Exempting Non-Profit Housing from Planning

Parkland Dedication Payment Requirements

The Planning and Transportation Committee recommends the adoption of Recommendations (3) and (4) of the confidential report (December 6, 1999) from the City Solicitor which has been forwarded to Members of Council under separate cover.

The Planning and Transportation Committee reports, for the information of Council, having:

(1) recommended the adoption of the joint report (December 21, 1999) from the Acting Commissioner of Urban Development Services and the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism subject to:

(a) amending Recommendation (1) to read:

"(1) Council exempt the following non-profit housing developments from the building fees payable under By-law No. 163-1998 and the parkland dedication requirements under By-law No. 30152 of the former City of North York:

a 24 unit non-profit housing development at 647-657 Lawrence Avenue West;

30 St. Lawrence Street; and

1070 Queen Street East

and, if possible, that the waiving of the permit fees for these projects be changed to a deferral of fees if deemed feasible during the course of discussions, and that the approval of the waiver of fees in no way imply that the project be subject to any lower design landscaping or site plan standards than any private sector project;

(b) deferring consideration of Recommendations (2) and (3); and

in view of the financial impact inherent in Recommendation (1), the Committee forwarded this matter to the Policy and Finance Committee for consideration of the financial impact and report to Council for its meeting on February 1, 2000;

(2) requested the City Solicitor to report directly to Council on the concept of reducing permit and similar fees to a nominal amount rather than waiving or deferring them, and to include in his report any suggested clarifying amendments to the recommendations which he feels may be necessary;

(3) with respect to non City-owned sites, requested the Commissioner of Urban Development Services and the Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services to convene a meeting as soon as possible with interested members of the Planning and Transportation Committee, representatives from the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association, the Co-op Housing Federation of Toronto, the Co-op Housing Foundation - Ontario Branch and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to discuss the establishment of a policy that would defer all planning application fees, building permit fees and parkland dedication payment requirements for non-profit housing projects, and would include the following provisions:

(a) fees and payments would accrue as a liability against the building with interest, all to be recoverable in the event the building is sold or converted to a profit based status;

(b) Council, at the time of sale or conversion, to review conditions to determine if it wishes to continue to defer these fees;

(c) the value of all payments that have been deferred be calculated for each project and the sponsoring agency be made aware of the subsidy being provided by the City in this regard; and

(d) that this be an interim policy to be reviewed after 5 years in order to determine its success in encouraging the construction of non-profit affordable housing;

and requested the Commissioner or Urban Development Services to report to Planning and Transportation Committee on the outcome of this meeting;

(4) requested the Acting Commissioner, Urban Development Services to report to the Planning and Transportation Committee on:

(a) the following motions placed by Councillor Moscoe:

(i) that parkland dedication be on a site-by-site basis accomplished through the regular planning application process; and

(ii) for the purposes of By-law 163-1998, a deferral should be construed as if the full building permit fees have deemed to have been paid;

(b) any appropriate new housing projects he may identify after having conducted a review of new housing projects.

The Planning and Transportation Committee also had before it the confidential report (December 6, 1999) from the City Solicitor, which was forwarded to all Members of Council, under separate cover, for consideration with the agenda of the Planning and Transportation Committee for its meeting of January 10, 2000, and a copy thereof is on file in the office of the City Clerk.