Planning and Development Committee

Meeting #:
Date:
Time:
-
Location:
Council Chambers, Civic Centre, 2nd Floor
300 City Centre Drive, Mississauga, Ontario, L5B 3C1
and Online Video Conference
Members
  • Mayor Vacant
  • Councillor Stephen Dasko, Ward 1
  • Councillor Alvin Tedjo, Ward 2
  • Councillor Chris Fonseca, Ward 3
  • Councillor John Kovac, Ward 4, Chair
  • Ward 5 (Vacant), Ward 5
  • Councillor Joe Horneck, Ward 6
  • Councillor Dipika Damerla, Ward 7
  • Councillor Matt Mahoney, Ward 8
  • Councillor Martin Reid, Ward 9
  • Councillor Sue McFadden, Ward 10, Left at 2:59 PM
  • Councillor Brad Butt, Ward 11

Staff Present
Andrew Whittemore, Commissioner, Planning & Building
Katie Pfaff, Legal Counsel
Chris Rouse, Director, Development & Design
Jason Bevan, Director, City Planning Strategies
Ryan Au, Manager, Traffic Planning
Emma Calvert, Manager, Development Engineering and Construction
Sangita Manandhar, Team Leader, Park Assets
Jordan Lee, Manager, Zoning Services
Sharon Mittmann, Manager, Urban Design,
Sacha Smith, Manager Secretariat and Access & Privacy,
Angie Melo, Legislative Coordinator


Councillor Kovac Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:33 PM

Councillor Kovac, Chair, cited the Land Indigenous Statement 

Approved (J. Horneck) 

Sign Variance Application to permit one billboard sign with one electronic changing copy sign face
1034 Eglinton Avenue East 
Applicant: Gilda Collins 

Councillor Fonseca advised that further to discussions with the applicant, she is satisfied with the resolution with respect to the placement of the sign and recommends approval of the application.

  • RECOMMENDATIONPDC-0010-2024
    Moved ByCouncillor C. Fonseca

    That the sign variance application under File 23-9687 VAR (W3), Gilda Collins, 1034 Eglinton Avenue East, to permit one billboard sign with one electronic changing copy sign face (electronic billboard sign) be approved.

    YES (10)Councillor S. Dasko, Councillor C. Fonseca, Councillor J. Kovac, Councillor D. Damerla, Councillor M. Mahoney, Councillor S. McFadden, Councillor A. Tedjo, Councillor J. Horneck, Councillor M. Reid, and Councillor B. Butt
    Carried (10 to 0)

Recommendation Report – Update to the Green Development Standards

Dianne Zimmerman, Manager Environment provided an overview of the Climate Change Action Plan.

Edward Nicolucci, Urban Designer, provided overview of 2012 Green Development Standards, highlighting the EDS Engagement and feedback; GDS Metric benchmarking; consultants; performance metrics; and implementation.

Edward Nicolucci, Urban Designer, responded to the following enquires made by the Committee:

  • Whether the province will be amending the Ontario Building Code to include Green Development Standards across the province;
  • The rationale to make some aspects of the Green Development Standards mandatory rather than voluntary;
  • How the City’s Green Development Standards compare to other municipalities;
  • Providing recognition to developers who adhere to the City’s Green Development Standards;
  • Has there been any level of engagement from the province to the municipalities with respect to an interim building code amendment;
  • Are developers recovering increased construction costs from consumers;
  • Timelines for the final report to come to Council for approval.

The following persons spoke:

  1. Javad Zare, Engineer, System Planning, Alectra, noted that he is gathering information of environmental plans for forecasting future infrastructures required for utilities.
  2. Kenisha Ahuja, Kaneera Uthayakumaran, Nivedya Sudhir and Ottavia Paluch, on behalf of New Majority's Mississauga Team provided an overview of their campaign to have Mississauga join the other municipalities who have adopted Green Development Standards(GDS) and encouraged the Committee to vote to adopt the GDS; and spoke to the youth’s involvement in plans to grow a more affordable and sustainable City of Mississauga.

In response to Councillor Tedjo’s enquiry on how the group engaged youth in the city, Members of the New Majority’s Mississauga Team advised that they canvassed youth online and in person to get support and engage them in reviewing the GDS and provide feedback.

Councillor Tedjo suggested the Team reach out to other youth organizations in the city.

In response to Councillor Horneck’s enquiry regarding next steps, Ottavia Paluch advised that the Team plans to reach out to the youth to encourage them to vote in the City’s By-election.

Councillor Dasko suggested that the New Majority’s Mississauga Team consider making a deputation to the Environmental Action Committee.

  1. Bryan Purcell Bryan Purcell, on behalf of The Atmospheric Fund, provided an overview of their organization and the assistance provided to the City of Toronto and the GTHA in developing their Green Development Standards (GDS), and expressed support for the City of Mississauga’s GDS, staff’s research and consultation process with stakeholder and the community.

In response to Councillor Butt’s request to provide an overview of the benefits of developing Green Development Standards (GDS), Mr. Purcell explained why GDS are good for business.

  1. Ryan Zizzo, CEO, Mantle Developments spoke in support of the Green Development Standards and emphasized the importance of aligning standards with other municipalities and to be mindful of the timeline shift from one tier to the other, that align with the City of Toronto.

In response to Councillor Horneck’s enquiry with respect the timelines align with other municipalities,  Edward Nicolucci, Urban Designer explained that the industry needs to get the process working before moving to align with the City of Toronto, and that there would be an opportunity to review this when a feasibility study is conducted. Sharon Mittmann, Manager, Urban Design, further explained that the City wants to take the opportunity to review various incentives to be part of the program.

  1. Matthew Kerner, Creative Energy spoke in support in of the City of Mississauga adopting Green Development Standards in advance of potential changes to the Ontario Building Code.
  2. Pearl Shore, Volunteer, Never Collide, thanked staff for including bird safe design requirements in the Green Development Standards (GDS). Ms. Shore spoke of the impact that bird/glass collisions has had on the decline of migrating birds; and spoke in support of the City of GDS recommendations.
  3. Chris Ballard, Passive House, spoke in support of the City of Mississauga’s Green Development Standards; and encouraged the City to adopt the report, and to align the City of Mississauga with other jurisdictions across Canada and the World.

Councillor Butt suggested that the written submissions received on this subject matter be shared with the deputants and other environmental consultants that work with developers.

  1. Julius Lindsay, Sustainable Communities Director at the David Suzuki Foundation, acknowledged the youth groups, whose advocacy for change has moved this initiative forward and spoke in support of the adoption of the City of Mississauga’s Green Development Standards.
  2. Mili Roy, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) provided an overview of the public health benefits of implementing Green Development Standards (GDS), and the impacts to public health when Green (GDS) are not implemented.
  3. Michael Mesure, Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) spoke with respect to bird safe guidelines and noted that there are no guidelines in the Green Development Standards that speak to night lighting, and requested consideration being given to include in the bird safe design guidelines provisions for when exterior lights are to be reduced, as well as single family dwellings. Mesure suggested that staff participate in training on what to look for during building inspection approvals when it comes to bird safe compliance.
  4. Rahul Mehta, Founder, Sustainable Mississauga and Co-founder, Stop Sprawl Peel, expressed concern with respect to the timelines of implementation to move from a voluntary to a mandatory system; and noted that the City has the opportunity to start this program in 2024, noting that this is not a city initiative done in isolation, and that developers should be prepared.

In response to Councillor Butt’s enquiry with respect to the process and timing for full implementation and whether the new Mayor would have the opportunity to review the Green Development Standards, Andrew Whittemore, Commissioner, Planning and Building;  explained the strong Mayor’s power that would apply and confirmed that the implementation of the GDS is scheduled for 2025.

  • RECOMMENDATIONPDC-0011-2024
    Moved ByCouncillor J. Horneck
    1. That the mandatory and voluntary Green Development Standards metrics, as detailed in Appendices 4 and 5, respectively, that apply to all residential and non-residential site plan applications described in the body of the report dated March 20, 2024, from the Commissioner of Planning and Building, be approved.
    2. That eleven oral submissions be received.
    YES (9)Councillor S. Dasko, Councillor C. Fonseca, Councillor J. Kovac, Councillor D. Damerla, Councillor M. Mahoney, Councillor A. Tedjo, Councillor J. Horneck, Councillor M. Reid, and Councillor B. Butt
    ABSENT (1)Councillor S. McFadden
    Carried (9 to 0)

Zoning By-law Amendment to Reduce Residential Parking Requirements along the Hazel McCallion Line (north of the QEW)

Tim Lee, Planner, provided an overview of the Zoning By-law Amendment to Reduce Residential Parking Requirements along the Hazel McCallion Line (north of the QEW).

In response to Councillor Tedjo’s enquiries regarding whether there is data on the number of requests for exemptions of parking minimums made by the developers and the actual number of parking spaces created, Tim Lee, Planner advised that one of the considerations for the reduced parking rates was based on applications to the Committee of Adjustment requesting reductions, and further advised that he did not have the data of the actual number of sparking spaces created; however, he would report back to Councillor Tedjo.

In response to Councillor Damerla’s enquiry with respect to the timelines for the Federal government to announce no parking minimums, Jason Bevan, Director, City Planning Strategies, noted that he understands that the federal government would be consulting with the province on matters of provincial and local responsibility prior to making any final announcement. Mr. Bevan further noted that the staff would also be seeking clarity from the federal government on the criteria for boundaries around transit areas and the definition of high order transit.

In response to Councillor Damerla’s enquiry, Tim Lee, Planner, explained the criteria for reduced parking rates for new developments.

In response to Councillor Damerla’s enquiry, Jason Bevan, Director, City Planning Strategies, explained the process and timelines with respect to requests to reduce parking rates below the minimum standard rate.

In response  Councillor Horneck’s enquiry, Jason Bevan, Director, City Planning Strategies advised that the LRT corridor has the most development in city and that data gathered from this exercise will be helpful for future consideration in other areas, and further, Mr. Bevan advised that parking minimums, including reductions and eliminations have been identified by the provincial task force and noted that there is talk that the province may be making further planning changes that may include parking minimums.

In response to Councillor Kovac’s enquiry, Jason Bevan, Director, City Planning Strategies, explained the type of issues and/or parking trends that may warrant a change to the zoning by-law.

In response to Councillor Damerla’s enquiry Andrew Whittemore, Commissioner, Planning and Building, advised that adding a recommendation to review the parking minimums in two years is not necessary as staff would review this initiative as part of practice procedures. Mr. Whittemore, emphasized that the criteria being put forward provides for conditions beyond just transit, to make zero parking work, and noted that the federal and provincial governments ought to consider these criteria to make the initiative successful.

 The following person spoke:

  1. Rahul Mehta, Founder, Sustainable Mississauga and Co-founder, Stop Sprawl Peel, expressed concern that the city did not take the opportunity to eliminate parking minimums along the LRT and named other cities across Canada that have eliminated parking minimums and yet have not experienced a surge in illegal parking, obstructing live lanes or causing traffic congestion.
  • RECOMMENDATIONPDC-0012-2024
    Moved ByCouncillor D. Damerla
    1. That the proposal to amend Zoning By-law 0225-2007 to reduce minimum resident per unit parking requirements for apartments and dwelling units provided by a public authority and non-profit provider along the Hazel McCallion Line, north of the QEW, in accordance with the report dated March 20, 2024, titled “Zoning By-law Amendment to Reduce Residential Parking Requirements along the Hazel McCallion Line”, from the Commissioner of Planning and Building, be approved.
    2. That notwithstanding planning protocol, this report regarding the proposed Zoning By-law 0225-2007 be considered both the public meeting and a recommendation report.
    3. That the implementing Zoning By-law be brought to a future City Council meeting.
    4. That one oral submission be received.
    YES (9)Councillor S. Dasko, Councillor C. Fonseca, Councillor J. Kovac, Councillor D. Damerla, Councillor M. Mahoney, Councillor A. Tedjo, Councillor J. Horneck, Councillor M. Reid, and Councillor B. Butt
    ABSENT (1)Councillor S. McFadden
    Carried (9 to 0)

Proposed Amendments to Mississauga Official Plan and Site Plan Control By-law
File: CD.21-SIT

Ameena Khan, Planner Provided an overview update to the site plan control by-law and alternative notice procedures.

In response to Councillor Fonseca’s enquiry, Jordan Lee, Manager, Zoning Services advised that since the adoption of Bill 97, the province has not provided reasons for reinstating the applicability of cycling control. Mr. Lee further advised that he would look into this matter and report back to Councillor Fonseca.

Jason Bevan, Director, City Planning Strategies, responded to Councillor Fonseca’s enquiry with respect to the impact to special policy areas, advising that there is no impact to special policy areas.

In response to Councillor Fonseca’s enquiry Ameena Khan, Planner, advised that developments with ten units or less are not subject to requirements outlined in the site control by-law which includes matters related to accessibility.

In response to Councillor Dasko’s enquiry, Ameena Khan, Planner clarified the previous practice of providing public notice and an alternative notice practice introduced in the official plan policies to meet statutory requirements by way of digital newspaper and still maintain the option to provide notice in a print newspaper when appropriate.

  • RECOMMENDATIONPDC-0013-2024
    Moved ByCouncillor C. Fonseca

    That the proposed amendments to Mississauga Official Plan and Site Plan Control By-law 0293-2006, as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report dated March 20, 2024 from the Commissioner of Planning and Building, be approved in accordance with the following:

    1.That implementing Official Plan and Site Plan Control By-law amendments be enacted at a future City Council Meeting.

    2. That notwithstanding planning protocol, that this report regarding the proposed amendments to Mississauga Official Plan and Site Plan Control By-law 0293-2006, as amended, be considered both the public meeting and a combined information and recommendation report.

    YES (9)Councillor S. Dasko, Councillor C. Fonseca, Councillor J. Kovac, Councillor D. Damerla, Councillor M. Mahoney, Councillor A. Tedjo, Councillor J. Horneck, Councillor M. Reid, and Councillor B. Butt
    ABSENT (1)Councillor S. McFadden
    Carried (9 to 0)

4:48 PM (Coucillor B. Butt)