April 14, 1999

To:Toronto Community Council

From:Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services upon application by George Popper, Gabor and Popper, Architects, 150 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 802, Toronto M4P 1E8 on behalf of Brunswick Court Inc

Subject:Preliminary Report on Rezoning Application 199007 for 395, 397, 399 and 403 Brunswick Avenue, and part of 10A Kendal Avenue (Midtown)

Purpose:To introduce a proposal for a combined infill redevelopment and renovation project, including construction of nine midblock townhouses, and seek direction to hold a public meeting.

Source of Funds:

Not applicable

Recommendation:

It is recommended that:

I be requested to hold a public meeting to discuss the revised application, and to notify owners and tenants within 300 metres of the site, area residents associations and the Ward Councillors.

Comments

The Site and Proposal

395-403 Brunswick Avenue comprises four houses used for many years as an administrative, educational and residential complex by the Church Army of Canada. It is immediately north of Loretto College and Private School and located in the centre of the Annex neighbourhood. It is currently owned by the proponent and is vacant. 10A Kendal is involved in this application only to the extent of a land exchange, and the house there would remain on a modified lot. The site is now the subject of four interrelated planning applications:

A rezoning was filed February 26, 1999 to permit an infill development comprising nine three storey, 3-bedroom townhouses at the rear of 395-399 Brunswick, and duplexing of the existing house at 397. The new townhouses would be accessed by a two-way driveway from Brunswick Avenue, located between the houses at 395 and 397. The portion of the site subject of the rezoning is shown as a hatched area on Map 7. This portion is also intended to be the subject of a future application for plan of condominium.

Application has been made to the Committee of Adjustment for severances to separate the "rezoning site" from the balance of the assembled lands, create new lots for existing houses to remain at 395 and 399 Brunswick, and effect a land exchange with 10A Kendal Avenue (B19900342). The house at 399 is intended to remain as a three unit 'converted dwelling house'.

Application to the Committee of Adjustment has also been made for minor variances to the Zoning By-law resulting from this lot reconfiguration, and variances to permit replacement of the house at 403 with a three storey, six 2-bedroom unit apartment building on the current lot (D19900343). This would also be the subject of a future separate application for a plan of condominium.

The scale of the development requires Site Plan Approval, which is the subject of Application 398109 made December 1, 1998, and revised February 26. The Ward Councillors have requested that planning recommendations for Site Plan Approval be made to City Council, rather than processed as a delegated matter.

While this report, and the recommendations above, are made in response to the rezoning application, it will describe the entire development in order to be comprehensive. The statistics on the Application Data sheet herein are similarily comprehensive. However, interested persons should be aware of the separate notice, public hearing (currently scheduled for May 11, 1999) and decision making process for those elements of the redevelopment proposal which are before the Committee of Adjustment.

The application process relative to the various parts of the site is illustrated on Map 7 attached.

Applicable Planning Controls

The site is designated as a 'Low Density Residence Area' by both The Part I, and the 'Annex Part II' Official Plan, and borders an extensive 'Medium Density Residence Area' on the south. It is located within an R2 Z1.0 zone district, which permits most types of residential buildings to a maximum density of 1.0 x the lot area. Several other provisions of either Plan could be cited as having some relevance to this application, notably those dealing with housing intensification, streetscape and heritage building preservation, and the Final Report will address Official Plan policy in detail. However, I believe the current proposal is consistent with the policies of the Plan.

Reasons for the Applications

The rezoning application arises, in general terms, because the Zoning By-law requires all houses to have frontage on the public street, and prohibits 'mid-block" or 'house-behind-a-house' forms of development. The new townhouses proposed would front upon a common private driveway, and be located to the rear of houses at 395, 397 and 399 Brunswick and 10A Kendal. Other general reasons for the rezoning application are the relationship of the existing or proposed buildings to the new lot lines which would result from resubdivision of the assembled lands, producing, in several instances, less than required yards.

A complete listing of specific compliance items for the entire proposal is set out in Appendix A

The associated Committee of Adjustment applications for minor variances similarily results from new lot boundaries which create less than required yards, or to permit the 6-unit apartment at 403 Brunswick, which, as an apartment building, is subject to more restrictive site planning provisions than houses. The severance applications to that Committee are to re-subdivide the land, and effect the land exchange with 10A Kendal.

Development of this scale is subject, in its entirety, to Site Plan Approval and this concerns detailed site planning matters such as landscaping, waste storage and handling, parking and access.

Reasons to Proceed

This proposal deals with a site having an unusual lot configuration due to the large rear yards extending almost to Kendal Avenue. In terms of density, the site as it stands is underdeveloped relative to that permitted by the Zoning By-law and Official Plan, and it has been the subject of redevelopment interest for some time.

The concept advanced by this application has a number of positive features from a planning viewpoint. All lands revert to residential use. The scale of proposed development, and the building densities, are within the maximum permitted by the Official Plan and Zoning By-law. Building heights are within the 12.0m maximum. The plan retains houses of heritage interest, and would improve their appearance by renovation, and by the removal of poor quality additions evidently made to facilitate the past institutional uses. The housing forms proposed are primarily grade related units suitable for families with children, a type which is now a relatively rare addition to the Central Area housing stock.

This plan departs from the original development pattern in the district, a pattern which has already been modified by many redevelopments in the area, particularly to the south of this site, comprising a wide variety of housing types and representing different planning approaches to infill or replacement housing projects which have taken place over the years. The plan also departs from several provisions of the site planning formulae of the Zoning By-law, by locating new townhouses further east on the site behind the existing houses and fronting them upon a driveway/courtyard, rather than a street. This design uses the additional density available while minimizing change to, or impacts upon, the Brunswick Avenue streetscape. It represents an interesting approach to the redevelopment of a site which is otherwise large enough to contain a substantial apartment building within the general parameters of the By-law, if site clearance and new construction was considered as an alternative. However, the impacts of locating new buildings mid-block, even low-rise ones, on the surrounding development, needs to be assessed in detail. This assessment may generate requests for modifications to the site plan.

Such issues are inherent to the planning of residential infill projects in the City, which has typically required individual review and site-specific approval, such approvals often forming a compromise between the standards of the By-law, and the limitations or potentials of an irregular site.

Conclusions:

This application should proceed to the customary process of public information and discussion, including a public meeting in the community, and should be circulated for comments to relevant civic agencies.

Contact Name:Bruce McCormick

Telephone (416) 392-1306

e-mail bmccormi@toronto.ca

Beate Bowron, Director

Community Planning - South District

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APPLICATION DATA SHEET

Confirmed Municipal Address:395, 397, 399, 403 Brunswick Avenue and part of 10 Kendal Avenue.