Report to: Development Services Committee Report Date:
SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATION REPORT
1027174 Ontario Ltd. & 1482058 Ontario Ltd.
Application for Zoning By-law Amendment to permit local commercial uses on lands at the southeast corner of Major Mackenzie Drive and Donald Cousens Parkway within the Greensborough Secondary Plan area
File No.: ZA 07 109982
PREPARED BY: Gary Sellars, Senior Planner, East District (ext. 2960)
RECOMMENDATION:
1) That the report entitled “Recommendation Report, 1027174 Ontario Ltd. & 1482058 Ontario Ltd., Application for Zoning By-law Amendment to permit local commercial uses on lands at the southeast corner of Major Mackenzie Drive and Donald Cousens Parkway within the Greensborough Secondary Plan area, File No.: ZA 07 109982”, dated September 8, 2009 be received;
2) That
the application submitted by 1027174 Ontario Ltd. & 1482058 Ontario
Ltd. to amend Zoning By-laws
304-87 and 177-76, as amended, be approved, except for the request for
permission for drive-throughs for all uses, and the draft by-laws attached
as Appendices ‘A’ and ‘B’, be finalized
and enacted without
further notice;
3) And that Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to provide background information
regarding the zoning
by – law amendment application and to recommend that the application be approved, and that the zoning by-law amendments be finalized and enacted.
BACKGROUND:
Property and Area Context
The subject lands comprise 1.98 ha. (4.88 acres) at the southeast corner of Major Mackenzie Drive and Donald Cousens Parkway within the Greensborough Secondary Plan area (Figures 1 and 2). The subject lands are currently vacant and do not contain any significant vegetation.
To the north, across
Official Plan and Zoning By-law
The Town’s Official Plan designates the lands Commercial – Community Amenity Area. The Greensborough Secondary Plan designates the lands Community Amenity Area – North of By-Pass. The lands are currently zoned Rural Residential (RR4) by By-law 304-87, as amended.
The planned function of the
Community Amenity Area designation is to provide for a multi-use, multi-purpose
centre offering a diverse range of retail, service, community, institutional
and recreational uses serving several nearby residential and/or business
areas. Community Amenity Areas are to function as significant and
identifiable focal points for the areas served. This category of
designation is also intended to accommodate office development and medium and
high density housing at appropriate locations. The Secondary Plan provides
that, notwithstanding the planned function, the primary use of the lands
designated Community Amenity Area – North of By-Pass may be residential
development, including low density forms of housing.
The Greensborough Secondary Plan
stipulates that development on the lands designated Community Amenity Area –
North of By-Pass (Figure 4) shall be planned on a comprehensive basis with
zoning by-law approvals for development based on the Official Plan, Secondary
Plan and a Community Design Plan satisfactory to the Town.
A draft Community Design Plan (Figure 5) has been prepared by the landowners within the Community Amenity Area – North of By-Pass designation in consultation with staff.
The applicant proposes to rezone the subject lands from Rural
Residential to Neighbourhood Commercial One with site specific exceptions
The applicant proposes to rezone the subject lands from Rural Residential Four (RR4) under By-law 304-87, as amended, to Neighbourhood Commercial One (NC1), with a holding provision, under the Town’s Urban Expansion Area By-law 177-96, as amended. The NC1 zone permits a range of local commercial uses including business offices, day nurseries, and retail stores, among other uses. In addition to the uses permitted in the NC1 zone, the applicant is also requesting a site specific exception to allow for a gas bar, motor vehicle service station, restaurant as well as drive thru permissions for all uses.
The applicant, in conjunction with adjacent land owners, has prepared a
draft Community Design plan (Figure 5) that is acceptable to staff
The preparation of a
comprehensive Community Design Plan for the area north and east of
The draft Community Design Plan (Figure 5) will be subject to approval by Council. A subsequent report will be brought forward to Committee for this purpose.
Staff
are satisfied that a Hold (H) zoning provision requiring site plan approval prior
to the removal of the Hold (H) will ensure that the Town’s objectives for the
design of this site are met
A conceptual site plan (Figure 6) has been submitted with this rezoning application. The site plan has no status and will be refined through the required site plan approval process.
Concern was expressed by some Committee
members at the Public Meeting for this proposal with respect to the proposed
location of the gas bar building being too close to the corner of
The Region of
The Region of York has advised that a Traffic Impact Study will be required for the proposed development of this site at the site plan approval stage and has no objection to the approval of the zoning by-law amendment with a Holding (H) provision that requires such.
The TRCA has no objection to the rezoning
The
The
applicant is seeking drive-through permission for all uses
The applicant is seeking drive-through
permission for all uses. Staff are in
the process of reviewing drive-through facilities in order to establish appropriate
development standards and design guidelines.
It is anticipated that new development standards and design guidelines
will be brought forward for consideration by Council in November 2009. The subject property, given its location at
the intersection of two major arterial roads, should be subject to these new development standards
and guidelines. Given that no detailed development proposal (site plan) is under
consideration at this time, the draft by-law does not include permission for
drive-throughs for all uses. The appropriateness of such facilities at this
location is more properly determined through the site plan approval process in
the context of new standards and guidelines.
No concerns were expressed by the public at the Public Meeting
No concerns were expressed by the public at the Public Meeting held for this proposal and no written correspondence has been submitted.
The applicant will be required to enter into the Greensborough
Developers’ Group Agreement
The applicant will be required to enter into the Greensborough Developers’ Group Agreement to ensure the provision of community and common facilities such as municipal services, parks and public roads in the Greensborough Secondary Plan area, to the satisfaction of the Town. This will also be a condition of the removal of the Hold (H) on the zoning.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
Not applicable.
HUMAN
RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS:
Not applicable.
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:
Growth Management
The proposed commercial/retail uses will help serve the needs of the Greensborough community.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The application has been
reviewed by various Town departments and external agencies. Requirements of the
Town and external agencies will be reflected in the zoning by-law amendment and
in the required site plan approval.
RECOMMENDED BY:
______________________________ ______________________________
Biju Karumanchery, M.C.I.P, R.P.P Jim
Baird, M.C.I.P, R.P.P
Senior Development Manager Commissioner, Development Services
ATTACHMENTS:
Figure 1: Location Map
Figure 2: Area Context/Zoning
Figure 3: Air Photo
Figure 4: Greensborough Secondary Plan – Schedule ‘AA’ Detailed Land Use Plan
Figure 5: Draft Greensborough North Community Design Plan
Figure 6: Conceptual Site Plan
Appendix ‘A’: Draft Zoning By-law Amendment (304-87)
Appendix ‘B’: Draft Zoning By-law Amendment (177-96)
AGENT:
Keith MacKinnon
KLM Planning Partners Inc.
Tel: (905) 669-4055
Fax: (905) 669-0097
File path: Amanda\File 07 109982\Documents\Recommendation Report