Report to: Development Services Committee Date of Meeting: May 20, 2008

SUBJECT: Award of Tender 033-R-08 Langstaff Area Master Plan

PREPARED BY: Dave Miller, Senior Project Coordinator, Special Projects/Langstaff

Malcolm Hann, Senior Buyer

RECOMMENDATION:

That the report entitled “Award of Tender 033-R-08 Langstaff Area Master Plan” be received;

And that the contract for the Tender 033-R-08 Langstaff Area Land Use Master Plan be awarded to the highest ranked and highest priced bidder, Calthorpe Associates, in the amount of $821,460.00, exclusive of GST;

And that a contingency amount of $82,000.00 exclusive of GST be established to cover any additional cost, and that the Director of Planning and Urban Design be authorized to approve expenditures of this contingency up to the specified limit;

And that Town staff be authorized to hire sub-consultants (such as Genivar (formerly MacViro), IBI and Butler Group) on a preferred supplier basis, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Purchasing By-law;

And that Town staff be authorized to enter into a development charge credit/financing agreement with the land owners to cover all the costs associated with the creation of the Langstaff Area Master Plan, including fees for Calthorpe Associates, sub-consultants and dedicated Town staff;

And that confirmation of the RFP award not be sent to Calthorpe until a letter of credit securing the full cost of the Langstaff Area Master Plan, including fees for Calthorpe Associates, sub-consultants and dedicated Town Staff has been received by the Town from the land owners;

And that funding for this project come from the 2008 Planning Capital Budget for Langstaff area Master and Secondary Plan process account # 80-5350-8505-005, to be funded through Developer financing;

And that Development Services Committee receive for information purposes, the proposed Master Plan Study and Secondary Plan amendment timelines, which includes an outline of the public consultation program (Table 3);

And that Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Since the introduction of the current Langstaff Redevelopment Area policies into the Thornhill Secondary Plan 1997, a number of changes in land use and infrastructure have occurred, or are currently under review, which will directly influence the redevelopment potential of the Langstaff area.

There have also been a number of changes to planning policy and legislation in the past few years that will also directly influence the redevelopment potential for the Langstaff area. For example, the Langstaff area is now part of the Richmond Hill/Langstaff Gateway Urban Growth Centre, as identified by the Province in the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2006), and has been identified as a Regional Centre in the Region of York’s Centres and Corridors policies (ROPA 43).

There has also been a significant increase in landowner and developer interest in redeveloping the Langstaff area. Applications for significant development proposals have been filed.

The September 18, 2007 Development Services Committee report entitled “Town Initiated Official Plan Amendment Development Principles for the Langstaff Area, and Initiation of a Master Plan and Secondary Plan Amendment Process for the Langstaff Area” outlined a process to guide the preparation of an Official Plan Amendment, a Langstaff Area Master Plan, implementing documents, and the creation of a phasing plan.

This report recommends the hiring of Calthorpe Associates to create the Langstaff Area Master Plan. Town staff, after consulting with the Thornhill Sub-committee and developers who will be financing the costs associated with the Master Plan and supporting technical studies will negotiate with Calthorpe Associates to be the lead consultant for the project. The decision to recommend that Calthorpe be retained to produce the Langstaff Area Master Plan was made, in accordance with Purchasing Department procedures (Purchasing By-law 2004-341). Six submissions were received in response to a Request For Pre-Qualification. Three of these six firms were sent a Request For Proposal (RFP). The three short listed firms who submitted RFPs were interviewed on April 29, 2008.

Following a detailed review of these submissions and proponent interviews its is recommended that Calthorpe Associates be retained to prepare the Langstaff Area Master Plan.

The Thornhill Sub-committee will act as the Steering Committee throughout the Langstaff Master Plan exercise. It is anticipated that the Master Plan process will be completed in the 2^nd quarter of 2009. It is anticipated that the implementing Secondary Plan will be completed in the 3^rd quarter 2009.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

The Town will manage the process to produce the Master Plan and implementing documents, including paying the consultant’s and sub-consultants fees and administration costs. The Town will also hire a full time staff Project Manager, on contract, also to be financed by the developer groups. The major land owners will finance this project and receive a credit against future development charges, subject to the approval of a Development Charge By-law. A capital budget has been established under account # 80-5350-8505-005 for this project.

Area Context

The Langstaff area has a total area of approximately 46.8 hectares (115.6 acres). The western portion, between Yonge Street and the railway tracks is approximately 17.2 hectares (42.5 acres) and the eastern portion, between the railway tracks and Bayview Avenue is approximately 29.6 hectares (73.1 acres). The eastern portion of Langstaff includes a strip of land between Langstaff Road East and Highway 407, with an area of approximately 1.9 hectares (4.7 acres) that is located in Richmond Hill, and an Environmentally Significant Public Open Space area (a wood lot), with an area of approximately 1.8 hectares (4.4 acres).

Provincial Growth Plan includes Langstaff as and Urban Growth Centre

The Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) identifies the Langstaff area as a part of an Urban Growth Centre. Urban Growth Centres are to be planned:

· as focal areas for investment in institutional and region-wide public services, as well as commercial, recreational, cultural and entertainment uses;

· to accommodate and support major transit infrastructure;

· to serve as high density major employment centres that will attract provincially, nationally or internationally significant employment uses; and

· to accommodate a significant share of population and employment growth.

This Growth Plan also includes the following principles to guide how land development decisions are made:

· build compact, vibrant and complete communities;

· plan and manage growth to support a strong and competitive economy;

· protect, conserve, enhance and wisely use the valuable natural resources of land, air and water for current and future generations;

· optimize the use of existing and new infrastructure to support growth in a compact efficient form;

· provide for different approaches to managing growth that recognize the diversity of communities in the GGH;

· promote collaboration among all sectors – government, private and non-profit – and residents to achieve the vision.

The Growth Plan targets densities of a minimum 200 residents and jobs (combined) per hectare, by the year 2031, for Urban Growth Centres.

Advancement of landowner and developer interest in the last year

The Town has received redevelopment applications, for large scale, mixed use redevelopment, including office, retail and high density residential uses, for lands west of the CN railway line, and there is also developer interest for the lands east of the CN railway line.

September 2007 Development Services Report

In September 2007 Development Services Committee received a report entitled “Town Initiated Official Plan Amendment Development Principles for the Langstaff Area, and Initiation of a Master Plan and Secondary Plan Amendment Process for the Langstaff Area”. This report recommended a process to guide the preparation of a Langstaff Area Master Plan and implementing documents.

Town to Lead Master Plan Exercise

With the changes to the land uses in the surrounding area, the evolution of the policy context, and the advancement of landowner and developer interest, it is clear that the Town needs to provide clear direction regarding the appropriate course of action and specifically guide the development of the area in consultation with area landowners and the public. Consequently, the preparation of a Master Plan for the Langstaff area requires resources and skills available in a top planning and urban design firm.

Submission Evaluation

The evaluation team for this RFP was comprised of staff from the Planning and Urban Design Department and land owner representatives. Members of Council on the Thornhill Sub-committee attended the consultant interview sessions. Purchasing staff facilitated the process.

The proposals were evaluated based on pre-established evaluation criteria as listed in the RFP. Qualifications and Experience – 15%, Quality of Proposal – 30%, Project Management – 25%, Presentation/Interview – 20%, Financial – 10%. Calthorpe ranked highest in the four technical categories and scored highest overall.

BID INFORMATION	Table 1
Advertised	By Invitation
Bids closed on	February 15^th, 2008
Number picking up bid documents	3
Number responding to bid	3

The tender was evaluated on the basis of Qualifications and Experience, Quality of Proposal, Project Management, Presentation/Interview, and Financial. Calthorpe ranked highest in the four technical categories and scored highest overall. Town staff can confirm that this company has an excellent reputation in the industry and is qualified to do the work. The rank results are listed in the following table.

TENDER RANKING	Table 2
Company	Overall Ranking
Calthorpe Associates	1
Urban Strategies Inc.	2
Urban Design Associates	3

Prices ranged from $400,060.00 to $821,460.00.

Evaluation Results

Calthorpe Associates submission was ranked highest for the following reasons:

° Qualifications of the prime consultant and the experience of the team:

o Peter Calthorpe has more than 30 years experience. He has published and lectured extensively;

o Calthorpe Associates is an internationally recognized firm having completed successful, large scale urban design master plan projects around the world;

o Calthorpe’s extensive background and leadership in the area of “transit oriented development” makes him ideally suited to the characteristics of the Langstaff Master Plan project;

° The proposal and interview demonstrated that the Calthorpe team has a clear understanding of the project requirements, the work to be completed and an ability to deliver the Mater Plan within required timelines.

The decision to recommend that Calthorpe Associates be retained to produce the Langstaff Area Master Plan was made, in accordance with Purchasing Department procedures (Purchasing By-law 2004-341).

Additional sub-consultants to be retained by the Town

The major land owners are also willing to finance additional sub-consultants to be retained by the Town. This includes transportation, servicing, environmental, planning, and public facilitation/project management consultants. These consultants will be hired and managed by the Town on a preferred supplier basis. It is noted that the Toronto based firm of Ferris + Associates is part of the successful RFP bid and will be supporting Calthorpe Associates in the area of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, and overall management and delivery of the Master Plan process.

Estimated Timeline

The Thornhill Sub-committee will act as the Steering Committee throughout the Langstaff Master Plan exercise. It is anticipated that the Master Plan process will be completed in the 2^nd quarter of 2009. These timelines are proposed in Calthorpe’s submission. It is anticipated that the implementing Secondary Plan will be completed in the 3^rd quarter of 2009.

Once retained Calthorpe Associates will immediately begin work on Phase 1 of the project. It is anticipated that the first stakeholders meeting, with Calthorpe Associates, will take place in the next few weeks, and the first visioning workshop with the public will occur shortly thereafter. Table 1, below summarizes the five phases proposed, and provides an estimate of the number of months required to complete each phase, including the number of Stakeholder/Public consultation meetings to be held at each phase during the process. This does not include the statutory Public Meetings that will be required prior to the adoption of amendments to the Thornhill Secondary Plan and enactment of zoning by-laws.

CALTHORPE’S ESTIMATED MASTER PLAN TIMELINE				Table 3
Phase	Work Product	Months	Number of Stakeholder/Public Consultation Meetings
1	Background Research & Site Analysis	2	Stakeholder 3 Public 1
2	Design Alternatives & Charrette	4	Stakeholder 3 Public 1
3	Preferred Alternative & Implementation Strategy	3	Stakeholder 2
4	Public Open House & Presentation to Development Services Committee	1	Stakeholder 1 Public 1
5	Final Report	2	Stakeholder 1
Total		12	13

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Development in the Langstaff area provides an opportunity to protect, rehabilitate and re-naturalize the Langstaff Woodlot and Pomona Creek, and will provide an opportunity to clean-up a brownfield area.

ENGAGE 21^ST CONSIDERATIONS:

Development in the Langstaff area should be considered in the context of the following key Town of Markham Corporate Goals: Managed Growth, Quality Community and Infrastructure Management.

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

Town Departments and public agencies will be involved throughout the Master Plan and Secondary Plan preparation process.

RECOMMENDED BY:

Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.

Director of Planning & Urban Design

Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.

Commissioner of Development Services