Report to: Development
Services Commission Date:
April 13, 2010
SUBJECT: Peer
Review of Oak Ridges Moraine Boundary at 2780 19th
Ave in Markham
PREPARED BY: Lilli
Duoba, Senior Project Coordinator, Ext. 7925
RECOMMENDATION:
1)
That the staff report entitled “Peer Review of the Oak
Ridges Moraine Boundary at 2780 – 19th Ave in Markham”, be received;
2)
And that the Survey Certificate prepared by Krcmar Surveyors
Ltd dated April 1, 2010 certifying the topographic elevations prepared by Guido
Papa Surveying Ltd dated November 2007 be accepted by the Town in accordance
with Section 2(4) of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan providing for the
confirmation of the Oak Ridges Moraine boundary;
3)
And that the Town request the Region of York to accept
the Survey Certificate prepared by Krcmar Surveyors and the Topographic Survey
prepared by Guido Papa Surveying Ltd dated November 2007, for interpretation
purposes relative to the Oak Ridges Moraine boundary;
4)
And that this report be submitted to the Ministry of
Municipal Affairs and Housing for information;
5)
And that Staff be authorized and directed to do all
things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
The purpose
of this report is to respond to a resolution of Development Services Committee
on February 2, 2010 that a staff
report be presented on the outcome of a Peer Review of
the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) boundary on property at 2780
Nineteenth Avenue in Markham.
On February
2, 2010, Mr. Stephen Waque, solicitor representing
Zodiac Developments Inc., addressed Development Services Committee with respect
to the applicability of the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) boundary on his client’s
property at 2780 – 19th Ave (See Fig. 1). The submission requested review of a report prepared
by Terraprobe Consulting (Summary of Review of
Application of Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (ORMCP) – February 14, 2008
and June 5 2008 respectively). The Terraprobe report concluded that the property falls
entirely below the 245 m.a.s.l. (metres
above sea level) contour and therefore should not have been included by the
Province as part of the ORM. A detailed topographic survey was provided by the
proponents to justify this conclusion.
The 245 m.a.s.l contour is
determined by the Province as the southerly boundary of the ORM east of Bathhurst Street. This boundary was prepared by the Provincial
Surveyor, but because of the scale of the base data used, policies were
included in the ORMCP (Section 2.4 of the Plan and Subsection 1(1) of O.R.
01/02) to allow refinement of the applicability of the Plan policies at a site
level. At the site level, if the lands
are determined to be above the 245 m.a.s.l contour,
then they are subject to the ORMCP, and if below the 245 m.a.s.l
contour then they are not subject the ORMCP policies. In either situation, the current ORM boundary
does not change in the ORMCP or Region or local Official Plans, just the
application of the policy. The applicant
has requested confirmation of the ORM boundary for his property. Town staff has coordinated the peer review of
the boundary in consultation with Provincial and Regional staff.
The Terraprobe reports undertook
a review of the property with respect to topography, geology, natural features
and functions and included a topographic survey prepared by Guido Papa
Surveyors identifying the 245 m.a.s.l. contour as
being located north of the property boundary.
The subject property is generally flat, roughly rectangular in shape and
covers an area of approximately 36 ha (89.9 acres). The west tributary of the
Berczy Creek flows intermittently southward through the central portion of the
property in a broad poorly defined swale outside of the ORM boundary.
Agriculture is the dominant land use and there are several buildings associated
with agriculture (farm house, barn etc) on the property (See Fig. 2).
The lands immediately south and east of the property are
designated ‘INDUSTRIAL’ in the Highway 404 North Planning District
(OPA No. 149) and are within the Town’s and Region’s Urban Area.
As instructed by Development Services
Committee, on February 2, 2010 staff retained Krcmar Surveyors (at the expense
of the landowner), to peer review the survey prepared by the landowner to
confirm the boundary.
The Property
is confirmed to be below the 245 metre contour
In order for
the Town to contemplate supporting the exemption of the subject property from
the provisions of the ORMCP, a legal topographic survey is needed to confirm to
the 245 m.a.s.l. contour to the
satisfaction of the Town, the Region and the Province. The Peer Review of the applicant’s survey was
conducted by Krcmar Surveyors. The
applicant has provided the Town with all benchmark information and digital
files necessary to undertake the work.
The land subject to the ORM comprises approximately 6.3 hectares.
The results
of the peer review indicate that the property is below 245 m.a.s.l. Staff
is satisfied with the survey results that indicate that the property is not subject
to the policies of the ORMCP. It should
be noted that the Province had advised that although the policies of the Oak
Ridges Moraine can be deemed to not apply to the subject lands outside of the
245 m.a.s.l, the boundary of the Oak Ridges Moraine as
identified in Provincial documents remains unchanged at the present time. The Town and Region may request that the ORM boundary
be modified in Provincial documents in 2015 through the mandated 10 year
Provincial review of the ORMCP.
Greenbelt Plan
The lands
owned by Zodiac Developments Inc. contain lands designated ‘Industrial” by OPA
No. 149, Oak Ridges Moraine as implemented by OPA No. 117 and Greenbelt Plan by
the Provincial Greenbelt Plan (See Figure 1).
Exemption from policy provisions of the ORMCP, does not automatically exempt
the lands from the provisions of the Greenbelt Plan. The
Provincial Greenbelt Plan (2005) followed the release of the ORMCP and section
2.1 states:
“Where, by the
operation of subsection 2(4) of the ORMCP, lands are within the Oat Ridges
Moraine Area but are not governed by the policies of the ORMCP, the lands are
deemed to be within the Protected Countryside and all the policies of the
Greenbelt Plan apply to the lands.”
The policies of the Greenbelt Plan would therefore still
apply to the lands deemed below the 245 m.a.s.l.
contour, unless otherwise directed by the Province.
The Town does not have the authority to exempt the
lands from the Greenbelt Plan. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing is the only authority
empowered under the Greenbelt Act (2005) to recommend the removal of lands from
the Provincial Greenbelt Plan to the Lieutenant
Governor in Council. In order to remove
the Provincial Greenbelt designation a Provincial action is required. Should the Province release the lands
from the Protected Countryside of the Greenbelt Plan, an amendment to both the
Regional Official Plan and the Town’s Official Plan would be required to permit
urban land uses.
The inclusion of the lands in the urban area of the
Region and Town would be subject to assessment as part of the current (or a
future) Regional municipal comprehensive review under Places to Grow – The
Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
There is no related issue with the lands currently identified
as ‘Greenbelt’ east of the Oak Ridges Moraine lands. These Greenbelt lands are subject to the
transition policies in the Greenbelt Plan (Section 5.2.1) which allow
amendments to the Official Plan predating December 16, 2004 and all accompanying
implementation applications (subdivisions, zoning etc.) to continue to be recognized
for the approved use. As Official Plan
Amendment No. 149 is a further approval of Official Plan Amendment 113 which
was adopted by the Town in June 2003, OPA 149 is not subject to the provisions
of the Greenbelt Plan.
Next Steps
The Province
has committed to review both the Oak Ridges Moraine and Greenbelt Plan in 2015. However, the legislation provides that the
Province can consider amendments outside of the 10 year review where there are
major unforeseen circumstances. Should
the landowner wish to pursue the removal of the Greenbelt designation
in advance of the mandated Provincial review, consultations with the Province
should be sought. The Oak Ridges Moraine
Act and Greenbelt Act do not provide authority to Regional or local
municipalities to remove or modify the Greenbelt and ORM boundaries or land use
designations to permit urban uses. This
action must be approved by the Province.
The issue of any urban use of the lands is now further subject to the municipal
comprehensive review requirements in the Growth Plan before lands are added to
urban areas. The following chart provides
a guideline for further actions on the subject lands.
Decision Tree
for Further Action
None at this
time as the peer review is being paid for by the proponents
Not applicable
Growth Management, and required conformity with Provincial and regional
policy.
The
confirmation of the Oak Ridges Moraine boundary has been coordinated in
consultation with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Region
of York.
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 Development
Services
Figure 1 Map showing 2780 – 19th
Avenue with 245 m.a.s.l contour
Figure 2 Orthophoto
showing 2780 – 19th Avenue
Appendix ‘A’ Figure 3 Peer Review Confirmation by
Krcmar Surveyors Ltd
Q:\Development\Planning\MISC\MI204
Oak Ridges Morraine\Applications\DSC April 2010 Zodiak Boundary Adjustment.doc