Report to: Development Services Committee Report Date:
SUBJECT: PRELIMINARY REPORT
Applications by Fung Loy
Kok Institute for Zoning By-law Amendment and Site Plan Approval to permit a
place of worship at
File No. ZA.08-125376 & SC.08-125397
PREPARED BY: Teema Kanji, Senior Planner - West Development Team
RECOMMENDATION:
That the staff report entitled “Preliminary Report: 378 Steeles Avenue East Applications by Fung Loy Kok Institute for Zoning By-law Amendment and Site Plan Approval to permit a place of worship at 378 Steeles Avenue East” (ZA.08-125376 & SC.08-125397), be received;
That a Public Meeting be held to
consider the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment (ZA.08-125376) submitted by Fung
Loy Kok Institute;
And that Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
1. Purpose 2. Background 3. Discussion 4. Financial
5. Others (Strategic, Affected Units) 6. Attachment(s)
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to
provide preliminary information regarding applications submitted by Fung Loy
Kok Institute at 378 Steeles Avenue East for Zoning By-law Amendment and Site
Plan Approval to permit an existing single detached house to be used as a place
of worship, and to recommend that a statutory Public Meeting be held to
consider the proposed zoning by-law amendment.
BACKGROUND:
Complete Application
The Zoning By-law Amendment
application submitted by Fung Loy Kok Institute at
Property and Area Context
The subject property is L-Shaped,
has an area of approximately 0.44 acres (0.18 ha) and is located on the north
side of
There is an existing single detached house on the property with some mature trees. An arborist report has been prepared for the site.
Proposal
The proposed place of worship is to accommodate The Fung Loy Kok Institute and Taoist Tai Chi Society of Canada, which is a registered religious charitable organization.
The applicant indicates that the typical membership is one hundred people. The membership does not convene in a large body for weekend services and special festivals. The members organize classes at specified times throughout the week to attend activities, such as Tai Chi classes and practices, with an average of 10 to15 people per class.
The applicant is proposing to use the existing two storey single detached house as a place of worship with parking at the rear of the property (Figure 4 & 5). A portion of the garage is proposed to be demolished to allow for a 6 metre driveway along the easterly property line. A 1.5 metre landscaping strip is proposed along the east, north and a portion of the west property line (Figure 4). A small 71.8 m² (772.8 ft²) addition it proposed to the back of the building, as well as alterations to the interior of the building to construct a worship area, lounge and training area. The total building gross floor area of the house would be approximately 482.33 m² (5191.91 ft²) once the proposed renovations are completed.
The existing circular driveway at
the front of the property is proposed to function as a full moves access and a
right-only access onto
Official Plan
The property is designated URBAN RESIDENTIAL – Low Density Housing by OPA No.1 (Thornhill Secondary Plan). This land use designation represents the majority of residential areas within the Thornhill Secondary Plan and is intended to reflect the prevailing established character of these portions of the community. This land use designation permits low density housing and a range of public, institutional and recreational uses servicing residential areas. A place of worship may be permitted, subject to the provisions of the Town Official Plan (Revised 1987), as amended and the Secondary Plan.
The Town’s Official Plan permits places of worship within the URBAN RESIDENTIAL land use designation subject to certain criteria (i.e. appropriate access, impact of traffic, built form etc.) and requires an Official Plan amendment for sites greater than 2.5 hectares. The property has an area of approximately 0.18 ha and therefore an official plan amendment is not required, but the proposal will be reviewed against the criteria established in the Official Plan.
Zoning By-law amendment required
The site is currently zoned Single Family Special Residential Third Density (SR3) under By-law 1767, as amended (Figure 2). A zoning by-law amendment is required to permit a place of worship.
OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:
Revisions to Parking By-law required
The Parking By-law requires that parking for a place of worship including any accessory use areas except accessory residential uses be the greater of:
(a)
1
space per 4 persons of the worship area capacity; or
The site plan indicates that the worship and training area can accommodate 40 people, which would result in a parking requirement of 10 parking spaces.
(b)
1
space per 9 square metres of the net floor area of the worship area(s) and any
accessory use areas.
The net floor area of the worship area and
accessory uses is approximately 470 m², which would result in a parking
requirement of 52 parking spaces.
The Parking By-law requires 52 parking spaces, however only 18 parking spaces are proposed, resulting in a deficiency of 34 parking spaces.
The applicant has submitted a Parking Assessment Study (August 2008) conducted by Poulos & Chung. According to the study, the parking demand of the proposed place of worship is governed by the gross floor area of the training area (for Tai Chi classes and similar activities) within the building as opposed to the main worship area within the building. The analysis determined that a parking supply of 15 parking spaces is sufficient to meet the peak parking demands of the proposed place of worship, and that the on-site parking supply of 18 parking spaces is acceptable.
Several building and property infractions cited for this property
Several building infractions have been cited for this property since October 2007, which have included building without a permit, illegal use of the property and for property standard issues (i.e. construction debris, garbage etc.). The Town has initiated legal action.
Town has received objection letters from residents
To date, the Town has received eight objection letters from residents which have expressed concerns with the following:
- Failed to follow proper steps to obtain a building permit prior to interior demolition
- Failed to obey stop work orders
- Insufficient parking being proposed on site
- Insufficient parking to accommodate religious festivals
- Overflow of parking onto local streets
- Noise and light pollution
- Additional
traffic onto
- Size of house too small to accommodate a place of worship
Concerns /Issues to be resolved
The following is a brief summary of concerns/issues raised to date. These matters, and any others identified through the circulation and detailed review of the proposal, will be addressed in a final staff report to be presented to Committee at a later date.
- Conformity of proposal with Official Plan criteria;
- Appropriateness of the use in an area context;
- Building infractions need to be corrected;
- Residents concerns need to be addressed;
- Insufficient landscape buffer screening being provided along perimeter of the property adjacent to residential properties;
- A hammer head turnaround provided at the rear of the property to improve site circulation. This will result in the loss of one parking space;
- Tandem parking space located near entrances to building would need to be removed;
- Insufficient parking on-site to support proposed place of worship based on the Town’s Parking By-law. The parking by-law requires 52 parking spaces, whereas 18 parking spaces are proposed for a deficiency of 34 parking spaces;
- A Parking Study has been prepared for the property and must be peer reviewed;
- Arborist Report and Noise Impact Assessment have been prepared for the property and must be reviewed by staff;
- There is a potential for outdoor lighting from the proposed parking area to impact the abutting residential properties. An illumination plan must be submitted to the Town for review;
- A Traffic Study must be submitted to the Town for review;
- Access
permit for
It would be appropriate to hold a Public Meeting to obtain further comments on this proposal.
There are no financial implications for the Town in this report.
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:
Not Applicable.
DEPARTMENTS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The applications have been
circulated to internal departments and external agencies for comment.
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
ATTACHMENTS:
Figure 1: Location Map
Figure 2: Zoning and Area Context
Figure 3: Air Photo
Figure 4: Proposed Site Plan
Figure 5: Proposed Elevations
Applicant/Agent: Bousfields Inc. Tel: (416) 947-9744
c/o John Bousfield Fax: (416) 947-0781
M5E 1M2
File path: Amanda\File 08
125376\Documents\Recommendation Report