Pre-Application Consultation Process

When to Request a Pre-Application Consultation Meeting

You may request a Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) meeting prior to the submission of four application types:

• Official Plan Amendment
• Zoning By-law Amendment
• Draft Plan of Subdivision
• Site Plan Control

If your proposal requires more than one application type, you must request a separate PAC meeting for each application type. Exception: Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment may be combined.

PAC meetings are not applicable to Draft Plan of Condominium, Part Lot Control Exemption, Rental Housing Demolition and Conversion, Telecommunication Towers and Minor Variance applications. The City does not offer a formal pre-application consultation process for these application types.

Pre-Application Consultation Meeting: Fee

You will be required to pay a non-refundable fee (PAC Fee Deposit) of $700 prior to the meeting. Instructions for payment will be emailed to you once your request for a meeting has been approved. If you need to submit more than one application type for your proposal, a separate Pre-Application Consultation meeting and fee is required for each type.

The fee is a deposit, which will be deducted from your development application fee when you submit the development application. If you decide not to submit an application after the meeting, there is no refund for the deposit.

Pre-Application Consultation Meeting: Submission Requirements

When you submit a request for a Pre-Application Consultation meeting, you are required to submit two materials: a Concept Site Plan and Concept Elevations and/or Renderings. Submitting the required materials in accordance with the listed requirements will reduce delays in processing your request.

Required Materials

1. Concept Site Plan, which must include the following:

• • Address, which must match the property address
  • Fully dimensioned site plan drawn to a standard metric scale (legible at 1:100 or 1:200 scale) with the following information:
    • Building footprint(s)
    • Proposed setbacks
    • Proposed stepbacks
    • Proposed building height(s) of the roof and mechanical penthouse height(s) labeled in metres
    • Property lines and curbs
    • Relationship to adjacent properties and buildings (to understand how the proposed development fits within the existing context and any potential impacts)
    • Topographic elevations (showing the slope on a property)
    • Entrances
    • Access/driveway(s)
    • Parking areas
    • Landscaped and hard surface areas
    • Existing trees and/or significant vegetation (existing trees can be shown in solid lines and other vegetation can be in ghost lines)

2. Concept Elevations and/or Renderings, which must include the following:

• • Address, which must match the property address
  • Proposed heights, measured from the established grade, shown in both metres and storeys, and drawn to a standard metric scale
  • Building materials
  • The location of windows, entrances, garbage storage areas, balconies, roof, and outdoor amenity areas

Optional Materials

• Property survey of the site (if available), identifying any known City-owned lands
• Zoning information, such as Zoning Applicable Law Certificate (ZAP)
• Any additional information that may better assist staff in the review of your proposal

File Requirements

• Maximum size of all files combined must be under 30 megabytes
• Flattened vector layers
• Reduced raster image quality to 72 dpi
• Do not include layer information, hyperlinks, bookmarks or comments
• Fonts must be embedded in the drawing
• PDF files must have the following naming convention “File Description_address_st.”
  Examples:
  Concept Site Plan_100main_st.pdf
  Concept Elevations_100main_st.pdf

Pre-Application Consultation Meeting: Review Procedure

Step 1: Request a Pre-Application Consultation Meeting

To request a Pre-Application Consultation meeting, refer to the Application Submission Tool (AST). For technical assistance on using the AST, please email appsubmission@toronto.ca.

When completing the form, provide as much information as possible to allow City staff to scope the discussion at your Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) meeting. You will need to:

• Provide information about the property and your proposal
• Indicate if you are applying to a funding program such as Housing Now, Rapid Rehousing Initiative, Rental Supply Housing Program or Home Ownership Assistance Program through the Housing Secretariat
• Upload the required documents as listed in Pre-Application Consultation Meeting: Submission Requirements
• Indicate the names of all the parties you will bring to the meeting. Note: Should you seek to bring legal representation, please refer to our procedure at the end of this section*

Once you submit the PAC meeting request, you will receive a confirmation number. A Planning Consultant will check your documents against the stated requirements. If any documents are missing or do not meet the requirements, the Planning Consultant will ask you to provide the required information or revise the documents.

After all the required information and documents are received, the Planning Consultant will email you a PAC folder number and instructions on how to pay the PAC fee.

Step 2: Pay the Pre-Application Consultation Fee

To reduce delays in securing a meeting date, the City encourages you to complete payment as soon as you receive payment instructions from the Planning Consultant.

Payment can be made with a credit card online at Toronto Building Payments Online or over the phone at 416-397-5222. You will receive an email to confirm receipt of your payment.

The fee must be paid within sixty (60) business days of receiving instructions for payment. If you fail to make payment within this period, the City will close your PAC file. Once the file is closed, you will need to submit a new request for a PAC meeting through the AST.

Step 3: Schedule Pre-Application Consultation Meeting

A Project Coordinator will contact you to schedule the meeting within ten (10) business days of the confirmation of your payment. You will be given one to two potential meeting times and asked to confirm the times that work for you within one to two business days. Any delay in confirming a time may result in delays to the overall process, as the provided meeting times will not be held longer than one to two business days.

Step 4: Attend Pre-Application Consultation Meeting

A Community Planner will chair the meeting, with members of the core team and, as needed, extended teams and External Agencies and Commenting Partners in attendance.

The core team consists of reviewers from the following units:

• Community Planning
• Urban Design
• Transportation Planning
• Development Engineering
• Transportation Review
• Parks Planning
• Urban Forestry

The extended review team includes other units within City Planning (e.g., Heritage Planning, Strategic Initiatives, Policy & Analysis) and other divisions (e.g., Economic Development & Culture). The Priority Development Review Stream’s team may review developments that have qualified for a funding program through the Housing Secretariat.

You will be given five (5) minutes to make a presentation about the location of the site and the proposal, highlighting any unique features. If more time is required to provide a presentation about the proposal, more than one PAC meeting may be needed.

The City will discuss the general application requirements with you, and you will be given the opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification on application requirements and draft comments provided by the City. Additional discussion may take place regarding the application proposal and any issues or opportunities identified by either you or the reviewers.

The materials you present at the PAC meeting must be identical to the submission materials you provided through the AST as part of your request. Staff will only discuss the submission materials that were provided in advance of the meeting.

After your PAC meeting, you will receive a Planning Application Checklist Package.

Step 5: Receive Planning Application Checklist Package

After the PAC meeting, the Community Planner will email you the finalized Planning Application Checklist Package indicating required materials (in addition to the minimum application requirements set out in the Planning Act, the City of Toronto Act and the Official Plan) for your application submission. If you need clarification on application requirements, you may contact the reviewers assigned to your PAC meeting using the contact information included in the Planning Application Checklist Package. The PAC process is complete once you have attended the meeting and received the Planning Application Checklist Package.

After receipt of the Planning Application Checklist Package, the next step is for you to prepare all the materials that are listed on the Planning Application Checklist for your application submission. You are also required to review the Planning Act, the City of Toronto Act (where applicable) and the Official Plan to ensure you have provided the required application information and materials to support the application(s) in accordance with the City’s Terms of Reference. Please note that at the time of application submission, it remains your responsibility to ensure compliance with all requirements for a complete application as prescribed under the Planning Act, the City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the City’s Official Plan.

If you choose to modify your proposal after the meeting in a way that differs from staff comments and recommendations, a new PAC meeting is encouraged.

* Pre-Application Consultation meetings are intended to be an open, free-flowing discussion on a future development application between applicants and the City and it is not expected or required that legal representation would attend. In rare circumstances where the applicant provides a justification as to why a legal representative should attend, a request of City Legal Services will be made to have a City lawyer also attend the Pre-Application Consultation meeting. The Pre-Application Consultation meeting will be scheduled based on the availability of Legal Services to attend such a meeting. If a legal representative or counsel is present at a pre-application consultation meeting where it has not been pre-arranged, the meeting will be immediately cancelled and rescheduled for another time.

Additional Application Information

The City provides a set of advisory comments and information on policies and guidelines to assist with preparation of your submission material in advance of the application being made.

Advisory Comments

General Application Information

1. Please obtain a Zoning Applicable Law Certificate prior to submitting an application to the City for review. The applicant will be required to review the City’s Zoning By-laws information, which includes an interactive map.
2. Please consult with the Ward Councillor and local community, including neighbours and residents’ associations, prior to formal submission of a planning application to the City.

City-Owned Property

If the City of Toronto has been identified as the owner of any of the lands described in the development proposal, a letter of consent from the City of Toronto, in its capacity as landowner, must be requested from the City of Toronto’s Director of Property Management Services, Corporate Real Estate Management Division. If the City of Toronto grants its consent, the letter of consent from the City of Toronto must be submitted with the application.

Easements

1. Development on and within City easements is not permitted. It is the owner’s responsibility to review any existing easement documentation to confirm what may or may not be permitted within the existing easement lands. The owner may be permitted to relocate City infrastructure and quit claim an easement if determined to be acceptable to the City and as may be permitted by applicable legislation. All costs, including payment of market value for the release of the existing easement, appraisal costs, and construction for any relocated infrastructure and/or new replacement infrastructure will be the sole cost of the owner and will require a separate agreement between the owner and the City.
2. Existing municipal infrastructure on private property that is not proposed to be moved and that is not within an easement or that is within a substandard easement will require a new easement, the costs for which will be the responsibility of the owner. No new buildings or structures are permitted within the existing or new easement area. New easement requirements are provided in the Table 2: Easement widths in the Design Criteria.
3. The applicant must identify any public and private access easements and shared driveways.

Greater Toronto Airport Authority

The site may be subject to the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) land use review if it is in the height compliance review and/or noise-sensitive review area on the GTAA’s land use review maps. Contact landuse.planning@gtaa.com to determine which type of review and fee is applicable to the proposed development. Refer to the GTAA Land Use Policies page for more information. This review should apply when the first application for the proposed site is submitted, regardless of the application type.

Municipal Numbering

Different kinds of developments need different kinds of municipal addressing or municipal numbering. In particular, those developments that result in new properties that do not have a municipal number. Refer to the Municipal Numbering website to complete the Municipal Numbering Application Form and other required documents, if applicable

Pedestrian and Cycling Network Specific

1. Streetscapes must create inviting spaces for pedestrians and encourage walking and cycling.
2. The inclusion of new cycling facilities and improvements to existing cycling facilities shall be considered on all streets.
3. The exact alignment and design of the cycling network may be refined, at the discretion of the City, through the development application review process, an Environmental Assessment as required, street designs or other implementation mechanisms.
4. The design of streets will secure amenities for pedestrians including, but not limited to, wide sidewalks, protected crossings, and pavement markings, seating areas, curb extensions and bump outs.
5. Development will support and create accessible pedestrian and cycling connections to and from surrounding transit stops and at community facilities through the creation of generous publicly accessible open spaces, mid-block connections and supportive building design. This may include but is not limited to consideration for standard bike share stations that are integrated into the design of the public realm or additional onsite parking including but not limited to E-bike share stations.

Streets and Street Networks

1. For development sites adjacent to transportation corridors and not under the City’s jurisdiction (e.g., provincial highways, railways), the applicant must consult with the relevant agency (e.g., MTO, CNR, etc.) to confirm their specific requirements.
2. If new streets are proposed, new streets are required to be designed to capture and control stormwater runoff in accordance with the City’s green infrastructure standards and specifications for the Right-of-Way. New streets should include street tree planting with sufficient soil volumes (minimum 30 cubic metres of soil per tree) to allow the growth of large growing shade trees to maturity and planning municipal servicing and utilities in a manner that is compatible with trees existing within the road allowance.
3. The design of new public and private streets must follow the Development Infrastructure Policy & Standards (DIPS).
4. The design of improvements to existing streets and proposed new streets will prioritize active and transit modes.
5. New streets will be public streets unless otherwise deemed appropriate by the City. Private streets, where they are deemed to be appropriate, will be designed to connect to and integrate into the broader public street network and meet the design objectives for new public streets.
6. All streets must directly connect to the broader public street network at full build out to create a functional street network.
7. The exact right-of-way location, alignment and design of the street network may be refined, at the discretion of the City, through the development application review process, an Environmental Assessment as required, street designs or other implementation mechanisms.

Toronto Hydro

Applicants are encouraged to contact utility.circulations@torontohydro.com prior to submitting an application with details as per the City of Toronto’s Development Guide. This includes, but is not limited to, electrical plans, architectural plans, and electrical demand load requirements. Applications will be subject to Toronto Hydro’s review for compliance with its Conditions of Service, Ontario’s Electricity Act and all applicable Electrical Safety Authority safety regulations and guidelines.

This process enables Toronto Hydro to effectively plan for the connection and advise of any potential electrical or public safety hazards. Refer to the Project Resources section of Toronto Hydro’s Contractors and Developers web page for more guidance and information.

Transportation Demand Management

A Transportation Demand Management Strategy is required to demonstrate how the application complies with all transportation-related requirements and the applicable Toronto Green Standard.

Traffic Control Signals

Where new traffic control signals or modifications to existing traffic control signals are proposed, the applicant must submit functional plans, signal drawings, signal warrants and signs and pavement markings plans for review by Transportation Services. Note that the installation of new traffic control signals is subject to Council approval. The applicant will also be responsible to provide a cost estimate of such work, provide a satisfactory Letter of Credit as a security and will be responsible for carrying out the work.

In addition, where a signal timing modification is proposed, the applicant will be responsible to pay the City for such modification.

Tree Protection

1. Trees on and adjacent to the site must be protected. Development must demonstrate how the protection, provision and maintenance of trees and their growing spaces above and below ground will be achieved. It is the applicant’s responsibility to take all reasonable efforts to protect and retain trees and natural features.
2. At the earliest stages of design, special attention should be given to the retention and protection of existing (healthy) mature trees, located on City road allowance or private property (including neighbouring trees), over the planting of new/replacement trees, as large mature trees provide significantly greater contributions (e.g. environmental, community benefits), than new or small trees.
3. Buildings and underground structures should be designed and built with sufficient setbacks from the property lines, proposed and existing public and private roads to allow for the satisfactory retention and planting of large growing shade trees on private and/or city land as per the City of Toronto’s specifications.
4. The development of land should be designed and built from the earliest stages with sufficient soft landscape area to achieve or exceed the City’s private and public (street) tree planting requirements, as defined under the Toronto Green Standard, Ecology & Biodiversity section.

Utilities

1. The owner is responsible for contacting private utility companies to negotiate temporarily and/or permanently connecting, adding, removing, and/or relocating utility infrastructure and all associated costs.
2. The owner is responsible for providing the necessary quality level utility data as per City Planning’s posted terms of reference.
3. The applicant is required to plot the existing and proposed trees on the architectural drawings together with other utilities. For additional information, refer to Site Plan.

Vehicular Access, Parking, Loading and Pick Up and Drop Off

1. Vehicular and pedestrian access to the site/building including drive aisles must be clearly labelled and dimensioned in accordance with the City’s Design Standards and applicable Zoning By-law.
2. Provide statistics on the number of car parking (categorized under residential, visitors, accessible, shared, EVSE, LEV, etc.), loading and bike parking spaces, including their dimensions in accordance with the City’s Design Standards and applicable Zoning By-law.
3. Loading and servicing facilities for development phases should be appropriately designed and located to minimize impacts on the public realm. Where proposed at grade, they must be enclosed and integrated within the development where appropriate.
4. Curb cuts for all vehicle access, including, but not limited to, loading, servicing and pick up and drop off shall be consolidated for each building and/or development block/phase and access to such areas provided from local streets where possible. Curb cuts are also to be located away from signalized intersections (and stop-controls) where possible.
5. Pick up and drop off facilities for each building and/or development block/phase should be located on site.
6. Loading shall meet Zoning By-law 569-2013 and will be consolidated and minimized within the building (where applicable).
7. Construction access and staging will require a Right of Way Construction Permit. The owner will be responsible for the costs of repairing all damage done to street rights-of-way associated with demolition, construction, and/or occupancy.

Policies and Guidelines
 

The applicant will be required to review the City’s Official Plan to become familiar with the various City-wide policies and to confirm whether there are any Secondary Plans or Site and Area Specific Policies that impact the development site. The planning application submitted to the City will be required to conform to the City’s Official Plan.

Boulevard Requirements

The City of Toronto adopted a ‘Complete Streets’ policy in 2014 that recognizes the varying priorities throughout the City. The development application will need to show that the proposed boulevard and streetscaping for the site balances the needs and priorities of the various users and uses within the right-of-way. Applicants should visit Enhancing Our Streets & Public Realm and review the Design Guidelines prior to submitting an application to the City.

1. If soil cells are proposed in the municipal right-of-way, the drawings must be signed and sealed by two structural engineers to confirm that the design of the sidewalk, together with the underlying soils and soil cell system, soil volume, manufacturer specific soil cell layout, specifications and details shown on the drawings are compliant with the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code.
2. The owner will be responsible for the reconstruction of the entire municipal boulevard(s) along all portions of the site. The site boulevard and right-of-way spaces must be designed in accordance with the City’s Standards, Specifications and Guidelines, and must meet AODA and the City’s Accessibility Guidelines. Streetscaping elements such as trees and soil cells should be located entirely on one side of the property line to clearly establish ownership and future responsibility.
3. A Green Streets approach must be applied to the design and construction of new public streets and lanes, and where feasible, to the reconstruction of existing streets and lanes, to enhance the extent and health of the urban forest, mitigate urban heat island effect, manage stormwater runoff, and mitigate flooding.
4. If the proposal depicts non-standard elements within the municipal right-of-way that are deemed acceptable, the owner will be responsible for the ongoing cost and maintenance of these elements.
5. Encroachments of existing buildings or structures, without any approved encroachment agreement, will require authorization and approval, including a new encroachment agreement, for existing encroachments proposed to remain.
6. Please ensure the submitted Soil Volume Plan clearly demonstrates in plan and section that sufficient soil is available to accommodate street tree planting and that utility conflicts are identified and addressed.

Demolition of Rental Units and Rental Dwelling Rooms

The City of Toronto’s Official Plan includes requirements for tenant relocation and assistance, and in some instances, replacement rental housing for developments proposing to demolish rental dwelling units and/or dwelling rooms:

1. If the proposal includes the demolition of at least one and less than six residential rental units, refer to tenant relocation and assistance provisions in Section 3.2.1, Policy 12 of the Official Plan.
2. If the proposal includes demolition of six or more residential rental units, refer to Section 3.2.1, Policy 6. of the Official Plan and requirements for a Rental Housing Demolition application under Chapter 667 of the Toronto Municipal Code.
3. If the proposal includes demolition of six or more rental dwelling rooms, refer to Section 3.2.1, Policy 11 of the Official Plan.

Design Guidelines

1. The applicant will be required to review the applicable Urban Design Guidelines, including City-wide and Area-Specific guidelines, and be familiar with the Design Standards and Guidelines that will apply to this specific site.
   1. 1. Section 3.1.5 of the Official Plan encourages the inclusion of public art for both public and private buildings and structures. The applicant should also refer to Percent for Public Art Program Guidelines and Public Art Strategy.
      2. A preliminary massing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Study is encouraged for developments that meet the criteria for Moderate and High Trigger during Pre-Application Consultation. Refer to the Pedestrian Level Wind Study Terms of Reference Guide for additional information.
      3. Sustainable Design Features are to be read together with Toronto Green Standard comments. Green/sustainable development features should be integrated at early stages of the design process in design of buildings and the site. Consider the following and clarify how the proposal responds to these considerations:
         • greater contribution to natural habitat;
         • higher tree preservation and tree planting targets (show percentage of building footprint on-site and total soil volume and provide accurate utility information);
         • green infrastructure;
         • innovative energy solutions such as geothermal systems, district energy for large sites, deep lake water cooling;
         • built form, location and orientation that provides thermal comfort for both exterior and interior spaces;
         • lower surface / volume ratio for buildings;
         • lower glazing / solid wall ratio;
         • façade and balcony design responsive to solar orientation;
         • exterior sun shades;
         • thermal breaks for balconies;
         • low carbon construction method and building materials;
         • natural ventilation; and
         • contribution to community wellbeing and resilience.

Land Conveyance

The City of Toronto’s Official Plan identifies where land must be conveyed to the City for right-of-way widening purposes. New streets and parkland are also identified in the City’s Official Plan and/or identified through the Development Review Process. The owner should review and be familiar with the City’s Policy for Accepting Potentially Contaminated Lands to be Conveyed to the City under the Planning Act whenever a land conveyance is required.

1. The owner will be required to submit a Qualified Person Preliminary Statement Letter with the application. All lands to be conveyed to the City will be subject to the City’s conveyance policy and may require an environmental peer review and Record of Site Condition. The owner is responsible for the costs of assessment, remediation and/or mitigation of any environmental contamination on the site, including any peer review required for lands to be conveyed to the City.

Parkland

1. The parkland dedication must comply with Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 415, Article III as well as the Section 3.2.3 of the Official Plan.
2. It is a priority of Parks, Forestry & Recreation to obtain parkland through development to enhance and expand the public park system and expand the City’s Green Space System as per Section 2.3.2.3 of the Official Plan.

Stormwater Management

The application must demonstrate compliance with the City of Toronto Wet Weather Flow Management Guidelines (WWFMG). A Stormwater Management Report is required for Zoning By-law Amendment, Plans of Subdivision and Site Plan Control Applications, regardless of the size or scope of the project; however, the level of effort/detail will depend on the proposed development site. Please refer to Table 7 of the WWFMG for further information related to requirements for various types of development.

If the proposed development is unable to meet all WWFMG requirements, the application must provide a clear rationale detailing the constraints/issues and identifying all options that were considered and investigated. If the development proposes a shared stormwater management facility, a stormwater collection pipe monitoring system will be required to enable monitoring of the stormwater from each component of the development.

Street Naming

If new streets are proposed, please refer to the Street Naming Policy for more information and requirements.

Toronto Green Standard

The Toronto Green Standard (TGS) is Toronto’s sustainable design and performance requirements for new developments.

Applications are required to meet Version 4 of the TGS minimum Tier 1 performance measures with compliance reviewed through the planning approval process.

The applicant is encouraged to pursue a stronger focus on environmental sustainability, targeting higher tiers of the TGS performance measures and consider pursuing the TGS Development Charge incentive program. This is consistent with the Official Plan and Council’s declaration of a Climate Emergency and goal of achieving net zero emissions for new buildings by 2030 or sooner.

1. Prior to making an application to the City under the Planning Act or the City of Toronto Act, 2006, the applicant will be required to be familiar with the Energy Strategy (Net Zero Emission Strategy) Terms of Reference, and the Toronto Green Standard.
2. Meeting the energy and carbon targets requires early consideration and optimization of massing, envelope, and mechanical design specifications. The applicant should engage with their consultants and/or energy developers to assess potential design options that will ensure compliance with the performance requirements and that align with their sustainability ambitions. Refer to the Energy Modelling Guidelines and the Building Energy, Emissions & Resilience for performance measures for the proposed building type for energy submission requirements
3. Tree Planting Areas and Soil Volume: All development should be designed from the earliest stages with sufficient soil volume to achieve or exceed the tree planting and soil volume requirements. A Soil Volume Plan is required for rezoning and site plan control applications. It must include the completion of the soil volume statistics template with the location of utilities as early as the rezoning and subdivision applications to ensure that the proposed building floorplates are feasible. As part of a complete application, the applicant will need to provide a Soil Volume Plan, containing underlays of a Landscape Plan and Public Utilities Plan that shows accurate utility information (i.e., Quality Level A where tree planting locations are proposed).
4. Biodiversity: In the design of green space at and above grade in the project site, there should be a focus on the restoration of native vegetation that supports local biodiversity and pollinator species. The inclusion of native flowering species that bloom at all periods of the growing season help to create a mosaic of habitat nodes and patches across the City, which supports the City’s Biodiversity Strategy.
5. The Green Roof By-law requires green roofs for new buildings and additions with greater than 2,000 m² of gross floor area.
6. When designing the site, refer to the applicable version of the Toronto Green Standard and Guidelines for the Design and Management of Bicycle Parking Facilities.
7. Proposing new surface parking lots are discouraged. However, where the design includes a surface parking lot, refer to the applicable version of the Toronto Green Standard and Design Guidelines for ‘Greening’ Surface Parking Lots.
8. Sustainable Design Features are to be pursued together with Toronto Green Standard requirements. Green/sustainable development features should be integrated at early stages of the design process. Indicate Sustainable Design Features in the Planning Rationale and on relevant submitted plans, drawings, and reports to clarify how the proposal responds to these considerations:

• • provision or expansion of natural habitat;
  • preservation of healthy trees onsite and designing to meet tree planting and soil volume requirements (show percentage of building footprint on-site and total soil volume and provide accurate utility information);
  • green infrastructure to manage stormwater on-site and in the right-of-way;
  • innovative low-carbon energy solutions such as geothermal systems, sewer heat recovery, district energy for large sites, deep lake water cooling;
  • built form, location and orientation that minimizes energy use and embodied carbon, and thermal comfort for both exterior and interior spaces through the following:
    • lower surface / volume ratio for buildings;
    • lower glazing / solid wall ratio;
    • façade and balcony design responsive to solar orientation;
    • exterior sun shades;
    • thermal breaks for balconies;
    • low carbon construction method and building materials;
    • natural ventilation; and
    • contribution to community wellbeing and resilience.

Utilities

1. In accordance with Ontario Building Code, Section 3.2.9.7, the proposal will require a second redundant fire connection if the building height exceeds 84 metres. The second connection must be from a separate watermain where possible. See the Design Criteria for Sewers and Watermains for additional information.
2. The applicant will be required to review and be familiar with the City’s Design Criteria for Sewers and Watermains (Design Criteria), Water Servicing and Metering and Water & Sewer Related Permits and By-laws when preparing the necessary drawings and reports.
3. A recent hydrant flow test must be included with a servicing report. Flow tests can only be completed between April 14 and November 16 and must be arranged through Toronto Water. Additional information is available in Chapter 4 – Watermains of the Design Criteria and online. The applicant will be required to review and be familiar with the City’s requirements for Tree Planting in Hard Surfaces when designing the site.
4. The development proposal must consider groundwater and foundation drainage from the proposed buildings and must comply with the City’s Foundation Drainage Policy and Guidelines.
5. If a Servicing Report is required, the report must demonstrate compliance with the Foundation Drainage Policy and that the City’s water distribution system and sewer network have sufficient capacity to accommodate any proposed increases in flows resulting from the development. A conceptual stormwater management plan must also be included. Analysis of the City’s infrastructure must be in accordance with the Design Criteria and Sewer Capacity Assessment Guidelines. If the City’s infrastructure does not have sufficient capacity for the proposed increases, the application must propose system improvements, which must be paid for and constructed by the owner before issuance of any building permit. Further consultation with the City may be required.
6. The site must be designed to maintain the horizontal and vertical clearances from utilities such as hydro poles, fire hydrant, cabinets and sidewalks and curbs as per the Vertical and Horizontal Clearances Guidelines.

Additional Services

Other services such as General Pre-Application Inquiry and the Zoning Applicable Law Certificate Program are voluntary, yet encouraged, as they provide opportunities for applicants to get a clearer understanding of what application(s) may be needed. Additionally, while voluntary, the Official Plan, Chapter 5.5 encourages applicants to start outreach to Councillors, local communities and other stakeholders before submitting their application(s).

Pre-Application Inquiry

During the early stages of forming your proposal, resources are available to you both online and through informal discussion with the City. Pre-Application Inquiry can take many forms, including, but not limited to:

• Contacting City staff to request:
  • Information about the City’s processes, policies, guidelines and standards, or site-specific information
  • Data and/or research from the City (e.g., utility maps and engineering drawings)
• Searching for general information related to application types, the review process or application requirements in the Development Guide
• Reviewing the Additional Application Information for advisory comments related to the City’s policy framework

When a Zoning Applicable Law Certificate Program is Useful

A Zoning Applicable Law Certificate Program (ZAP) review can help you determine the application type(s) required for a proposal. A ZAP review is a preliminary review of plans to confirm zoning and applicable law compliance.

A ZAP review may:

• Identify the need for a Site Plan Control application or any other applicable law that the proposal may be subject to (e.g., Record of Site Condition, TRCA, etc.).
• Identify areas of non-compliance with the existing bylaw that would result in either the need for a Zoning By-law Amendment or a Variance application.
• Result in a Zoning Applicable Law Certificate, enabling you to apply for a Complete Application for a Building Permit.

While a ZAP review is not required prior to submitting a request for a PAC meeting, you are strongly encouraged to submit one as they provide information about what type of planning or other applications may be required.

Engaging Councillors and Local Communities

Chapter 5 of the Official Plan encourages applicants to consult with Councillors and local communities prior to formal submission of an application. Councillors and local communities should be engaged after the PAC meeting between an applicant and City staff. By engaging with these parties early on:

• You will gain an understanding of the opportunities and concerns that local communities have regarding your proposal.
• You can proactively collaborate with these interested parties sooner in the development review process.

While this consultation is voluntary, it is valuable for all stakeholders and is considered a best practice.