(Report dated June 11, 1998, addressed to East York Community Council, from the Commissioner of Development Services, East York Office.)

Subject:PRELIMINARY EVALUATION REPORT - Application for Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments, The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto, 86 Overlea Boulevard, East York By-law No. 1916

Purpose:

This is an information report to the June 24, 1998 East York Community Council. It concerns an application for Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments by Martin Rendl Associates, on behalf of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto. The applicant proposes to convert this approximately 3 296.16 m² building to primarily an administrative centre for the Greek Orthodox Church of Canada with the following ancillary uses:

• one residential suite for the exclusive use of the church=s archbishop. It is to occupy 282.65 m² of the buildings 4th floor, and adjoin the 728.31 m² main administrative offices on that floor;

• a theological school with living accommodations for up to 20 seminarians. It is to be located on the third floor and occupy its entire floor area of 772.80 m²;

• uses accessory to the administrative, and religious and teaching functions of the church headquarters, including a library a chapel and a museum. These are to be located on the ground floor and occupy its entire floor area of 739.60 m².

These uses will be in addition to the existing offices which occupy the entire 772.8 m² building=s third floor,

The new uses will not entail any external changes to the site or the building, but, will require some internal re-configuration.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the East York Community Council convene an evening public meeting in the fourth quarter of 1998, for this application, and instruct the Clerk to provide public notice by circulation.

Background:

The following is a synopsis of the information provided by the applicant:

• the existing building at 86 Overlea Boulevard is already being used to administer the affairs of the Greek Orthodox Church in Canada;

• the additional non-office uses proposed through this application are intended to support the primary administrative head office function and are related to that primary function;

• the proposed fourth floor apartment will be used to accommodate the church=s ranking leader Archbishop Sotirios;

• the theological school is needed to train future priests for the church;

• the chapel on the first floor of the building is intended only for internal purposes; it will not be open to the public although, it may on occasion be accessible to visiting church dignitaries; and,

• the introduction of the new uses will not involve any change to the external appearance of the existing building, nor will it necessitate any change to the site.

Comments:

This application proposes to introduce new uses in an area which Planning Staff have tried to preserve for employment generating activities such as offices and light industrial uses. East York=s Official Plan explicitly prohibits both educational and residential uses from locating within this AThe East Centre - Business Area@ designation. This request is for one apartment and an educational facility with living accommodations for 20 seminarians. These are clearly prohibited uses. However, the proposed residential change is relatively minor and the seminary is somewhat similar to in-house training facilities which are a normal adjunct to many offices. There is the additional complication that the seminarians will reside on the premises.

A preliminary review of the application appears to indicate that the proposal provides sufficient parking, and that it satisfies all the other by-law requirements. This will be further reviewed in the final report.

Staff recognize that the approval of this application may raise expectations for other residential and educational applications, and may result in significant changes to this otherwise relatively stable and economically viable employment area.

In the past we have assured the area landowners that our policies were intended to preserve Overlea Boulevard as our preeminent employment area. Thus, we are suggesting that a preview meeting be held in order to get public and landowner input. As is our practice, comments received at that meeting will be included in our final recommendation report. We propose to hold this preview meeting sometime in mid-July.

Conclusion:

The issues surrounding this application are not easily reconciled. Thus, we are proposing to hold both a preview and a public meeting, and we recommend that the public meeting be held in the evening to allow ample opportunity for public participation.

Contact Name:

Jean Besz,

Senior Planner East York Community Office

(416) 778-2045

(416) 466-9877

planning@borough.eastyork.on.ca

(Copy of Map on file in the office of the City Clerk.)