Report to: Development Services
Committee Report
Date: January 15, 2008
SUBJECT: STATUS
REPORT
Applications
by 1691126 Ontario Inc. for Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments to
permit high density residential, retail, and office commercial uses at 7161 and
7171 Yonge Street, northeast
corner of Yonge Street and Meadowview
Avenue
File Nos. OP 06 127138
and ZA 06 127273
PREPARED BY: Ron Blake, Development
Manager, West District
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the staff report entitled
“STATUS REPORT, Applications by 1691126 Ontario Inc. for Official Plan and
Zoning By-law Amendments to permit high density residential, retail, and office
commercial uses at 7161 and 7171 Yonge Street, northeast corner of Yonge Street
and Meadowview Avenue, File Nos. OP 06 127138 and ZA 06 127273”, be received;
THAT a Public Meeting be scheduled
for February 19, 2008 to
consider the applications by 1691126 Ontario Inc.;
AND THAT Staff be authorized and
directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Not applicable
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
There are no financial
considerations associated with this application at this time.
The purpose of this report is to review
the current status of the above-noted applications and to seek authorization to
hold a public meeting.
Property and area context
The subject properties comprise
approximately 4.0 hectares (9.88 acres) and are located at the north east
corner of Yonge Street and Meadowview
Avenue. A
gas bar is located at the southwest corner of the site (7161
Yonge Street).
The remainder of the property contains a large parking lot fronting Yonge
Street, a single storey retail plaza along the
eastern boundary of the property, a stand-alone fast food restaurant at the north
west corner, and a telecommunications tower at the
northeast corner of the site. The site
is bounded by the CN Rail line to the north, Yonge
Street to the west, Meadowview to the south and
existing industrial uses to the east.
Land uses on the west side of Yonge
Street (City of Vaughan)
include:
§
Low-rise commercial retail and auto sales
between Steeles Avenue and
the CN Rail line;
§
High and medium density mixed use residential
and retail, in a variety of high rise (approximately 20 storey) and medium rise
buildings north of the CN Rail line;
§
Low density residential further to the west;
Land uses on the east side of Yonge
Street (Town of Markham)
include:
§
Low rise commercial fronting Yonge
Street between Steeles
Avenue and Clark Avenue
(north of the CN rail line);
§
Low density residential neighbourhoods to the
south east and north east of the site;
§
Commercial industrial uses east of the site
between Doncaster Avenue
and Glen Cameron Rd.
Preliminary Report Initiated Yonge Steeles Corridor Study
The applications for Official Plan
and Zoning By-law Amendments were submitted in August 2006. In November 2006, staff prepared a
preliminary report which identified a number of concerns with the proposal and issues
to be resolved. The report recommended
that staff initiate a land use and urban design study of the Yonge Steeles
Corridor and proceed with consultant selection; that Council endorse the terms
of reference for the Yonge Steeles Corridor Study, which were attached to the
preliminary report; and that staff call a public meeting on the applications
once they have been considered within the context of the Yonge Steeles Corridor
Study and the issues identified in the report have been addressed to staff’s
satisfaction (see Appendix A – Preliminary report).
Work on the Yonge Steeles Corridor
Study began in March 2007. Since that
time, Town staff and the study consultant team have held 3 public open houses
on the study, three meetings with the Working Group, which includes residents,
landowners and developers with interests in the study area, and a series of
meetings with the Steering Committee which includes representatives from Markham,
Vaughan, Toronto
and York Region.
Key Study recommendations presented to DSC
On November 27, 2007, Staff presented the Yonge Steeles
Corridor Study draft recommendations to Development Services Committee. Key elements of the recommendations include:
§
An
average target density of 2.5 FSI along the Yonge Street corridor, with
additional density up to 3.5 FSI at the Yonge Steeles intersection, and 2.0 FSI
on the second block east of Dudley, on the north side of Steeles Ave.;
§
A
requirement for mixed use (residential, office and retail) development within
the southern section of the corridor between Steeles Avenue and the CN Rail
line, with a more predominantly residential character north of the rail line
(although at-grade commercial would be permitted, but not required along Yonge
Street in this area);
§
A
“transition strategy” for the redevelopment blocks between Yonge and Dudley to
reduce potential impacts of new development on existing stable residential
neighbourhoods east of the corridor. Key
elements of this strategy include:
o
Locating
higher densities and building heights adjacent to the Yonge Street frontage of
redevelopment blocks, with a series of medium and low rise buildings located
further to the east at the interface with Dudley and the existing residential
neighbourhood;
o
Maintain
a street wall condition of about 8 to 12 storeys, with taller point towers in the range
of 20 storeys, along the length of each block fronting Yonge Street, with street
wall buildings decreasing in height along side streets, in order to provide
enclosure to the street;
o
Buffering
the eastern edge of the redevelopment blocks (adjacent to Dudley and the
existing residential neighbourhoods to the east) with a series of parks and
linear open space corridors. Depending
on the specifics of the three alternative demonstration plans currently
proposed by the study, between one and four new neighbourhood parks, plus
linear parks, are being considered south of the CN Rail line. The consulting team will be recommending a
preferred demonstration plan in the New Year;
§ The study has also included a review
of servicing and transportation capacity in the surrounding area. Currently, both of these infrastructure
elements are close to, or at capacity, and will require significant upgrading
to accommodate redevelopment and intensification;
§ More specifically, as it applies to
the subject Liberty site, the study has recommended the following:
o
Provision
of a mid-block, public (or publicly-accessible) road, which will serve as a
“main street” through the site, reflect the surrounding block pattern, and help
integrate the site into the existing fabric of the community;
o
Provision
of public (or publicly-accessible) open space on the site, in the form of an
at-grade park or urban square. This
space is intended to provide a transition and buffer with existing residential
neighbourhoods to the south east of the site, and also address the need for
outdoor amenity space for the surrounding residential neighbourhood (as well as
residents of the development itself);
o
Transitioning
building heights and densities within the site, with the highest buildings and
densities along Yonge Street, and CN rail line, and more moderate heights and
densities closer to Doncaster and the south eastern side of the property (and
the stable residential area to the south east);
High density mixed use development proposed
The applicant is proposing to
demolish the existing buildings and redevelop the site as follows (note the
statistics in the table below reflect the most recent revisions to the
development master plan presented by the applicant to Development Services
Committee on December 11, 2007. These
concept plans are attached as Figures 5 and 6):
|
Proposal
|
GFA
|
Height
|
Residential Units
|
|
2 Residential towers fronting
Meadowview (east side of site) linked
by a 2 storey podium
|
44,700 m2
|
24 and 26 storeys
|
|
|
2 residential towers fronting Yonge
Street and Yonge/Meadowview intersection) linked
by a 6 storey podium fronting Yonge street
and a 2 – 3 storey podium to the interior of the site
|
61,138 m2
|
32 and 36 storeys
|
|
|
Total Residential:
|
105,838 m2
|
|
1,200
|
|
1 office building fronting Yonge
street at north west
corner of site
|
14,790 m2
|
10 storeys
|
|
|
Retail commercial in podiums
between residential towers fronting Yonge Street,
on ground floor of office building, and in 2 storey plaza at north east
portion of site
|
20,439 m2
|
|
|
|
Hotel (in portion of
northernmost residential tower fronting Yonge St.)
|
13,842 m2
(180 suites)
|
|
|
|
Total
|
154,909 m2
(3.85 fsi)
|
|
1,200
|
Applicant has file Ontario Municipal Board
Appeals
The subject applications have
recently been appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board by the applicant. Staff intend to continue working with the
applicant towards resolution of the outstanding issues set out below.
DISCUSSION:
The concept plan has been revised
Staff note that the most recent
concept plan, as presented in this report, proposes the following revisions
from the original concept submitted in August 2006:
§
Residential building heights along Meadowview have
been reduced to 24 and 26 storey from 32 storeys in the original proposal;
§
The residential building at the Yonge/Meadowview
intersection has been reduced to 32 storeys from 39 storeys;
§
The residential tower fronting Yonge
Street to the north has been reduced to 36 storeys
from 39 stories;
§
Total residential units have been reduced to
1,200 from 1,380;
§
Retail floor area has almost doubled to 20,439 m2
from 11,165 m2 in the original proposal.
§
The hotel was not part of the original proposal. Part of the northern residential tower
fronting Yonge Street is
now identified as a 180 suite hotel;
§
The floor area and height of the office building
remains unchanged.
§
An increase in parking space to 2,798 (revised
proposal), from 2,410 (original proposal);
§
Surface parking has been reduced to 52 spaces
from 260 spaces in the original proposal;
§
The large interior surface parking lot proposed
in the original concept plan has been replaced with an internal landscaped
square. This square is surrounded by a
row of parking on three sides;
§
More extensive green roofs are proposed on the 2
storey retail plaza and in selected locations on the podium roofs.
Potential benefits of the proposal
Subject to the considerations
noted in the next section, redevelopment of the subject lands presents a number
of positive opportunities, including:
§
Renewal and revitalization of a key underused
site along the Yonge Steeles Corridor;
§
Transit supportive land uses and density,
§
Redevelopment and intensification of this site
aligns with Provincial and Regional policies and the general policy intent of
the Yonge Steeles Corridor Study;
§
Mixed use, street- oriented development fronting
on Yonge Street provides an
opportunity to enhance and support the pedestrian and streetscape environment
along this section of the Yonge Street Corridor,
§
Reuse and environmental clean up of the gas
station at 7161 Yonge Street,
§
Opportunity for green
infrastructure and sustainable building practices.
Planning and technical items need further
consideration
There are a number of items
associated with this proposal that require further consideration and analysis,
as follows:
·
Refinement of the development concept within the
context of the Yonge Steeles Corridor Study recommendations, in terms of the
following:
o
distribution of building heights, massing and
densities on the site;
o
transitions towards the existing stable
residential neighbourhoods to the northeast
and southeast;
o
provision of a publicly accessible internal road
system and sidewalks, and the degree of accessibility/integration with the
surrounding community to the south and south east;
o
provision of public park space or publicly
accessible open space.
·
Resolution of outstanding technical issues,
including:
o
Site Specific Servicing Study;
o
Stormwater Management Report;
o
Noise impact study;
o
Comprehensive transportation analysis;
o
Parking study in support of the proposed parking
reduction
o
Shadow impact study;
o
A geotechnical report to address the slope
stabilization of the existing slope embankment abutting the CN Rail line;
o
On-site and area wide servicing constraints and
infrastructure improvements;
o
Environmental Remediation Study pertaining to
the decommissioning of the Gas Station; and
o
Other studies as they are identified during the
detailed review of the application.
o
The above items were identified in the November
2006 Preliminary Report. To date,
technical reports addressing these items have not been submitted by the
applicant.
A public meeting should be scheduled
The Yonge
Steeles Corridor Study is now at a stage where draft recommendations have been
presented to the Development Services Committee for review and comments. A final recommendation report on the Yonge
Steeles Corridor Study is anticipated in the new year. At this point, staff are of the opinion that
the study recommendations are sufficiently advanced that a public meeting for
the Liberty application can be scheduled.
Staff and the
Town’s consultants will be meeting with the applicant prior to the public
meeting to continue to discuss the application in the context of the Town’s
Yonge Steeles Corridor Study.
RECOMMENDED
BY: ________________________ ________________________
Valerie
Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P, R.P.P Jim Baird, M.C.I.P, R.P.P
Director, Planning & Urban
Design Commissioner,
Development
Services
Figure 1 – Location Map
Figure 2 – Area Context and Zoning
Figure 3 – Aerial Photograph
Figure 4 – August 2006: Development Concept
Figure 5 – December 2007: Revised Development Concept
Appendix A – November 21, 2006 Preliminary Report
OWNER: 1691126
Ontario Inc.
Contact: Lezlie Phillips
505
Highway 7, Suite 303
Thornhill,
ON L3T 7T1
Phone
– 905-731-8687 x 226 Fax – 905-731-6826
Email: lezlie@libertydevelopment.ca
AGENT: Walker,
Nott, Dragicevic Associates Limited
Contact: Peter Walker
173
St. George Street
Toronto,
ON M5R
2M7
Phone
– 416-968-3511 x 130 Fax – 416-960-0172
Email: pwalker@wndplan.com
File path: Amanda\File 06
127138\Documents\Recommendation Report
FIGURE 1 :