May 12, 1999
To:Toronto Community Council
From:Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services
Subject:306 Yonge Street (595 Bay Street), Application No. 999018: Request for approval
of variances from Chapter 297, Signs, of the former City of Toronto Municipal Code, upon
application by Aird & Berlis c/o Kim Kovar, BCE Place, Suite 1800, Box 754, 181 Bay
Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2T9, on behalf of 3020377 Nova Scotia Company, c/o 4040
East Camelback Road, Suite 250, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, 85018. (Downtown-Ward 24)
Purpose:
To review and make recommendations respecting an application for variances to amend the
existing sign permissions for the Atrium Media Tower, as approved by the former City of
Toronto Council on October 6 & 7, 1997.
The property is located on the west side of Yonge Street, one property north of Dundas Street
West. The immediate context of the site is almost exclusively non-residential with the Atrium
on Bay building to the west, Ryerson Polytechnic University to the north east, the Toronto
Eaton Centre to the south, and a variety of commercial and office buildings in the surrounding
area. Immediately to the east, a new retail and entertainment complex "Metropolis" is planned
and to the south a public square.
Source of Funds:
Not applicable.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
- City Council approve Application No. 999018 respecting minor variances from Chapter
297, Signs, of the former City of Toronto Municipal Code to permit amendments to the
existing sign permissions on condition that the three-dimensional sponsor logo not depict
or represent any advertisement which is discriminatory in tone or content, as so defined by
the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.
- The applicant be advised, upon approval of Application No. 999018, of the requirement to
obtain the necessary permits from the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development
Services.
Background:
Since 1994, City Council of the former City of Toronto has approved a number of initiatives
aimed at encouraging and providing for the revitalization of lower Yonge Street, with special
emphasis on the intersection of Yonge Street and Dundas Street. Significant changes to the
existing appearance of this portion of Yonge Street are being undertaken in order to create
new development opportunities and to rebuild the image of downtown Yonge Street as the
major tourist, shopping and entertainment destination within the Greater Toronto Area.
The means through which the planning objectives are to be achieved include improving the
amount and quality of street-related retail space, improving the quality and variety of building
facades and signage and building a new public square.
Numerous businesses in the area have undertaken, or have applied for municipal approvals to
undertake building facade improvements and major renovations and expansions that have
incorporated exciting and dynamic proposals for signage. These include, among others, the
new Gap store with enhanced parapet signage, the Toronto Eaton Centre storefront expansion
which will feature high quality oversized signage and a media tower at its north-east corner,
the Metropolis, a large urban retail and entertainment complex on the east side of Yonge
Street north of Dundas Street, which will feature a media and signage "facade" and the
renovation of the Atrium on Bay building where new retail uses and a 55 metre high media
tower been approved.
Approval has been given for a two storey commercial building on the site which will connect
to the Atrium on Bay. The building is currently under construction and is nearing completion.
On July 23, 1997, the Committee of Adjustment of the former City of Toronto approved a
minor variance to permit a 55 metre high skeletal media tower structure on top of the two
storey building. The Committee's decision was appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board and
was subsequently approved on February 23, 1998.
The purpose of this report is to discuss an application by Aird & Berlis to amend the existing
sign permissions for the Atrium Media Tower. The variances being requested are as follows:
(1)one hundred percent (100%) of the gross surface display area will be utilized for third
party advertising in lieu of the maximum permitted of eighty-five percent (85%);
(2)the sponsor logo three-dimensional sign will not comply with the definition as it will
contain third party advertising; and
(3)the sponsor logo three-dimensional sign will have a length, width and height of 6 metres
in lieu of the maximum permitted of 5 metres.
Comments:
The first variance occurs because the current sign permission allows up to 85% of the signage
display area on the media tower to be utilized for the purposes of third party advertising. This
was to allow an opportunity for the tenants in the Atrium building, some with no frontage at
grade, to secure advertising space on the media tower.
The applicant's solicitor has advised that the average cost of design and production of a
simple back-lit sign box which could be used on the media tower is between $75,000.00 -
$100,000.00. Signs employing the latest in modern technology can cost upwards of $1
million, exclusive of the costs of leasing the space on the tower itself. The applicant's solicitor
further advised that the current retail tenants in the Atrium building are not of the size or type
who typically have advertising programs or budgets for this type of advertising and have, to
date, not been and are not likely in future to become interested or able to invest the funds
necessary to produce an appropriate sign of the design and quality being sought for the media
tower. The applicant's submission is, therefore, that the 85% restriction detrimentally affects
the owner's ability to fully lease the media tower with the high quality innovative signage
desired.
Dynamic signage is an integral part of the entertainment experience of this emerging district
and contributes to the new sense of place which is one of the goals of renewing the street. The
variance is supportable because it will give the landowner more flexibility to fully lease all
available space on the media tower while at the same time not precluding the opportunity for
first party signage. The Atrium on Bay building which occupies an entire city block provides
sufficient opportunities for signage for its commercial tenants and in my opinion the request to
allow the flexibility of up to 100% third party advertising on the media tower is in keeping
with the media tower proposed on the Toronto Eaton Centre site.
The second and third variances have to do with the sponsor logo three-dimensional sign. The
Municipal Code permits a sponsor logo three-dimensional sign to be installed on top of the
media tower as a beacon or crowning element to the tower and restricts this element to a
sculptural depiction of a logo, corporate symbol, corporate name or product of the owners or a
tenant of the Atrium building. The applicant is seeking a variance to expand the definition to
allow for third party advertising on the sponsor logo and to increase the depth and width of the
logo from 5.0 metres to 6.0 metres to accommodate the third party advertiser.
The applicant's solicitor argues that the "first party" limitation on this element is severely
restricting the owner's ability to secure the best sign "tenant" for this key location on the
media tower. She contends that the media tower will ultimately become known by this
crowning element and that this element will also set the standard for the quality and
innovation in construction and design for the signage which will follow below.
Illuminated logos are currently permitted on buildings having a height of 34 metres or greater
to identify the corporate name or owner or main tenant of the building. At issue is whether this
media tower is viewed as having a different urban presence than the adjacent building, the
Atrium. The Ontario Municipal Board, in it's decision approving the media tower, refers to
the media tower as "...not a solid building mass, but an open steel skeleton to permit sign
placement and (which).... will help sustain and enhance this highly visible area that gives the
city its distinctiveness."
The applicant's solicitor was not able to advise my staff, at this time, of the potential
leaseholder or content of the three-dimensional sponsor logo sign. My recommendation
includes a broad condition that the eventual sponsor sign must not depict or represent any
advertisement which is discriminatory in tone or content, as so defined by the Ontario Human
Rights Code and the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards. These phrases have been
included in order to highlight the importance of this element in the future cityscape,
The Atrium Media Tower is a unique and exciting signage component and will contribute to
the distinctiveness of the emerging Yonge and Dundas public spaces from other areas of the
City where the approach to signage is more intensively regulated. In my opinion, the variances
requested are supportable. Further, there are also other opportunities on the Atrium building
for corporate identification.
Given these reasons, I am recommending approval of this application.
Contact Name:Lora Mazzocca
Telephone: (416) 392-0421
Fax: (416) 392-0580
E-Mail: lmazzocc@toronto.ca
Beate Bowron
Director, Community Planning, South District
