Preliminary Evaluation Report - Zoning Amendment

Application - Humber River Regional Hospital

200 Church Street, UDZ-98-05 (York Ref. No. R98-002).

  The Urban Environment and Development Committee recommends the adoption of the following report (April 22, 1998) from the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services, subject to adding thereto the following new Recommendation No. (3):

 "(3)an advisory group be established, composed of the six Councillors representing York Humber, North York Humber and Black Creek, along with representatives of the communities of Keele/Eglinton, Jane and Lawrence, Jane and Finch, a representative of Humber River Regional Hospital and City staff, as appropriate, in order to assess the impact of these planning decisions on the respective local communities;";

 (B)that the Health Services Restructuring Commission be requested:

 (1)to meet with the six local Councillors with regard to the Commission's recommendations for closure of Northwestern Hospital and its expansion plans for the Church Street site and the York Finch site; and

 (2)to designate a member of the Commission to meet with the current working groups that have been formed to comment on the rezoning of the Church Street site;

 (C)that any individuals who are members of the Working Group or of any Advisory Committees and who are currently negotiating, or have negotiated in the past, with Humber River Regional Hospital be requested to declare their interest;

 (D)that the Executive Director and Chief Planner, Urban Planning Division, be requested to facilitate public consultation meetings regarding the expansion of Humber River Regional Hospital at the York Civic Centre and at a North York location (to be determined), and that the official statutory public meeting be held by the Urban Environment and Development Committee at Metro Hall:

 Purpose:

 This is a preliminary evaluation of the application to amend the Zoning By-law to permit an expansion to the existing hospital and to permit a new parking structure at the southeast corner of the site. This site straddles the boundary of the former municipalities of York and North York and therefore all planning reports will be directed to the Urban Environment and Development Committee for consideration.

 Recommendations:

 It is recommended that:

 (1)the Planning Department work with the community, Councillors, and applicant to establish a community consultation process as appropriate; and

 (2)staff be directed to prepare a recommendation report on the application and provide notice of the statutory public meeting at the appropriate time.

 Background:

 Proposal:

 As a result of the provincial Health Services Restructuring Commission directives, the Humber River Regional Hospital is proposing to expand its Church Street facility. The applicant has proposed a two-level addition to the north end of the existing hospital, a three-storey addition to the south end of the existing hospital, and a new two-level parking structure at the southeast corner of the site. Listed below are the pertinent statistics:

 Official Plan:

 North York District:General Institutional which permits institutional uses including hospitals and uses ancillary and complementary to hospitals.

 York District:Institutional which permits the hospital use.

 Zoning:

 North York District:R4 (One-Family Detached Dwellings Fourth Density Zone) subject to site specific By-laws Nos. 11620, 21789, 25569 and 28638 which permit the existing hospital use and built form.

 York District:R1 (Residential Zone One) subject to site specific by-law section 16(249) which permits the existing hospital use and built form.

 Discussion:

 The Health Services Restructuring Committee directed that Humber Memorial Hospital, Northwestern Hospital and York Finch Hospital amalgamate into one corporation (Humber River Regional Hospital) and further directed that Northwestern Hospital be closed. As a result, additional facilities are proposed for the York Finch site and the Church Street site (formerly Humber Memorial) to accommodate the services needed resulting from this reorganization. A rezoning is required for the proposed expansion of Humber River Regional Hospital at its Church Street site.

 The applicant held several community meetings prior to the submission of the zoning amendment application which has raised several planning issues. Upon the filing of the application, planning staff met with representatives of the Pelmo Park Ratepayers Association and the Weston Ratepayers and Residents Association to discuss an appropriate community consultation process.

 As a result of that meeting, two working groups have been set up. One group will be dealing with transportation issues such as parking and traffic and the other working group will be dealing with urban design, built form, setbacks and environmental issues. These groups will meet throughout the process to help to identify issues and to propose options and solutions. General community consultation meetings are also being planned by staff and the residents as part of the process.

 The preliminary issues identified to date are as follows:

 (1)Urban Design:

 The hospital has expanded incrementally over a number of years, each time requiring a zoning amendment. The possibility of the implementation of the North York hospital zone (HOS) on the site which identifies a long term building envelope should be examined. Planning staff have experienced success in implementing the HOS zone at the Baycrest Hospital and Sunnybrook Hospital sites. It was found to provide the simplicity of having one zone on the site while providing certainty for both the hospital and community over the long term.

 The applicant has proposed a three-storey addition to the south end of the hospital which will bring the building closer to Church Street. The other addition to the north end of the hospital is proposed to be two levels which is to accommodate the expansion of the ER and imaging departments. There is concern by some residents about the setback of this addition to the adjacent single-family homes and the overview that may occur. The hospital site is situated in the middle of a residential community composed of primarily single, detached homes. Some of these homes are on the same block as the hospital which limits the ability of the hospital to expand on its site without impacting its neighbours and therefore careful attention will need to be paid to the urban design of the submission including built form and setbacks.

 (2)Traffic:

 The traffic impacts of the program changes in the hospital and the proposed addition will need to be assessed and solutions explored to mitigate any impacts and improve traffic movement to and from the hospital. Council recently approved traffic-calming measures which will be used on Wendell Avenue and Gary Drive for a six-month trial basis. This is a result of community input which illustrates some solutions that could be explored.

 (3)Parking:

 The changing nature of hospitals services from an in-bed stay to an out-patient orientation needs to be addressed by a parking study to ensure that the parking demands can be met for both patients and staff. Opportunities to reduce the parking demands through travel demand management measures such as car pooling and promoting transit use should be explored and may help to address the issues of on-street parking and the capacity of lots.

 A new parking structure has been proposed to accommodate the parking demand; however, there is the issue of the built form impact of such a structure on the surrounding neighbourhood and the impact of the traffic resulting from the new structure. The increase in parking spaces to meet the hospital demand needs to be balanced with the site's ability to accommodate such an increase. Opportunities to improve the site circulation and parking on the site need to be explored.

 (4)Environment:

 The hospital has indicated that it is working towards permanently decommissioning the incinerator which will be replaced by a garbage compactor. The resulting increase in garbage pickup will be addressed at the site plan stage. An environmental assessment of the site has been requested to ensure that the historical presence of the incinerator is not an environmental concern and if it is a problem, that appropriate remediation measures be taken.

 City-Wide Issues:

 The application straddled the boundary between the former municipalities of York and North York and therefore all reporting will be through the Urban Environment and Development Committee.

Conclusions:

 The zoning amendment application for the hospital has proposed an expansion of the Humber River Regional Hospital's Church Street site. The process involved in evaluating this application has a substantial community consultation component as the hospital is an important community resource. A number of preliminary planning issues have been identified in this report which will be addressed in the Recommendation Report, along with any other planning issues that result from the process.

 Contact Names:

 Ms. Karen Whitney, Planner (North York District), 395-7109, Fax: 395-7155.

 Ms. Wendy Johncox, Senior Planner (York District), 394-2869, Fax: 394-2782.

 The Urban Environment and Development Committee submits the following communication (April 28, 1998) from Councillor Frances Nunziata, York-Humber:

 The Humber River Regional Hospital has submitted a rezoning amendment application to City planning staff.

 This application is a direct result of the 'merger' between Northwestern Hospital and the Humber River Regional Hospital. Since this restructuring will cause a significant disruption to the community, I would ask that the attached motion be brought forward to the next meeting of the Urban Environment and Development Committee.

 (Motion attached to the foregoing communication.)

 Moved by:Councillor Nunziata

 Seconded by:Councillor Mammoliti

 WHEREAS the Ontario Government's Health Services Restructuring Commission recommended the closure of Northwestern Hospital and it's 'merger' with Humber River Regional Hospital;

 AND WHEREAS this will result in the expansion of the Church Street site of the Humber River Regional Hospital, which has already submitted a rezoning application to facilitate this expansion;

 AND WHEREAS the Hospital is situated in the planning jurisdictions of the former cities of York and North York;

 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Planning staff of the City be directed to hold the official public meetings on the hospital expansion in both the Civic Centres of York and North York, prior to the applications being submitted to City of Toronto Council for approval;

 AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT since the premature closing of the Northwestern hospital site has contributed to emergency room overcrowding; lack of acute-care beds and a reduction in the quality of health care service to the community; that Council requests Cabinets, through the Minister of Health, to overturn the recommendation of the Health Services Restructuring Commission to close the Northwestern Hospital site.

 The Urban Environment and Development Committee also submits the following communication (May 14, 1998) from Councillor George Mammoliti, North York Humber:

 After consulting with the Planning Department, I wish to submit the accompanying motion, in place of the motion that appeared on page 14, Item number 10(a) of Toronto City Council, Wednesday, May 13, 1998. The motion previously had been submitted to the Urban Environment and Development Committee and I wish to re-submit this amended version of the motion at the next scheduled meeting of the Urban and Development Committee.

 (Motion attached to the foregoing communication.)

 Moved by:Councillor Mammoliti

 Seconded by:Councillor Li Preti

 WHEREAS the Ontario Government's Health Services Restructuring Commission has directed the amalgamation of Northwestern Hospital, Humber Memorial Hospital and York Finch Hospital into one corporation known as Humber River Regional Hospital;

 AND WHEREAS the Commission has directed the closure of the Northwestern site and expansion of the York Finch and Humber Memorial sites;

 AND WHEREAS the premature closing of the Northwestern hospital site has contributed to emergency room overcrowding, lack of acute-care beds and a reduction in the quality of health care service to the community;

 AND WHEREAS the communities surrounding these sites are affected by these changes;

 AND WHEREAS two working groups made up of local residents have been established to address the proposed additions to the Church Street property;

 AND WHEREAS a Preliminary Evaluation report from the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services dated April 22, 1998,regarding the Humber River Regional Hospital is being considered at the May 19, 1998 meeting of the Urban Environment and Development Committee;

 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the recommendations of the Preliminary Evaluation report be amended to include the following recommendation:

 "That an advisory committee be set up composed of the six Councillors representing York Humber, North York Humber and Black Creek, along with representatives of the communities of Keele/Eglinton, Jane and Lawrence, Jane and Finch, and a representative of Humber River Regional Hospital and City staff, as appropriate, in order to:

 (i)review the Health Services Restructuring Commission's rationale for locating specific services and programs at the York Finch and Humber Memorial sites;

 (ii)assess the impact of these program decisions on the respective local communities; and

 (iii)investigate whether the basis for the Health Services Restructuring Commission's directives regarding these program decisions can be re-visited in light of this review, including the decision to close Northwestern Hospital."

 CCCC

 The Urban Environment and Development Committee reports, for the information of Council, also having had before it the following:

 (i)a Committee Transmittal (May 7, 1998) from the City Clerk advising that the North York Community Council at its meeting on May 6, 1998, referred to the Urban Environment and Development Committee a motion by Councillor Mammoliti, North York Humber, regarding the proposed expansion of the Humber River Regional Hospital's Church Street site;

 (ii)two documents filed by Councillor Judy Sgro, North York Humber, viz:

 (a)(May 19, 1998) showing the status of the Working Group; and

 (b)(April 29, 1998) addressed to Mayor Mel Lastman, City of Toronto, from Ms. Darlene L. Barnes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Humber River Regional Hospital, expressing concerns with the proposed motion by Councillor Mammoliti regarding the Hospital's rezoning application.

 The following persons appeared before the Urban Environment and Development Committee in connection with the foregoing matter:

 -Mr. Scott Dudgeon, Vice-President, Planning and Support Services, Humber River Regional Hospital;

-Mr. Jim Darvill, Past President and Member of Working Committees, Pelmo Ratepayers' Association;

-Councillor George Mammoliti, North York Humber; and

-Councillor Frances Nunziata, York-Humber.

 (A copy of Schedules A, B, C, D1 and D2, referred to in the foregoing report dated April 22, 1998, from the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services, has been forwarded to all Members of Council with the agenda of the May 19, 1998 meeting of the Urban Environment and Development Committee, and a copy thereof is also on file in the office of the City Clerk.)