Guidelines for Determining City-Wide

Interests in Planning Matters.

The Urban Environment and Development Committee recommends:

(1)the adoption of Recommendations Nos. (1), (2) and (4), embodied in the joint report (June 29, 1998) from the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services and the City Clerk, subject to amending Recommendation No. (1) by striking out the words "the Urban Environment and Development Committee" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "CityCouncil; so that Recommendation No. (1) shall read as follows:

"(1)City Council endorse the attached Protocol for dealing with planning matters of City-wide interest and authorize its use by the Chief Planner in determining the appropriate Committee routing process for planning matters;"; and

(2)that with respect to matters abutting Community Council boundaries, a determination as to whether a City-wide or local interest exists, be made only after consultation with all of the affected Councillors.

The Urban Environment and Development Committee reports, for the information of Council, having approved Recommendation No. (3), embodied in the joint report (June 29, 1998) from the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services and the City Clerk, viz:

"(3)this report, and the comments from the Urban Environment and Development Committee, be placed on the:

(a)agenda of the July 17, 1998 meeting of the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team; and

(b)agendas of the July 22, 1998 meetings of all Community Councils;

with a request that any comments from the Special Committee and the Community Councils be forwarded directly to the July29, 1998 City Council meeting.

The Urban Environment and Development Committee submits the following joint report (June29, 1998) from the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services and the City Clerk:

Purpose:

To establish guidelines for determining City-wide interests in planning matters and a Protocol for routing City-wide planning matters through the political decision-making structure.

Financial Implications:

There are no financial implications from this report..

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)the Urban Environment and Development Committee endorse the attached Protocol for dealing with planning matters of City-wide interest and authorize its use by the Chief Planner in determining the appropriate Committee routing process for planning matters;

(2)appropriate amendments be made to the Procedural By-law to give effect to Recommendation No. (1);

(3)this report, and the comments from the Urban Environment and Development Committee, be placed on the:

(a)agenda of the July 17, 1998 meeting of the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team meeting; and

(b)agendas of the July 22, 1998 meetings of all Community Council meetings;

with a request that any comments from the Special Committee and the Community Councils be forwarded directly to the July 29, 1998 City Council meeting; and

(4)authority be granted to introduce the necessary Bills in Council.

Council Reference:

The Toronto Transition Team report recommended that a set of guidelines be developed to help determine what issues may have City-wide implications and should therefore be dealt with by the Urban Environment and Development Committee.

City Council, at its meeting held on June 3, 4 and 5,1998, adopted a motion requesting that the City Clerk and the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services develop a Protocol for processing planning matters and submit a joint report thereon to the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team.

On June 26, 1998, the Special Committee considered a report from the Chief Administrative Officer on Community Council roles and responsibilities and adopted a number of motions supporting Community Council authority for decision-making, and in part stating that:

(a)the City Clerk and the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services report on the Protocol to the July 13, 1998 meeting of the Urban Environment and Development Committee for information and comment directly to the Special Committee meeting scheduled for July17, 1998;

(b)the Special Committee forward the report and its comments to the July 22, 1998 meetings of the Community Councils for information and comments directly to the July 29, 1998 meeting of Council; and

(c)in developing the Protocol, the following principles be considered:

(i)guidelines should provide clarity in interpretation, yet allow for flexibility in application;

(ii)matters shall be considered to be of local interest and shall be processed through the Community Council unless identified by Council as having a City-wide interest;

(iii)decisions regarding how planning matters are routed through Committees of Council should be made as early as possible;

(iv)Community Councils should continue to have input in planning matters identified to be of City-wide interest; and

(v)only one Committee of Council should make recommendations to Council on any given planning matter.

This report presents a Protocol for Council's consideration in response to the Council and Special Committee motions, and is based on the above noted-principles.

Comments:

The land use planning matters facing the City range from strictly local issues to wholly City-wide issues. Somewhere in the middle of this range are planning issues of interest to both the local community and the entire City.

Strictly local issues include:

-all site-specific issues with wholly localized implications; and

-all other planning matters not mentioned below.

Issues with both a local and City-wide context can include:

-cross-community issues (e.g., matters straddling Community Council boundaries);

-key structural elements of the City impacting more than one community (e.g., waterfront trail, major infrastructure elements such as a new transit line);

-features, areas and issues of city-wide significance (e.g., Exhibition Place, Pearson Airport, Union Station, Rouge Park); and

-pioneering and precedent-setting issues and areas (e.g., contaminated sites Protocol).

Strictly City-wide issues can include:

-major policy and research of interest to the entire City (e.g., developing a new Official Plan, establishing a comprehensive zoning by-law);

-thematic issues affecting the entire City (e.g., household and housing stock issues, City-wide issues arising from planning research and monitoring); and

-inter-governmental issues (e.g., legislative changes, Greater Toronto Services Board); and

-administrative matters (e.g., new fee schedule).

For most planning matters it is abundantly clear how they should be routed through the Committee structure to City Council for a decision. An overwhelming majority of planning applications involve site-specific and strictly local community issues and are routed through Community Councils to City Council. To date, this practice has worked well. Council's actions have been consistent with the Community Council recommendations 97 percent of the time.

For certain other planning matters, such as the new Official Plan, it is clear a City-interest is involved and the matter should be routed through the Urban Environment and Development Committee (with Community Council input) to Council.

In other cases, however, specifically those involving both City-wide and local contexts there is potential for confusion and uncertainty over which Committee has jurisdiction over a planning matter. To provide clarity in determining a City-wide interest in planning matters, a Protocol is proposed and attached to this report as Attachment No. 1.

The Protocol identifies the type of planning issues that are of City-wide interest and a process for routing such matters through the Community Councils or the Urban Environment and Development Committee to City Council. These guidelines are only a tool for determining the political process for making planning decisions. The applicability of the Protocol to specific planning matters would be at the discretion of the Chief Planner (or designate), who would also be responsible for Protocol interpretation.

Guidelines for Determining a City-Wide Interest:

Within the Protocol are the guidelines for determining whether there is a City-wide interest in a planning matter. The guidelines are flexible statements allowing discretion in their interpretation to accommodate extraordinary circumstances. Planning matters will stay local unless an overwhelming City-wide interest can be established.

The guidelines embody two different considerations for determining a City-wide interest: functional and geographic. Functional considerations cover policy and administrative matters which impact all communities within the City and include major policy and research issues, major inter-governmental issues, and administrative matters. Geographic considerations include matters straddling Community Council boundaries and changes to key infrastructure, transportation, and open space systems and publicly-owned property which would affect the City as a whole.

Routing Process:

The Chief Planner's recommendation on a determination of City-wide interest should be made early to establish certainty for the review process. A Preliminary Evaluation Report for official plan and zoning by-law amendment applications would identify any City-wide interest and identify the Committee of Record (Community Council or Urban Environment and Development Committee) through which the application will be routed to City Council. All Preliminary Evaluation Reports, regardless of the recommended Committee of Record, will continue to be presented to Community Councils for their information. A Preliminary Evaluation Report will only be presented to the Urban Environment and Development Committee where a City-wide interest has been determined and the Urban Environment and Development Committee is the recommended Committee of Record.

If a particular application includes both City-wide and local interests, as determined by the Chief Planner, the application will be considered to be of City-wide interest. However, the Protocol recognizes that all City-wide issues have a local dimension requiring local involvement. Every planning application identified to be of City-wide interest will be processed through Community Council(s) to the Urban Environment and Development Committee and finally to City Council. The Protocol ensures that affected Community Councils will have the opportunity to deal with applications of City-wide interest through reviewing the final recommendations staff report, holding community meetings, and making recommendations to the Urban Environment and Development Committee before the Urban Environment and Development Committee holds the statutory public meeting and finalizes its recommendation to City Council.

Attachment No. 2 illustrates the Protocol's process for dealing with applications to amend the official plan(s) and/or zoning by-law(s). The keys steps are outlined below.

Local Interest:

If an application is determined to be of local interest, the affected Community Council is designated the Committee responsible for convening the statutory public meeting and making a recommendation to City Council. In this case, the Preliminary Evaluation Report is only presented to the Community Council and not the Urban Environment and Development Committee. The Urban Environment and Development Committee has no role in the processing of a local planning application. The Community Council may convene community meetings to inform the public and receive deputations on the issues prior to staff preparing the final report on the application. The final report is placed on the Community Council agenda for the statutory public meeting. The Community Council conducts the statutory public meeting with deputations and forwards its recommendation directly to City Council for a decision.

City-Wide Interest:

If an application is determined to be of City-wide interest (including situations where both a local and City-wide interest is determined), the Urban Environment and Development Committee is designated as the Committee responsible for convening the statutory public meeting and making a recommendation to City Council since its mandate is to address issues from a City-wide perspective. When the final recommendations staff report is prepared, it is sent first to the affected Community Council(s) who may convene community meetings to inform the public, receive deputations on the issues, consider the final report, and forward its recommendations to Urban Environment and Development Committee. The staff final report and Community Council(s) recommendation is then placed on the Urban Environment and Development Committee agenda for the statutory public meeting. Depending on the nature of the City-wide issue, the Urban Environment and Development Committee may hold the statutory public meeting in one of the affected communities. The Urban Environment and Development Committee conducts the statutory public meeting with deputations, considers the Community Council(s) recommendations, and forwards its recommendation to City Council for a decision.

The Committee process selected for a particular application (e.g., official plan amendment), City-wide or local, would not prejudice the Committee process for subsequent related applications (e.g.,subdivision application for the same lands). Each application should be assessed in view of the Protocol on its individual merits.

The Protocol can also be used by the Chief Planner to determine the appropriate Committee process for any City Planning Division policy and research matter to be considered by City Council and Committee or Council-initiated amendments to the official plan(s) and zoning by-laws(s). Administrative matters of the City Planning Division would be routed to City Council through the Urban Environment and Development Committee.

The proposed Protocol is a starting point representing current thinking that will be refined over time as the body of experience grows. Although it is intended to capture the range of issues considered to be of City-wide interest, it may be necessary to amend the Protocol in the future as circumstances change. Any amendment to the Protocol must be approved by City Council.

City Council's Procedural By-law will need to be amended to give effect to this report. It is recommended that authority be granted to introduce the necessary Bills to Council.

Conclusions:

A Protocol for determining City-wide interests in planning matters will help to clarify the respective roles of the Community Councils and the Urban Environment and Development Committee. The proposed Protocol, based on the principles endorsed by the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team, provides some certainty to application stakeholders about the political process to be followed. The Protocol does not change the Committee routing process for the majority of planning applications. Most will continue to remain a Community Council responsibility.

The Legal Department has been consulted on this report and the proposed Protocol and concurs with the recommendations.

Contact Name:

Mr. Peter Fay, Metro Hall Office, 397-5260, Fax: 392-8101,

E-Mail: peter_j._fay@metrodesk.metrotor.on.ca.

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Attachment 1

Protocol for Identifying and Processing Planning Matters

of City-wide Interest and Cross-Boundary Issues

July 1998

Purpose:

The purpose of this Protocol is to describe the type of planning matters of City-wide interest and set out a process to route such planning matters through the Committee structure to City Council. The Protocol is rooted in the principle that a planning matter shall be considered to be of local interest and shall be processed through the Community Council unless identified by the Chief Planner (through this Protocol) as having a City-wide interest.

In general, the majority of development applications will be of local interest and will be processed exclusively through Community Councils to City Council for a decision. Even in cases where a City-wide interest is identified for a development application, Community Councils will be involved in processing the application by reviewing the final staff recommendations report, convening community meetings, and making recommendations to the Urban Environment and Development Committee (UEDC) prior to any final UEDC recommendation to City Council.

Application:

The application and interpretation of this Protocol shall be at the discretion of the Chief Planner or designate.

This Protocol applies to planning applications which involve:

-an amendment to an approved Official Plan; and/or

-an amendment to an approved zoning by-law and related applications (e.g., subdivisions) as identified by the Chief Planner.

This Protocol also applies to all planning policy and research work (including transportation and infrastructure projects) and administrative matters of the City Planning Division.

Guidelines for Determining City-Wide Interests:

Planning matters of City-wide interest should meet at least one of the following considerations (examples are provided for illustration purposes only):

(1)Functional Considerations:

(a)Major planning policy and research of interest to the entire City.

(e.g., developing a new Official Plan, establishing a comprehensive zoning by-law, household and housing stock issues such as a City-wide condominium conversion policy, re-use of contaminated sites Protocol, City-wide issues arising from planning research and monitoring);

(b)an external government and agency initiative and/or jurisdictional issue affecting the entire City.

(e.g., provincial and federal legislation, Greater Toronto Services Board, Regional Official Plans, GTA Transportation Plan); and

(c)a City Planning Division administrative matter.

(e.g., applications and fees, harmonized practices, budgets/work program).

(2)Geographic Considerations:

(a)A site specific planning matter straddling more than one Community Council boundary.

(e.g., Shoppers World, Heath Park); and

(b)changes to key infrastructure, transportation, and open space systems and publicly-owned property which would affect the City as a whole.

(e.g., waterfront trail, Pearson Airport transit link, fixed link to Island Airport, UnionStation, Rouge Park).

Process:

(A)Process for dealing with planning applications to amend the official plan(s) and/or zoning by-law(s):

(1)Upon receipt of a complete application:

(a)the application is circulated as per the accepted review process;

(b)the Chief Planner or designate shall consider the application against the Guidelines identified in this Protocol to determine if a City-wide interest exists. In balancing all the issues associated with the application, if both City-wide and local interests are identified the application is considered to be of City-wide interest; and

(c)the Preliminary Evaluation Report on the application shall indicate whether a City-wide interest exists and the recommended routing through the Committee structure to City Council.

(2)If only a local interest is identified in respect to the application:

(a)the affected Community Council becomes the Committee of Record responsible for convening the Statutory Public Meeting and making recommendations to City Council on the application;

(b)the Preliminary Evaluation Report from staff is placed on the Community Council agenda for information;

(c)the Community Council may convene community meetings to inform the public on the application;

(d)the Final Report from staff is placed on the Community Council agenda for consideration and the Statutory Public Meeting; and

(e)the Community Council conducts the Statutory Public Meeting with deputations and forwards its recommendations to City Council for a decision.

(3)If a City-wide interest is identified in respect to the application:

(a)the Urban Environment and Development Committee (UEDC) becomes the Committee of Record responsible for convening the Statutory Public Meeting and making recommendations to City Council on the application;

(b)the Preliminary Evaluation Report from staff is placed on the agendas of the affected Community Council(s) and the UEDC for their information;

(c)the Final Report from staff is prepared and the Community Council(s) convenes community meetings to inform the public on the application and receive deputations on the issues and forward its recommendations to UEDC;

(d)the Final Report from staff and the Community Council(s) recommendations are placed on the UEDC agenda for the Statutory Public Meeting. The UEDC may consider holding the Statutory Public Meeting in one of the affected communities; and

(e)the UEDC conducts the Statutory Public Meeting with deputations and forwards its recommendations and a record of Community Council(s) input to City Council for a decision.

(4)A particular Committee process selected for an application (e.g., official plan amendment) shall not prejudice the Committee process for subsequent related applications affecting the same lands (e.g., subdivision application).

(B)Process for dealing with planning policy and research work of the City Planning Division.

(1)For any City Planning Division policy and research work to be considered by City Council and Committee and Council-initiated amendments to the Official Plan(s) and Zoning By-law(s), the Chief Planner may consider the work and related outcomes against the Guidelines identified in this Protocol to determine if a City-wide interest exists.

(2)For planning matters identified to be of local interest:

(a)the affected Community Council(s) shall be the Committee of Record responsible for convening any public meetings and making recommendations to City Council; and

(b)any reports to City Council shall be processed through the Community Council(s).

(3)For planning matters identified to be of City-wide interest:

(a)the Urban Enviroment and Development Committee shall be the Committee of Record responsible for convening any public meetings and making recommendations to City Council; and

(b)any reports to City Council shall be routed through the Urban Environment and Development Committee, with appropriate consultation with and input from Community Council(s) as determined by the Chief Planner.

(C)Process for dealing with City Planning Division administrative matters.

(1)For City Planning Division administrative matters to be considered by City Council, the Urban Environment and Development Committee shall be the Committee of Record responsible for making recommendations to City Council. Any reports to City Council shall be routed through the Urban Environment and Development Committee, with appropriate consultation with and input from Community Council(s) as determined by the Chief Planner.