expeditiously as possible and be scheduled for presentation to a simultaneous evening public meeting.

Contact Name:

 Jean Besz,

Senior Planner East York Community Office

(416) 778-2045

(416) 466-9877

planning@borough.eastyork.on.ca

Richard Z. Tomaszewicz

Commissioner of Development Services

East York Office

JB/jb

 ATTACHMENT #1

PRELIMINARY OUTLINE OF THE O=CONNOR INDUSTRIAL AREA STUDY

1. Purpose:

• To achieve a better planned employment center taking account of new trends towards diversification and integration of uses;