Midtown Zoning Review

A staff report regarding rezoning for select low-rise areas and the recommended zoning by-law amendment is being presented to the Planning and Housing Committee on April 27, 2023.

Zoning by-laws are tools cities use to control the use of land. They are authorized by Section 34 of the Planning Act. They contain criteria and requirements for development and they implement the City’s Official Plan. Zoning by-laws regulate permitted uses, building types, the location, height, density, spacing and character of buildings, as well as parking and loading requirements, among others.

Zoning in some areas of Midtown needs to be revised to implement the City’s Official Plan and the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan. City Council directed the zoning review for Midtown’s 22 Character Areas, as identified in the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan.

Consultation materials on the Midtown Zoning Review and the Built Form Study, including meeting summaries and presentation materials, are available on the Get Involved page.

The Zoning Review includes three discrete components.

  1. The Zoning Background Report helps determine where zoning by-laws need to be updated or where further study may be required.
  2. A Built Form Study completed by a consultant, provides background information to Staff to help establish specific height limits for buildings and appropriate building performance standards.
  3. The Midtown Infrastructure Implementation Strategy was prepared to ensure continued growth is supported by appropriate infrastructure.

 

A diagram showing the relationship between each component. The Zoning Background Report feeds into the Built Form Study, which in turn feeds into the Updated Infrastructure Assessments. All three components feed into a Zoning By-law Amendment.

Midtown Toronto encompasses the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan Area, extending roughly from Blythwood Road to the Kay Gardner Beltline Trail, and from Chaplin Crescent to east of Bayview Avenue.

This 600 hectare area is home to a diverse population, a number of distinct neighbourhoods, a concentration of employment uses, and busy retail streets. There are over 72,000 residents (2021 Census) and 33,000 jobs within Midtown. The area also includes two subway stations on the Yonge-University Line and several planned stops on the future Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

The area is represented by City Councillors for Wards 8 (Eglinton-Lawrence), 12 (Toronto-St. Paul’s) and 15 (Don Valley West).

The Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan introduced the concept of Character Areas for Midtown. In total there are 22 Character Areas that are organized into five groupings. Each grouping includes four or five character areas that share common development objectives or characteristics, such as land use, building types and built form.

Through the Midtown Zoning Review, it is anticipated that revised zoning will be put in place for each of these Character Areas. Revised zoning for the five ‘Villages’ Character Areas was adopted at City Council in June of 2022.

 

A map of the Study Area, identifying the boundaries of each of the 22 Character Areas and their five categories.

Fall 2019 – Midtown Zoning Review launched

Early 2020 – Consultants retained for Built Form Study, to review and make recommendations on built form scenarios to implement the Provincially-approved OPA 405.

2020-2022 – Estimates of population and employment generated

2020-2023 – Ongoing consultation on the zoning review

Fall 2021 – Public consultation on the proposed zoning framework, and status report to Planning and Housing Committee

Spring 2022 – Public consultation on the development of zoning provisions for CR zoned areas, and for rezoning for 5 Character Areas comprised of the Midtown ‘Villages’

June 2022 – City Council adopted zoning provisions for CR zoned areas, and adopted revised zoning for five Character Areas comprised of the Midtown ‘Villages’

January 2023 – Public consultation on rezoning for select low-rise areas

2023 onward – Future Phases of Zoning By-law Amendments

Note: this is a simplified timeline – please see reports for additional detail.

A map which outlines the location of the proposed changes on the South and North side of Eglinton Avenue West A targeted exercise was undertaken to implement the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan in the Avenue Transit Station Area to achieve the planned minimum of 200 residents and jobs per hectare, as set out in the plan.

Today, a variety of residential building types are permitted in the Avenue Transit Station Area Neighbourhoods in the zoning by-law, including townhouses, multiplexes, and apartment buildings. No changes were proposed to those existing permissions. Instead, it is the details of those existing permissions that were proposed to be modified, such as the maximum floor space index, the maximum height (up to 4 storeys), and the maximum depth of a building.

 

Public Meeting:

A public meeting was held virtually on Monday, April 25, 2022. Over 85 people attended the meeting online and using the call-in feature.

Staff Report

A Staff Report, which included a consultation summary and zoning by-law amendment was adopted by City Council on July 19, 2022.