Report to: Development Services Committee Report Date:
SUBJECT: PRELIMINARY REPORT
Villarboit Development
Corporation
Application for Zoning By-law Amendment to permit a mixed use centre located at 9999 Highway No. 48
Southeast corner of
Highway No. 48 and
File No. ZA 07 134590
PREPARED BY: Nilesh Surti, Planner, ext. 4190
RECOMMENDATION:
That the report dated March 18, 2008 entitled “PRELIMINARY REPORT, Villarboit Development Corporation, Application for Zoning By-law Amendment to permit a mixed use centre at 9999 Highway No. 48, Southeast corner of Highway No. 48 and Major Mackenzie Drive” be received.
AND THAT Staff be authorized to schedule a statutory Public Meeting to consider the Zoning By-law amendment application after the applicant has submitted a precinct plan for the subject lands to the satisfaction of the Director of Planning and Urban Design.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of
this report is to provide preliminary information regarding this application
and to recommend that a statutory public meeting be held with respect to the
Zoning By-law Amendment application after the applicant has submitted an
acceptable precinct plan for the subject lands.
BACKGROUND:
Property and Area Context
The 12.8
hectare (31.7 acre) site is located at the southeast corner of Highway No. 48
and
To the north, across
A mixed-use centre consisting of commercial, office and residential
uses is proposed
Villarboit Development Corporation has submitted a Zoning By-law Amendment application to rezone the lands from Select Industrial and Warehousing to Major Commercial to facilitate the construction of a mixed use centre including commercial, office and residential uses. The proposal is to demolish the existing industrial building and redevelop the site as follows:
|
Proposal |
Total GFA |
Units |
Height |
|
4 residential towers at the northeast portion of the property |
64,800 m2 |
|
18 storeys |
|
17 commercial buildings fronting
onto both Highway No. 48 and |
25,435.6 m2 |
approx. 768 units |
1 storey |
|
4 office buildings at the southeast portion of the property |
33, 396.7 m2 |
|
4 storeys |
|
Total |
123,632.3 m2 |
|
|
|
Floor Space Index – approximately 1.0 |
|
|
|
The conceptual
site plan (See Figure 4) shows east-west and north-south roads/driveways which
connect to Highway No. 48 and
OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:
Official Plan and Zoning
The Official Plan designates the subject property “Major Commercial Area”. The intention of this designation is to provide for large scale multi-purpose centres offering a diverse range of retail, service, community, institutional and recreational uses serving a major portion of the municipality and/or broader regional market. This designation will also accommodate office and medium and high density housing at appropriate locations. The Major Commercial Area polices provide for the proposed land uses, subject to the following development requirements:
- Siting, massing and scale of development, and landscaping, contributing to and reinforcing the importance of these lands as a major multi-purpose focus in the Town;
- The development contributing to an attractive, pedestrian-friendly streetscape that is not dominated by large surface parking area; and
- Provision of attractive, safe, convenient and easily accessible pedestrian connections being provided to all adjoining streets and transit facilities and, where appropriate, between on-site facilities and uses.
The subject property is
currently zoned Select Industrial and Warehousing (M.I) under By-law 88-76, as
amended. The present Zoning By-law
permits a variety of industrial uses.
A Zoning By-law Amendment is required to permit the proposed development.
Highway 48 Urban Design Study
The Highway 48
Urban Design Study, endorsed by Council in October 2005, provides urban design
and development guidelines to be used in the evaluation of development
applications within the Highway 48 corridor between
The subject
lands fall within the identified Commercial and Industrial district. Most of the properties within this district
are currently occupied by low-rise commercial and light industrial
buildings. The study envisions that the existing uses within this district would
eventually be converted or redeveloped to resemble the type of uses and built
form anticipated on the west side of Highway No. 48, with a mix of retail,
residential and office uses. Guidelines
for this district call for:
- Residential buildings to be located facing onto Highway No. 48;
- New buildings and major additions to have a setback of 3 to 5 metres from the front property line;
- Parking to be located at the rear of
buildings and well screened from the street by landscaping; and
- At least 70% of the useable street frontage on Highway 48 to be occupied by buildings.
The rezoning application submitted to accommodate the proposed development of a mixed-use centre will be reviewed in the context of the Highway 48 Urban Design Study and the standards set out in the Guidelines for this area.
Town Initiated Official Plan/Secondary Plan and Zoning
By-law Amendments to implement the Highway 48 Urban Design Study
On
A Precinct Plan
should be prepared for the subject lands
Considering the
large size of the subject lands and the scale of the proposed development a Precinct
Plan, which can be reviewed in the context of the Highway 48 Urban Design Study,
is required. The applicant has agreed to
this approach which will assist
the Town in determining appropriate zoning.
The Precinct Plan will provide details with regard to such matters as street and block pattern; land use mix and
density distribution, built form and architecture; massing and height of
buildings; pedestrian connections, landscaping and open space connections;
preservation of natural features; views and corridors and phasing of the
proposed development. Staff recommend
that a statutory public meeting be held after the applicant has submitted a Precinct
Plan for the subject lands, to the satisfaction of the Director of Planning and
Urban Design.
Potential
Benefits of Approval of the Proposal:
The proposal
would provide the following benefits:
- Subject to appropriate siting and layout of proposed uses/buildings, the proposal provides an opportunity to develop a mixed-use street oriented development along the Highway 48 corridor generally in accordance with the Highway 48 Urban Design Study;
- Redevelopment of an underused site along the Highway 48 Corridor and potentially achieve a higher density, transit supportive development; and
- Provide additional commercial services for the growing communities of Greensborough to the east and Wismer Commons to the west.
Concerns/Issues
to be addressed:
A number of
concerns /issues have been identified.
These matters, and any others identified through the circulation and
detailed review of the proposal, can be addressed in a final staff report to be
presented to Committee at a later date. The issues identified to-date are noted
below:
· Submission of a precinct plan for the subject property is necessary to properly evaluate the proposal and phasing of construction.
·
The overall mixing and interrelationship of
land uses, placement of buildings, height and densities, and urban design
principles are to be addressed
- Residential
buildings with commercial uses on the ground floor should be located along
Highway No. 48
- Building
heights need to be considered in an area context, and issues of gradation,
design and articulation need to be addressed.
- A consistent, animated street edge along Highway No. 48 is to be created with primary access to proposed buildings from this street.
- Buildings
should occupy a minimum of 70% frontage along Highway No. 48.
- Buildings exceeding 30 meters in height should be stepped back at least 2 metres above the second floor.
- Sidewalks of at least 4 metres in width should be provided along all public streets and along all facades with public entrances.
- Large
expanses of surface parking and pedestrian movements through the site need
to be addressed.
·
Explore
the opportunity to extend
·
Comments from
o Master Servicing Study
o
Development Phasing Plan
o Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessment reports
o Tree Inventory and Preservation Plan
Conclusion
Staff recommend that a statutory public meeting be held after the applicant has submitted an acceptable precinct plan for the subject lands.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE: (external link)
None at this time.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The application has been
circulated to the
ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS:
Accessibility considerations will be reviewed as part of the site plan approval process.
ENGAGE 21ST CONSIDERATIONS:
The proposed development will assist
with the implementation of the following key Town of
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The application
has been circulated to various Town Departments and external agencies including
the
RECOMMENDED BY:
_______________________________ _________________________________
Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Director of Planning and Urban Design Commissioner of Development Services
Figure 1 – Location Map
Figure 2 – Area Context/Zoning
Figure 3 – Air Photo 2005
Figure 4 – Conceptual Site Plan
AGENT:
Mr. David McKay, MCIP, RPP
MacNaughton Hermsen Britton Clarkson Planning Limited
Tel: 905-761-5522; Fax: 905-761-5589
File Path: Q:\Development\Planning\APPL\Zoning\ZONING\07 134590 (Villarboit Development Corporation\Villarboit Development - preliminary report.doc