Report to: Development Services Committee Report Date:
SUBJECT: Up-dated Markham Centre Performance Measures
PREPARED BY:
Extension 6588
RECOMMENDATION:
That the report dated
That Council endorse the revised Performance Measures Document;
That staff finalize the
Performance Measures Document for distribution and use in the review of
development applications within Markham Centre;
And that Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
In
2002, the Markham Centre Advisory sponsored a series of public workshops focussed
on five key themes: Greenlands, Transportation, Built Form, Green
Infrastructure and Public/Open Spaces designed to measure the Town’s success in
developing a mixed-use and environmentally
sustainable downtown known as Markham Centre.
The resulting Performance Measures
Document, which was endorsed by Council in 2003 and incorporated as an appendix
to the Markham Centre Secondary Plan, received an award for Sustainable
Community
In order to ensure the Performance Measures continue to be current and leading edge, staff retained a consultant to assist staff in up-dating the document including consideration of L.E.E.D. criteria (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). A Task Force of Advisory members worked with the consultant and staff to not only address L.E.E.D. correlations, but also simplify, clarify and up-date the performance measures, including ensuring that each performance measure had a corresponding performance indicator.
The revised document has a better balance between sub-sections and is clearer and easier to apply. In addition, the measures have been identified on the basis of a Precinct or Site level of applicability. The Performance Measures Document is an integral component of the review of development applications in Markham Centre. Benchmarking the Performance Measures against L.E.E.D. facilitates the design of energy efficient and environmentally sensitive buildings in Markham Centre, while retaining the quality community components that are so integral to the spirit of the original performance measures as a community-based value document.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of recommended changes to the Markham Centre Performance Measures Document intended to up-date and consolidate the measures, and make them easier to understand, use and implement. The Report also seeks Council’s endorsement of the new measures for use in the review of development applications in Markham Centre.
BACKGROUND:
Markham
In 2002,
the Markham Centre Advisory sponsored a series of public workshops designed to
hear the community perspective on how to best measure the success of developing
a mixed-use and environmentally sustainable downtown known as Markham Centre. The workshops focussed on five key themes
including Greenlands, Transportation, Built Form, Green Infrastructure and
Public/Open Spaces.
The
original Performance Measures emerged from this consultative approach to
developing an evaluation framework for Markham Centre, and synthesized the
comments, recommendations and suggestions into a series of checklists relating
to ‘performance indicators’ for the five key themes. The performance indicators are intended to
support an evaluation procedure for development proposals; ensure the
consistent delivery of the Markham Centre vision for a new downtown; and, play
an on-going role in monitoring the achievement of the vision for Markham Centre. Each development application is reviewed by
the Advisory and staff having regard to the individual indicators, and is ranked
on the basis of a “Bronze, Silver or Gold” level of achievement.
The Performance
Measures Document includes a reporting section which serves an on-going role in
monitoring development activity within Markham Centre and in ensuring
the delivery of the Markham Centre vision. Staff provide annual reports
summarizing the results of the Advisory’s review process, and a commentary is
provided on the Advisory’s review of individual applications in the respective
staff reports.
At the time of their development the performance measures were recognized
as a leading edge approach to integrating the planning vision and community
values into the detailed review and refinement of development applications. The Performance Measures Document received an
award for Sustainable Community
In April
2003, Council endorsed the Markham Centre Performance Measures, which are a
compendium of environmental, design, transit, pedestrian supportive and
community quality criteria to be used in assessing development proposals. Official Plan Amendment 101 added the
Performance Measures as an Appendix to the Markham Centre Secondary Plan (OPA
21). Including the Performance Measures
as an Appendix allows them to be updated, as warranted, through Council
approval, without the need of an Official Plan Amendment.
The
Performance Measures are intended to be a living document, which evolves over
time as development occurs. It is
anticipated that further updates to the Performance Measures will be required
as new information, technology, techniques and standards are developed.
OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:
Performance Measures as an Evaluation Tool
Since adoption, the Performance Measures Document has been employed by the Markham Centre Advisory and staff in the evaluation of a variety of development applications, Precinct Plans, park design and preliminary proposals.
In order to ensure the Performance Measures continue to be not only current, but leading edge, staff retained Tom Emodi of Wright and Young Architects Inc. to work with staff and the Advisory to up-date the Performance Measures and identify a strategy for the relating the document to L.E.E.D. Since the adoption of the Performance Measures, L.E.E.D. (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has evolved to the point where it is gaining much greater acceptance and recognition in facilitating the design of energy efficient and environmentally sensitive buildings.
Review of Performance Measures against L.E.E.D.
From the beginning of the year, a Task Force of Advisory members has been working with Tom Emodi and staff to up-date the performance measures document. It became clear early on in this process that L.E.E.D. could not replace the built form and other quality community components that are so integral to the spirit of the original performance measures as a community-based value document for the creation of an intense, mixed-use and environmentally sustainable community.
It also became clear that the Advisory members were looking to simplify the document and make it more user friendly. Consequently, the work of the Task Force evolved to include a more comprehensive review of the document to not only incorporate L.E.E.D. correlations, but also simplify, clarify and up-date the performance measures, including ensuring that each performance measure had a corresponding performance indicator.
L.E.E.D. Relationships have been Identified
As noted, a L.E.E.D. consultant was retained to examine the options for relating the procedures and requirements of the Performance Measures document with the procedures and requirements of Canada Green Building Council’s L.E.E.D. New Construction – Version 1.0. There is an emerging L.E.E.D. Neighbourhood Development rating system, which, when adopted, may required further review of the Performance Measures Document.
The purpose of benchmarking the
Performance Measures document against L.E.E.D.
is to identify potential opportunities for developments within
To-date, applicants have shown a
strong interest in developing projects in Markham Centre with intent of obtaining
a level of L.E.E.D. certification. Notable
projects include the Honeywell Office building in Remington’s Downtown Markham
project, along with Remington’s first phase residential apartment projects
(Rouge Bijou and Verdale), the Bill Crothers High School for Healthy Active
Living, and Times’ Majestic Court project.
These projects have all been vetted and scored well through the Markham
Centre Advisory.
Performance Measures have been Refined and Simplified
A variety of issues relating to process and the use of the Performance Measures Document were discussed with the Task Force and shared with the Advisory throughout the course of this review, including:
· Rationalizing overlaps between sub-sections
· Eliminating redundancies and duplication
· Rationalizing Performance Indicators to Performance Measures
·
Reformatting the document to identify measures
on a Precinct and Site basis rather than Precinct, Block and
· Providing an applicant’s completed “self assessment” checklist to the Advisory as a starting point for this review
· Earlier and possibly more frequent applicant consultation with the Advisory
A good example of the work undertaken by the Task Force is reflected in the rationalization of the various performance measures. At the outset of this process, there were 153 separate performance measures within the document. This included a significant number of measures which overlapped between various sub-sections. Midway through this review the number of measures was reduced to 80 and a much stronger focus was provided for each sub-section with the consolidation of the measures.
The document as presently configured (Appendix A) has been further refined to contain 60 performance measures, each with corresponding indicators. This has resulted in a document which has a better balance between sub-sections and is clearer and easier to apply. In addition, the measures have been identified on the basis of a Precinct (large comprehensive development proposal) or Site (individual development parcel) level of applicability. As part of this review, the original Open Space theme has been renamed to Public Space to better reflect the nature of the spaces being reviewed (parks, streetscape etc.). A checklist has also been developed for completion by applicants which will facilitate the Advisory’s evaluation of a proposal (Appendix B).
Additional Opportunities for Advisory Input Identified
The discussions with the Task Force also included opportunities for the Advisory to be involved in the review of applications earlier on in the process. Often, applicants will have pre-submission meetings with staff, which may result in a certain level of refinement to their plans. The Advisory, however, was concerned that it was not becoming engaged in the process until much later on, and only following the formal submission of an application.
In addressing this matter with the Advisory, staff will be providing the completed checklist as identified above to the Advisory upon submission. In addition staff have endeavoured to bring preliminary development proposals to the Advisory for their consideration, prior to a formal application having been submitted. This process has recently been applied in the case of the Lonsmount lands on the south side of Highway 7, east of Warden Avenue, and for an incoming office proposal within Remington’s Downtown Markham project.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE: (external link)
Not applicable.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The Performance Measures Document is an integral component of the review of development applications in Markham Centre to ensure the Town’s vision for an intense, sustainable, mixed-use town centre is achieved. Benchmarking the Performance Measures against L.E.E.D. facilitates the design of energy efficient and environmentally sensitive neighbourhoods and buildings in Markham Centre.
ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS:
Not applicable.
ENGAGE 21ST CONSIDERATIONS:
The
up-dated performance measures align with the following key Town of
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
Not applicable.
CONCLUSION:
The revised draft Performance
Measures Document appended to this report reflects the determined efforts of
the Task Force and Markham Centre Advisory to consolidate the categories within
a much simpler and more concise document while identifying potential
correlations with the Canada Green Building Council’s L.E.E.D. system for
rating buildings and neighbourhoods. The
revised performance measures still embody the community-driven, quality and
sustainable community aspects of the original document which is so integral to
achieving the Markham Centre vision.
RECOMMENDED BY:
________________________________ ________________________________
Director of
ATTACHMENTS:
Appendix A – Up-dated Performance Measures Document
Appendix B – Checklist
Q:\Development\Planning\Teams\Markham
Centre\Coordinator\Performance Measures\Performance Measures Report - 2007.doc