This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the properties at 1909 Yonge Street (including entrance addresses at 2 and 2A Davisville Avenue) and 1913 Yonge Street under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.
Constructed circa 1890 and acquired by J. J. Davis in 1896, the J. J. Davis General Store at 1909 Yonge Street is a local landmark that anchors the northeast corner of Yonge Street and Davisville Avenue, and includes frontages on both Yonge Street and Davisville Avenue. As a late-Victorian vernacular mixed-use building, the property represents the early wave of development that took place in Davisville in the late-19th century. The property served as the Davisville post office and general store in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and is valued for its important early role in the community and its associations with J. J. Davis and the Davis family, who were prominent early residents of Davisville. The property retains its original scale, form, and massing as a 2-storey brick building with a cross-gabled roof.
Dating to circa 1927, the property at 1913 Yonge Street is a representative example of a main street commercial row building from the interwar period. It retains its original scale, form, and massing as a two-storey brick building with a flat roof, along with original architectural details above its storefront.
The property at 1909 Yonge Street was listed on the City of Toronto's Inventory of Heritage Properties (now known as the Heritage Register) on November 21 and 23, 1973, while the property at 1913 Yonge Street was listed on the Heritage Register on October 2, 2017 as part of the Midtown in Focus - Phase 1 "batch listing".
Following city staff's additional research and evaluation under Ontario Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria prescribed for municipal designation, it has been determined that the properties at 1909 Yonge Street and 1913 Yonge Street meet Ontario Regulation 9/06, the criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the
Ontario Heritage Act for the following reasons: 1909 Yonge Street for its design/physical, associative and contextual values, and 1913 Yonge Street for its design/physical, and contextual values.
On September 8, 2020, a Zoning By-law Amendment application was submitted to permit two residential towers at 30 and 45-storeys on a shared 8-storey base building with ground floor retail at 1913-1951 Yonge Street, 17-21 Millwood Road and 22 Davisville Avenue. This proposal includes the listed main street heritage properties at 1913, 1917, 1919, 1919A, 1921 and 1923 Yonge Street, all of which were proposed to be demolished as part of the original development scheme.
Adjacent to the development proposal is the listed landmark J. J. Davis General Store at 1909 Yonge Street, which anchors the northeast corner of Yonge Street and Davisville Avenue.
In June 2019, the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019 (Bill 108) received Royal Assent. Schedule 11 of this Act included amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA). The Bill 108 Amendments to the OHA came into force on July 1, 2021, which included a shift in Part IV designations related to certain Planning Act applications. Section 29(1.2) of the OHA now restricts City Council's ability to give notice of its intention to designate a property under the OHA to within 90 days after the City Clerk gives notice of a complete application.
The application currently under review was deemed complete prior to the new legislation coming into force.
A Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) is required for all development applications that affect listed and designated properties and will be considered when determining how a heritage property is to be conserved. Designation also enables City Council to review proposed alterations or demolitions to the property and enforce heritage property standards and maintenance. |
