4.APPLICATION FOR DEMOLITION APPROVAL,

82 BUTTONWOOD AVENUE, PRITTIE BUILDING, WEST PARK HOSPITAL

Ward 27, York-Humber.

B. Ashton , Director of Buildings and Deputy Chief Building Official, West District

(October 30, 1998)

Purpose:

Under the City of York Act 1994 (Bill PR147), Council of the former City of York enacted special demolition control legislation for the purpose of securing beautification measures on the lands and abutting municipal boulevard as a condition of the issuance of demolition permits. Bylaw Number 3102-95 was subsequently passed designating the entire City (York) as an area of demolition control pursuant to the City of York Act, 1994.

The owner has applied for a demolition permit to remove the building located on the subject lands. Community Council approval for the release of the permit is being sought.

Funding Sources, Financial implications and Impact Statement:

City funding is not required. There are no impacts on capital or operating budgets.

Recommendations:

That the application to demolish the Prittie Building on the West Park Hospital site at 82 Buttonwood Avenue be approved pursuant to By-law Number 3102-95 with no conditions of approval related to beautification.

Background:

The property owner, West Park Hospital, through their agent Susan Ainley, has applied to the City for a demolition permit. The owner wishes to demolish the unoccupied health care building known as the Prittie Building located on the hospital lands at 82 Buttonwood Avenue and to complete the environmental remediation of the site. The location of the building to be demolished on the hospital lands is shown on the map attached as Appendix 1 to this report.

The property is designated Institutional in the Official Plan and is zoned R2 Residential District. Site specific zoning under the provisions of Section 16(197) of Zoning By-law Number 1-83 also apply to the lands to permit the lands to be used for hospital and nursing home purposes.

Discussion:

Further to circulation of this application, the following are the responses from various departments:

Toronto Hydro-Electric Commission has no concerns with respect to hydro supply and advises that if isolation is required at the customer=s transformer station, the customer should call to arrange for an outage.

Operations Services has no concerns with the proposal.

Health Unit has advised that a review of the site plan indicates no Public Health concerns at this time.

Community Services has indicated no conflict with city owned trees at the subject location.

Fire Department has advised that they have no objection to the demolition, however, they request that a report be provided by the hospital outlining the continuation of emergency systems, during and after demolition, for the remainder of the buildings on site.

Community Planning Division, West District, has advised that the property is designated Institutional in the Official Plan and is zoned R2 Residential District. Site specific zoning under the provisions of Section 16(197) of Zoning By-law Number 1-83 also applies to the lands to permit the lands to be used for hospital and nursing home purposes. The building was previously used for health care purposes but is now vacant. West Park Hospital has advised that an application has been made to the Ministry of Health for approval of an allocation for long term care beds for the hospital site. If approved the hospital would initiate applications for approval of a long term care facility and this demolition site would be the preferred location for the facility.

In light of the potential future development application, the Division has no objection to the approval of the demolition permit application and requires no conditions of approval relating to beautification. In the event that development does not proceed on the site as anticipated, it is expected that West Park Hospital will improve the appearance to compliment the rest of its landscaped grounds.

The Community Planning Division suggests that the applicant be advised that Site Plan Control will apply to the development of the site, subject to the provisions of the City of York Site Plan Control By-law.

Local Historical Committees have been notified regarding the demolition permit application.

City Wide Issues:

None

Conclusions:

The owner wishes to proceed with the redevelopment of the property, and in particular the lands on which the subject building sits. In order to proceed in a timely manner, it is necessary to obtain a demolition permit for the building. Approval of the application will allow this department to release the demolition permit. This will enable the preparation of the site for the potential development of a long term care facility following an allocation of long term care beds from the Ministry of Health which is anticipated in the near future . No conditions relating to beautification are recommended.

Contact Name:

Bruce Ashton

Director of Buildings and Deputy Chief Building Official,

West District

Phone: 394-8006Fax: 394-8209

(A copy of the aforementioned Appendix 1: Location Map for 82 Buttonwood Avenue was forwarded to all Members of Council with the agenda of the York Community Council meeting of November 12, 1998 and a copy thereof is on file in the Clerk's Department, York Civic Centre.)