Fuzzy Boundaries

Actually, some of the neighbours lived here when the cow thing was happening, that is why I know about it. One neighbour retells of her screaming on her front porch while herds of cattle were escorted up Symington to the slaughter house. Just some interesting facts.

STAFF REPORT
ACTION REQUIRED
Wallace- Junction Community Improvement Project
(CIP) Area By-law
Date: May 10, 2007
To: Toronto and East York Community Council
From: Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District
Ward: Ward 18 - Davenport
SUMMARY
The purpose of this report is to:
1. Recommend the passing of a Community Improvement Project Area By-law for
Employment Areas in the Wallace-Junction; and
2. Seek Council authorization for community consultation on a draft Community
Improvement Plan for the area.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The City Planning Division recommends
that:
1. City Council adopt the draft
Community Improvement Project
Area By-law for the Employment
Areas within the Wallace-Junction,
shown on the map included in
Attachment 1 to this report, and
authorize the City Solicitor to make
such stylistic and technical changes
to the draft By-law as may be
required;
Staff report for action – Wallace-Junction Community Improvement Project Area By-law 2
2. The Community Improvement Plan be developed as an incentive to maintain and
grow employment in the area;
3. The Community Improvement Plan be coordinated with the financial incentive
program to be developed as part of the Long-Term Employment Land Strategy as
adopted by the Economic Development Committee on May 9, 2007;
4. City Council direct City staff to prepare a Community Improvement Plan and
schedule community consultation meetings together with the Ward Councillor
when appropriate; and
5. City Council authorize and direct the appropriate City officials to give effect
thereto.
Financial Impact
There are no financial implications resulting from the adoption of this report. Staff will
report on the financial implications of the Community Improvement Plan when it is
recommended to Council for approval.
BACKGROUND
Community Improvement Plans (CIP) enable municipalities to provide financial
incentives to property owners and end users, to support improvement and rehabilitation
of areas that have been defined as Community Improvement Project Areas. Without the
adoption of a CIP, a municipality is generally prohibited from providing financial
incentives to businesses, as this may be seen as providing unfair advantages over other
municipalities.
The Planning Act, the City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the Official Plan support the
designation of Community Improvement Project Areas and the preparation of
Community Improvement Plans.
Section 28 of the Planning Act authorizes municipalities in Ontario to develop
Community Improvement Plans. Such plans are intended for areas within municipalities
that have been designated a Community Improvement Project Area because of “age,
dilapidation, overcrowding, and/or the unsuitability of buildings due to any other
environmental, social or economic development reason”. The eligible costs for which
municipalities can now provide grants and loans include: “environmental site assessment,
environmental remediation; development, redevelopment, construction and
reconstruction of lands and buildings for rehabilitation purposes, or for the provision of
energy efficient uses, buildings, structures, works, improvements or facilities”.
The City of Toronto Act, 2006 has replaced the applicable provisions of the Municipal
Act that previously related to the use of Community Improvement Plans approved under
Section 28 of the Planning Act. To encourage the cleanup of contaminated lands, under
Section 333 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 the City may provide property tax assistance
to off-set all or a portion of remediation costs. Additionally, the City may cancel or defer
Staff report for action – Wallace-Junction Community Improvement Project Area By-law 3
the municipal portion of property taxes on eligible properties. The Province may match
the municipal portion of the property tax with the education portion of the property tax
through its Brownfields Financial Tax Incentive Program. Heritage grants are also
contemplated under the City of Toronto Act, 2006 which could apply to the preservation
of industrial heritage buildings in a Community Improvement Project Area.
Toronto's Official Plan has established policies for the creation of new Community
Improvement Project Areas, which are to be prepared to promote the maintenance,
rehabilitation, revitalization and/or conservation of selected lands, buildings and
communities facing challenges of transition, deficiency or deterioration or for any other
environmental, social or community economic development reason. Community
Improvement Project Areas may be identified for areas exhibiting one or more of the
following:
(a) physical decline in local building stock;
(b) conflicts between incompatible land uses or activities;
(c) deficient or deteriorated public infrastructure or amenity;
(d) barriers to the improvement or redevelopment of vacant or underutilized land or
buildings; or
(e) declining social, environmental and/or economic conditions.
THE JUNCTION TRIANGLE
The proposed Junction Triangle Community Improvement Project Area incorporates sites
in the area generally bounded by: Dupont Street to the north, the GO/CNR/CPR rail
corridor to the west, Dundas Street West on the south, and Lansdowne Avenue to the
east. Many of these sites are designated Employment Areas by the Official Plan.
Employment Areas are places of business and economic activity where a range of uses
such as offices, manufacturing, distribution, research and development, media facilities,
and ancillary retail uses are encouraged and permitted. Significant employment sites
including those of Nestle Canada Inc, Scythes Inc, Tower Automotive, and Moloney
Electronic can be found in the area. The Employment Areas are surrounded by other land
uses such as residential Neighbourhoods, Mixed Use Areas, and Parks.
Development criteria for Employment Areas set out in the Official Plan are designed to
contribute to the creation of competitive and highly functional areas by encouraging the
clustering of economic activity with significant value added employment and assessment
and requiring development to mitigate the effects of noise and vibration, and other
environmental factors that could affect the amenity of neighbouring areas.
This area faces two particular challenges in terms of retaining and increasing employment
uses: the environmental contamination of many sites in the area hinder development and
redevelopment for employment purposes due to high clean up costs. As such, these
employment areas have been under pressure to develop into residential uses which
financially would allow for the necessary environmental remediation. Significant
heritage industrial buildings in the area are in need of preservation which also presents a
Staff report for action – Wallace-Junction Community Improvement Project Area By-law 4
significant cost.
To the area’s advantage, the Official Plan anticipates the creation of a future GO Transit
and TTC interchange and/or a GO Rail Station in this general area as per the High Order
Transit Corridor Plan.
Under the circumstances, the setting out of a Community Improvement Project Area and
the preparation of a Community Improvement Plan are the appropriate municipal tools to
assist in the revitalization of this area, while maintaining employment activities. The key
consideration here is the creation of a Community Improvement Plan for the Employment
Areas that is capable of effectively addressing the enhancement of employment and
compatible land use along with environmental strategies to attract appropriate
reinvestment and revitalization in the area.
Next Steps and Implementation
A Draft Community Improvement Plan for the proposed Community Improvement
Project Area will be prepared by City staff. It will be brought forward for community
consultation, and a public meeting under the Planning Act, before staff's
recommendations to Council for approval. The report will include the identification of
appropriate incentives for the area.
It is expected that the need for incentives will diminish as the viability of the area
improves due to development and redevelopment of employment uses. Incentives are
also more likely to have an immediate impact if they are time-limited. Staff will report
with the recommended Community Improvement Plan on the time limits and phasing out
of the incentives, as well as the roles and responsibilities for the administration of each
incentive.
The draft Community Improvement Project Area By-law to delineate the boundaries of
the proposed Junction Triangle CIP is attached to this report as Attachment No.1. The
boundaries may be amended if required when the final Community Improvement Plan is
submitted to Council.
Conclusion
The introduction of a Community Improvement Plan for the employment areas in the
Junction Triangle will encourage the retention and enhancement of employment uses.
The financial incentives resulting from the CIP will provide an impetus to promote
investment in the area. Staff will report back on the proposed incentive package, the
financial implications, and the implementation process when the recommended
Community Improvement Plan is submitted to Council.
Staff report for action – Wallace-Junction Community Improvement Project Area By-law 5
It is proposed that a Community Improvement Project Area By-law for the employment
areas within the Junction Triangle be adopted, and that the Community Improvement
Plan be brought back for consideration by Council following public consultation.
CONTACT
Carola Perez, Planner (Acting)
Tel. No. (416) 397-4647
Fax No. (416) 392-1330
E-mail: cperez@toronto.ca
SIGNATURE
_______________________________
Gary Wright, Director
Community Planning, Toronto and East York District
(P:\2007\Cluster B\pln\teycc070045.doc) - pg
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1: Draft Community Improvement Project Area By-law
Staff report for action – Wallace-Junction Community Improvement Project Area By-law 6
Attachment 1: Draft Community Improvement Project Area By-law
Enacted by Council:
CITY OF TORONTO
Bill No.
DRAFT BY-LAW No. - 2007
To designate the sites with employment uses in the area generally bounded by: Dupont
Street to the north, the GO/CNR/CPR rail corridor to the west, Dundas Street West on the
south, and Lansdowne Avenue to the east, as a community improvement project area, to
be called the Wallace-Junction Community Improvement Project Area.
WHEREAS subsection 28(2) of the Planning Act provides that the council of a
municipality that has an Official Plan containing provisions relating to community
improvement may by by-law designate the whole or any part of an area covered by such
Official Plan as a community improvement project area;
AND WHEREAS Section 5.2.2 of the City of Toronto Official Plan allows for the
designation of community improvement areas and the preparation of community
improvement plans;
AND WHEREAS subsection 28(4) of the Planning Act provides that once a by-law
designating an area as a community improvement project area has been passed, the
council may provide for the preparation of a plan suitable for adoption as a community
improvement plan for the community improvement project area;
The Council of the City of Toronto HEREBY ENACTS as follows:
1. The area shown outlined by heavy lines on the map attached to and forming part of this
By-law is designated as a community improvement project area, to be called the Wallace-
Junction Community Improvement Project Area within the meaning of Section 28 of the
Planning Act.
ENACTED AND PASSED this day of , A.D. 2006.
___________________________ __________________________
Mayor City Clerk
Staff report for action – Wallace-Junction Community Improvement Project Area By-law 7

"Maybe there are some people at the City who used the name as a kind of shorthand for the area, but it has not been used in an official document since the mid-1980s."

Not true. It has been used as recently as May 10th 2007 in official city documents, such as this one that talks about the Wallace Junction Community Improvement Project.

This City page about Richard Mongiat's Murals on Bloor St. refers to the 'hood as the Junction Triangle.

Bylaw amended in 1997 about auto body shops in the Junction Triangle...

This one from April 2009 even uses "South Junction Triangle".

This staff report from Jan 2000 references the Junction Triangle official plans...

...and there are others...

"Perhaps there has been a change at Dig IN. It was just a few years ago that they started an initiative to call the neighbourhood the Wallace Junction. I guess that has been forgotten."

I don't recall DIGIN ever proposing to call this area "Wallace Junction". I'm relatively new to DIGIN (2007), but even looking through the mailing list archives doesn't find any mention of that. back in 2004 they did appear to try to name the broader general neighbourhood in the Dupont / Lansdowne / Bloor / etc. area, but it seems like that was inconclusive. Any DIGIN folks have more details?

The first I ever heard of "Wallace Junction" was from that Wallace Junction Community Improvement Plan (CIP), AKA the "Wallace Junction Focus Area". More details here.

I've already posted why I like the name "Junction Triangle" in previous messages. I may re-post again.

I may also post why I do not like the name too. :-)

"thinly veiled personal attacks" ? Really I don't see any attack on anybody.

The only attack I see is an attack on the fact that many many people still use Junction Triangle as a name for the area. Those that use the name and like it must be "sentimental" or "historically inaccurate" "or what?". Don't they know that using the name is "problematic!". Its obvious who is doing that attacking here.

People keep saying here and at meetings that Junction Triangle is still being used. Period. But somehow this reality seems to be challenged with assertions that it has fallen out of use.

I have always said that I would be open to a new name if one that hit me the right way came up and I still feel that way but I don't think it is fair to marginalize the many people who do use the name Junction Triangle and like it.