Draft Official Plan Amendment No. ~~~
Authority:
Toronto and East York Community Council Item ~ as adopted by City of Toronto
Council on ~, 20~
Enacted by Council: ~, 20~
CITY OF TORONTO
Bill No. ~
BY-LAW No. ~-20~
To adopt an amendment to the Official Plan for the City of Toronto respecting the lands
known municipally in the year 2015, as 571 to 597 Bloor Street, 738 to 782 Bathurst Street,
26 to 38 Lennox Street, 581 to 603 Markham Street and 588 to 612 Markham Street
WHEREAS authority is given to Council under the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P. 13, as
amended, to pass this By-law;
WHEREAS Council of the City of Toronto has provided adequate information to the public and
has held at least one public meeting in accordance with the Planning Act;
The Council of the City of Toronto HEREBY ENACTS as follows:
1. The attached Amendment No. ~~~ to the Official Plan is hereby adopted pursuant to the
Planning Act, as amended.
ENACTED AND PASSED this ~ day of ~, A.D. 20~.
JOHN TORY
Mayor
ULLI S. WATKISS,
City Clerk
(Corporate Seal)
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City of Toronto By-law No. ~~-20~
________________________________________________________________________
AMENDMENT NO. ~~~ TO THE OFFICIAL PLAN
LANDS MUNICIPALLY KNOWN IN THE YEAR 2015 AS 571 TO 597 BLOOR
STREET, 738 TO 782 BATHURST STREET, 26 TO 38 LENNOX STREET, 581 TO 603
MARKHAM STREET AND 588 TO 612 MARKHAM STREET
________________________________________________________________________
The Official Plan of the City of Toronto is amended as follows:
1. Chapter 7, Site and Area Specific Policies, is amended by adding the following policy
No. ~~~ for the lands municipally known as 571 to 597 Bloor Street, 738 to 782 Bathurst
Street, 26 to 38 Lennox Street, 581 to 603 Markham Street and 588 to 612 Markham
Street.
INTERPRETATION
a) The subject site is comprised of two separate and distinct sites or properties separated by
Markham Street, collectively referred to as Mirvish Village or the ‘Site’. Mirvish Village
is currently designated Mixed Use Areas on the Map 18, Land Use Plan, of the City’s
Official Plan. Mirvish Village will maintain a Mixed Use Areas designation.
Given the size of Mirvish Village, its unique character, its contextual relationship with
Bathurst Station, and its location at the intersection of the Downtown and Central
Waterfront and Avenues designations along Bloor Street West, a site-specific Official
Plan Amendment has been developed to recognize Mirvish Village as unique, particularly
as it relates to other TTC station areas along the Bloor Street corridor.
As a deep site located where Bloor Street transitions from a Downtown designation to an
Avenues designation, the development of Mirvish Village should focus height and density
near Bathurst Station at the corner of Bloor Street West and Bathurst Street. Heights
within Mirvish Village should transition from the Downtown and Bathurst Station area
downward to the Neighbourhood Area to the southwest and the retail main street to the
west. Development of Mirvish Village should contribute meaningful new publicly
accessible open space and provide for dynamic retail activity.
This site-specific policy is intended to guide and shape development within Mirvish
Village. Due to this unique context, the built form permitted for Mirvish Village may not
be appropriate in another location along other segments of the Bloor Street West corridor.
VISION AND MAJOR OBJECTIVES
b) The Site as identified on Schedule 1 shall be developed based on the following principles:
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
Mixed Use Complete Community: development should create an urban hub
encompassing retail, residential and an array of civic spaces and amenities that
meet the day to day needs of residents and visitors and provide ample
opportunities for the various aspects of community life.

Mirvish Village Market: development should include a new market at the heart
of Mirvish Village to recall the hustle and bustle of the Honest Ed’s store,
creating a vibrant community gathering space as an extension of the
development’s public realm.

Vibrant Retail: Anchored by the market, the new Mirvish Village should provide
a home for retail, micro retail start-ups and pop-up retail, reintroducing fine
grained retail along Bloor Street and Bathurst Street with larger retail stores above
and below grade. On Bloor Street and Bathurst Street retail should emulate the
rhythm of small storefronts found in the surrounding area to create a highly
animated pedestrian environment.

Diverse Rental Housing & Daycare: Development should include significant
new housing, which is encouraged to be 100% purpose built rental. Development
is encouraged to include a daycare and a diverse mix of unit types and sizes to
accommodate families.

Public Realm: Development should be built around the market and extend out
into a vibrant pedestrian-oriented public realm that supports community vitality
and prosperity, celebrates the site’s history, and encourages a multitude of
programmed activities.

Heritage Conservation: While there are no designated or listed heritage
resources within Mirvish Village, it has a rich legacy as a site of community,
commerce, and cultural history. Development should identify and conserve
important elements of the Site’s character, including some of the existing
structures on Markham Street, which should be sensitively incorporated with new
architecture and innovative public programming to reimagine and extend the
Site’s legacy as a vibrant urban space.

Leadership in Sustainable Development: Mirvish village is encouraged to
exemplify leadership in best practices to achieve environmental, social, and
economic sustainability, including seeking LEED Platinum ND certification and
Tier 2 of the Toronto Green Standard.

Innovative Transit Oriented Development: Mirvish Village is at the
intersection of two important Toronto arterials, four communities, and is served
by the Bathurst subway station, which includes the Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth)
Subway and the 511 Bathurst streetcar route. Development should accommodate
transit-supportive mixed use intensification that includes public, retail and
residential uses in a pedestrian-first environment.
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
Pedestrian and Cycling Culture: Development should seek to cultivate a rich
active transportation culture for residents and the general public by providing
innovative services, amenities and infrastructure to support walking and biking.
Public realm improvements are encouraged to improve connectivity through the
site, as well as enhancing and expanding spaces for active transportation.

Vibrant Signage and Public Art: Eclectic signage and public art have played an
integral part of the area’s rich history stemming from Honest Ed’s zany signage
and the art colony established on Markham Street in the 1960s. New development
should celebrate and reinterpret the visual vitality and unique character of the area
by creating a vibrant public realm animated by dynamic art installations and a
regular rhythm of signage from small storefronts.

Built Form: Mirvish Village is a unique Site that invites innovation. New built
form should respond to the Site’s context, focusing height and density at the
corner of Bloor Street and Bathurst Street and transitioning down to low-rise areas
to the south and west. Architecture should respond to characteristic retail floor
plate sizes and should integrate with the surrounding fine grained main street
character found on Bloor Street West and Bathurst Street.
PUBLIC REALM
c) A high-quality east-west mid-block laneway will be provided through Mirvish Village to
connect Bathurst Street with Markham Street. A north-south mid-block pedestrian
connection will be provided to connect this east-west laneway south to Lennox Street.
The existing laneway, Honest Ed’s Alley, will be closed.
Improvements to the public realm within the Markham Street right-of-way will create a
high-quality streetscape and pedestrian amenities between Bloor Street to Lennox Street.
An improved, expanded, well-designed, high-quality public realm will be provided along
Bloor Street and Bathurst Street. A portion of Mirvish Village is encouraged to be
secured as publicly accessible private open space.
PARKLAND DEDICATION
d) Mirvish Village is composed of two discrete sites that are separated by Markham Street.
The west site is approximately 4,650 m2 and is subject to a maximum parkland
dedication rate of 10% of the development site, net of any conveyances for public road
purposes. The east site is approximately 10,315 m2 and is subject to a maximum parkland
dedication rate of 15% of the development site, net of any conveyances for public road
purposes.
The requirements for parkland dedication will be secured through land dedication or
other arrangements, including credit for publicly accessible open space.
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RESIDENTIAL UNIT TYPES AND TENURE
e) The development is encouraged to contain units of two bedrooms or more that are suited
to families, and residential tenure is encouraged to be primarily rental housing.
DIVERSE, FINE-GRAINED, GRADE-RELATED RETAIL
f) Retail units are encouraged to mirror the character of fine-grained main street retail in the
surrounding area to create a regular rhythm of entrances, signage and activity that
animates the adjacent public realm. Larger retail floor plates are encouraged to be located
above and below grade, and access to these units should be provided through small atgrade storefronts.
Development is encouraged to include a diverse mix of retail uses to meet the day-to-day
needs of residents, workers and visitors of the area, including the proposed market, micro
retail spaces, restaurant uses, fine-grained main street retail along Bloor Street West and
Bathurst Street, and larger retail uses above and below grade.
BUILT FORM, TALL BUILDINGS AND BUILDING TRANSITION
g) Zoning By-law standards shall be developed to address built form matters such as size of
tower floorplates, stepbacks and setbacks that consider the unique size of the Site and
area context while providing for an appropriate transition to surrounding areas.
Building height is encouraged to be concentrated toward the intersection of Bloor Street
and Bathurst Street, transitioning down in height south and west from this intersection.
Buildings with direct frontage on Bloor Street and Bathurst Street are encouraged to
incorporate building stepbacks where appropriate.
Those portions of buildings with frontage on Markham Street are encouraged to be
smaller in scale, and to incorporate a series of appropriate setbacks and stepbacks at the
rear of the property.
Micro towers, which are the taller portions of buildings above the 11th storey, are
encouraged to have smaller floorplates to respond to the unique area context. Micro
towers fronting on Bloor Street are encouraged to have a maximum floorplate of 650
square metres of gross floor area, and all other micro towers are encouraged to have a
maximum floorplate of 550 square metres of gross floor area.
A minimum facing distance of approximately 25 metres is encouraged between main
walls of micro towers.
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MOBILITY
h) Development of the Site will be planned and designed to support walking, cycling and
public transit as the primary modes of transportation to, from and within Mirvish Village.
The building with the closest proximity to the intersection of Bloor Street and Bathurst
Street will be designed to include a knock-out panel to facilitate a below-grade potential
pedestrian connection to Bathurst Station.
HERITAGE CONSERVATION
i) A multi-faceted heritage conservation strategy is encouraged to identify and conserve
both tangible and intangible aspects of Mirvish Village’s rich history.
Some existing buildings are identified as contributing to the potential cultural heritage
value of Mirvish Village and will be conserved in a manner that ensures their cultural
heritage value or interest is maintained, which may include conservation, in whole or in
part, and relocation. Existing buildings on the west side of Markham Street identified as
contributing to the potential heritage value will be conserved, including 588, 590, 592,
594, 596, and 598 Markham Street, as well as 610 Markham Street which is proposed to
be located to the east side of Markham. Portions of the existing buildings on the east of
Markham Street identified as contributing to the potential heritage value will be
conserved in their approximate locations and integrated into the new architecture of the
development, including 581, 583, 585, 587, 589, 593, 595 and 597 Markham Street.
A combination of public art, signage, public realm improvements, conserved structures,
and the proposed mix of uses are encouraged to celebrate and interpret both tangible and
intangible aspects of Mirvish Village’s unique character.
SECTION 37 IMPROVEMENTS
j) In addition to the matters identified in Section 5.1.1 of this Plan, Section 37
improvements may include matters such as improvements to the public realm along
Markham Street, Bloor Street, Bathurst Street and Lennox Street; identification of
privately owned public space within Mirvish Village; an appropriate contribution of
public art; provision of affordable housing units and/or rental housing; as well as other
matters in consultation with the local community and City Councillor.
PUBLIC ART
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p) Dynamic public art contributions are encouraged on the Site, which should interpret and
celebrate the character and history of Mirvish Village and enhance the quality of spaces
and places that are publicly accessible.
IMPLEMENTATION
q) Development of the Site will not proceed prior to enactment of an implementing Zoning
By-law for the lands that reflect this Site and Area Specific Policy.
Implementing Zoning By-laws will specify density and/or gross floor area limits to
provide for a vibrant mixed-use development.
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