STAFF REPORT ACTION REQUIRED

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1 STAFF REPORT ACTION REQUIRED Proposed Area-Specific Amendment to Chapter 694, Signs, General, with Respect to Ricoh Coliseum and BMO Field and a Portion of Exhibition Place Date: July 23, 2014 To: From: Wards: Reference Number: Planning and Growth Management Committee Chief Building Official & Executive Director, Toronto Building Ward 19 Trinity-Spadina PG14008 SUMMARY This report reviews and makes recommendations for an area-specific amendment to Municipal Code Chapter 694, Signs, General (Chapter 694), made on behalf of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLS&E). This item is before the Planning and Growth Management Committee as the signage contemplated is directly related to and impacted by the renovation and expansion of BMO Field. MLS&E proposes an area-specific amendment to Chapter 694 to allow for the alteration of three existing signs and the installation of one new sign face on the existing scoreboard for the stadium. The proposal is a component of the soccer stadium ("BMO Field") expansion and will help to support that project. The existing signs pre-date Chapter 694 and, as a result, are not required to comply with the current standards for lighting intensity and hours of operation. The existing ground sign located near BMO Field has been the subject of many complaints from area residents. The amendments proposed by MLS&E will make all of the signs subject to the provisions of Chapter 694. It is the recommendation of staff that the proposed signs be approved as they represent an improvement when compared with the existing signs. If approved, the proposal will result in signage that will operate with levels of illumination which are below the current requirements in Chapter 694 and which will be turned off between midnight and 6:00 a.m. Sign By-law Amendment - BMO Field & Ricoh Coliseum - Exhibition Place 1

2 RECOMMENDATIONS The Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building, recommends that: 1. City Council approve the request to amend Schedule B, Signage Master Plans and Area Specific Amendments, of Chapter 694, Signs, General, of the City of Toronto Municipal Code, to allow for, within the specified portion of the premises known as Exhibition Place, the display of two third party roof signs with electronic static copy and static copy to be located on the Coliseum Building commonly known as "Ricoh Coliseum", a three-sided third party ground sign with two sign faces displaying electronic static copy and a sign face displaying electronic static copy, located on the north side of the existing scoreboard structure at BMO Field, subject to conditions specified, including the removal of the specified existing signs, and the restriction on illumination to a maximum of 300 nits between sunrise and sunset, and no illumination between 12:00 a.m. (midnight) and 6:00 a.m., substantially in accordance with the draft by-law provided as Attachment 1 to this report; and 2. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to prepare the necessary Bills for introduction in Council to implement the above recommendations, subject to such stylistic and technical changes to the draft by-laws as may be required. FINANCIAL IMPACT The recommendations in this report have no financial impact. DECISION HISTORY Toronto and East York Community Council Report 7; Clause 18 - Variance from Chapter 297, Signs, of the former City of Toronto Municipal Code 2 Strachan Avenue (Trinity- Spadina, Ward 19) ( Toronto and East York Community Council Report 9; Clause 64 - Variances from Chapter 297, Signs, of the former City of Toronto Municipal Code - 2 Strachan Avenue, south-east corner of the Food Building in the CNE Grounds (Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina) ( Sign Variance - BMO Field - 2 Strachan Avenue (170 Princes Boulevard) ( Revised Project Phasing for Renovation and Expansion of BMO Field - by Councillor Mark Grimes, seconded by Deputy Mayor Norman Kelly ( Sign By-law Amendment - BMO Field & Ricoh Coliseum - Exhibition Place 2

3 ISSUE BACKGROUND As part of the renovation to expand the seating capacity of BMO Field, MLS&E has developed a signage strategy to support the expansion. The signage proposed at each of three locations within Exhibition Place will be used to advertise events within Exhibition Place and display advertising for sponsors of those events. In proximity to BMO Field, municipally known as 170 Princes Boulevard, there are two roof signs on the Ricoh Coliseum, municipally known as 100 Princes Boulevard, and a three-sided ground sign, near the Food Building. The ground sign has been the subject of numerous complaints over the intensity of lighting from the older electronic display. The current signs pre-date Chapter 694 and, as a result, have no limits on lighting intensity and time-of-day operation. MLS&E is proposing an amendment to the subject area, to allow the modernization of the two existing roof signs on the Ricoh Coliseum, and the existing three-sided ground sign located near BMO Field, as well as adding one new electronic static sign face on the back of the existing scoreboard at BMO Field. COMMENTS General Description of Proposed Area-Specific Amendment: Exhibition Place is located within the Gardiner Gateway Special Sign District (GG-SSD) and is designated as Open Space within this Special Sign District. Signage is an identifying feature of this Special Sign District where legally existing third party ground signs containing any electronic static or electronic moving sign copy may be converted or replaced with a sign containing electronic static copy. This authority is intended to allow for the improvement or replacement of existing signs, while also responding to the changing nature of the area, as any sign that takes advantage of the conversion regulations would be subject to the regulations of Chapter 694, including a time-limited five-year sign permit and a review of the surrounding land uses. This proposal is to alter four existing sign structures near the BMO Field. This would include: displaying electronic static copy on each of the two signs located on the Ricoh Coliseum; the current BMO Field ground sign to incorporate two sign faces displaying electronic static copy and one sign face displaying static copy; and, one sign face displaying electronic static copy on the BMO Field scoreboard. The proposal would also improve the design quality of the four sign structures, making them more compatible with the architectural attributes of their surroundings. The proposal is in keeping with the goals of the GG-SSD, which provides for existing signage to be upgraded or replaced, while in the process coming into the signage regime established by Chapter 694. Sign By-law Amendment - BMO Field & Ricoh Coliseum - Exhibition Place 3

4 MLS&E proposes that the sign copy displayed on each of the sign faces proposed under the requested amendment, be restricted to advertising or promoting event and facility sponsors related to Exhibition Place, or sponsors of the Toronto FC and the Toronto Marlies. The proposed signs would have night-time levels of illumination 40% below the current requirements of Chapter 694 and significantly more below the existing light levels and would also be limited to displaying static images depicting Toronto FC, its logo and brand images between 11:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. The signs would be entirely non-illuminated between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Replacement of Roof Signs on Coliseum Building: Currently, there are two roof signs located on the Coliseum Building, as depicted in Figures 1 & 2, below. On the east side of the building is a roof sign with three sign faces each displaying static copy identifying the Ricoh Coliseum, mechanical copy dedicated to a current tenant (Toronto Marlies), MLS&E, and Exhibition Place, and static copy dedicated to a current tenant (Toronto Marlies). The overall dimensions of the sign are metres in width by 8.59 metres in vertical length. On the west side of the building the roof sign is the same in size, scale and attributes, except that the mechanical sign face displays electronic moving copy. Figure 1: Easterly-facing Roof Sign - Coliseum Building (post-2004) Static sign face identifying the "Marlies" hockey club Tri-vision sign face advertising sponsors Static sign face identifying the Coliseum Building Sign By-law Amendment - BMO Field & Ricoh Coliseum - Exhibition Place 4

5 Figure 2: Westerly-facing Roof Sign - Coliseum Building (post-2004) Electronic moving sign face advertising sponsors Static sign face identifying the "Marlies" hockey club Static sign face identifying the Coliseum Building MLS&E proposes that each of the existing sign structures be renovated to display new sign faces and re-clad to create a modern effect, which is more complementary to the architecture of the newer elements of the building, particularly the domed-roof element. Both of the signs would be replaced to have displays consisting of two sign faces, an upper sign face containing static copy, dedicated to identifying the Ricoh Coliseum measuring 1.64 metres by metres, exclusive of additional proposed modernizing architectural features; and a lower sign face containing electronic static copy measuring 7.04 metres by metres. Both of the proposed signs will be similar in overall size to the existing signs measuring metres in width by 8.67 metres in vertical length. Diagrams illustrating these details are located at Figures 3 & 4 below. Staff in Heritage Preservation Services, City Planning, were consulted and do not object to the proposal, on the basis that the area-specific amendment contains conditions requiring the signs to display sign copy with advertising dedicated only to sponsorship related to on-site endeavors of MLS&E and Exhibition Place. The Applicant feels that the proposed signage will not have a negative visual impact on nearby residential properties because of the distance that the residential condominium towers are from the proposed roof signs, the reduced levels of illumination that are proposed by the Applicant, and the signs being turned off between midnight and 6:00 a.m. Sign By-law Amendment - BMO Field & Ricoh Coliseum - Exhibition Place 5

6 Figure 3: Proposed Roof Sign East-facing Ricoh Coliseum Figure 4: Proposed Roof Sign West-facing Ricoh Coliseum Sign By-law Amendment - BMO Field & Ricoh Coliseum - Exhibition Place 6

7 Replacement of BMO Field Ground Sign: The sign which is currently erected and displayed as depicted in Figure 5, below, can exist in perpetuity, provided that the sign is not substantially altered. As the sign predates Chapter 694, it is not subject to the new Sign By-law requirements and can continue to operate with no restrictions on the level of illumination and hours of operation. Figure 5: Existing Third Party Ground Sign BMO Field (Easterly and Southerly-facing) The current sign is basic and utilitarian with exposed structural elements and service catwalks. The proposed sign, as depicted in Figures 6 and 7, below, is a modern, streamlined structure that would respect the architectural elements of the nearby BMO Field. Access, catwalks and physical infrastructure required to operate and maintain the proposed sign would be concealed behind the three sign faces. As proposed, the ground sign stands metres high and utilizes the existing singlecolumn base for continued support. The column base would be improved with stylized "fins" at three angles which frame the three sides of the sign. The fins would extend beyond the uppermost portions of the sign faces. Each side would contain two sign faces: one at the uppermost portion, displaying static copy and identifying BMO Field, metres in width by 2.08 metres in vertical length; the other at the lower portion, displaying electronic static copy (or static copy only along the southerly-facing side), metres in width by 7.62 metres in vertical length. Sign By-law Amendment - BMO Field & Ricoh Coliseum - Exhibition Place 7

8 Figure 6: Proposed Third Party Ground Sign BMO Field (Easterly-facing) Figure 7: Proposed Third Party Ground Sign BMO Field Sign By-law Amendment - BMO Field & Ricoh Coliseum - Exhibition Place 8

9 The Applicant believes that the improvements proposed to this sign will significantly reduce the impact on adjacent residential properties to the north, because of the proposed reduced level of illumination and because of the sign being turned off between midnight and 6:00 a.m. New Sign on BMO Field Scoreboard Structure: This proposal seeks to install a new sign face displaying electronic static copy on the north side of the existing scoreboard structure, with dimensions measuring metres horizontally by 8.92 metres in vertically and at a height of metres, as depicted in Figure 8, below. Figure 8: Northerly-facing Sign on Scoreboard Structure BMO Field Currently, the north side of the scoreboard structure contains static copy which identifies BMO Field, Exhibition Place and the professional soccer team that uses BMO Field. Sign By-law Amendment - BMO Field & Ricoh Coliseum - Exhibition Place 9

10 The impact of the new sign face, which is approximately 300 metres away from the closest residential properties to the north, will be mitigated because the allowable illumination is reduced and the sign will be turned off between midnight and 6:00 a.m. as compared to operating all night. CONTACT John Heggie Director and Deputy Chief Building Official Toronto Building Tel: SIGNATURE Ann Borooah, MSc. Pl., MCIP, RPP Chief Building Official and Executive Director Toronto Building ATTACHMENTS 1. Draft Amending By-law 2. Applicant's Submission Package Sign By-law Amendment - BMO Field & Ricoh Coliseum - Exhibition Place 10