The RRA's Annual General Meeting on April 18 featured guest speakers from the City of Toronto's Planning Department. Oren Tamir is the Acting Director of Community Planning in Toronto and Manager of the Community Planning in Midtown Toronto. Kai Zhou is a City Planner with the Midtown Section who works on developments in Yonge-Eglinton Centre.
The following is a summary of the planners' presentation:
Planning in the City is an inverted funnel. It starts with the Province and moves downwards;
Changes to policies and plans happen at the top of the funnel, directing planners.
Review of geographical area of Midtown in Focus plan
- Study took place from 2015-2018, looking to address rapid intensification of development in the Yonge & Eglinton area;
- As a result, a detailed policy document came forth that outlined items for how to proceed with addressing growth plan;
Yonge & Eglinton has been identified by the province as a growth area
77, 141, 170 Roehampton active development applications are the scope of this presentation
- 35-50 stories tall, with base building heights to be 4 stories - Landscaped setback area planned to add greenspace to the area - February8 – Community Consultation held to receive feedback and inputs
November 2022 Community Workshop
- Visioning workshop held, specifically focusing on the interconnectivity of city blocks and mid-block connections - Ideas on integrating green spaces and architectural designs
- Also focus on traffic flow to reduce clogging of city streets
77 Roehampton Avenue
- Applicants have revised proposal based on conversations with City staff
- Waiting on another formal submission based on this revised proposal - Proposal will include a 50 storey tower with a 4 storey podium ▪ Changes relate to the site organization, including a mid-block connection on the east side of the building
▪ This will better align with the mid-block connections on the south side
▪ There will be a new crosswalk on Roehampton to further interconnect the blocks
▪ There will be a connection from Broadway to Roehampton through to Eglinton
• 141 Roehampton Avenue
- Newer application - Feedback has been given by the City that incorporated feedback from the community - 48 storey building upon a 6 storey podium
• 170 Roehampton Avenue
- Main change working with City is to create a much wider setback (0m to 3.5m)
Here is the full presentation made by Oren and Kai.