Report to: Development Services Committee                            Report Date: June 22, 2010

 

 

SUBJECT:                         RECOMMENDATION REPORT

                                            1756845 Ontario Inc.

                                            Applications for Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment, and Site Plan Approval to permit the conversion of a dwelling for medical clinic and accessory uses at 7475 McCowan Road and 52 Walford Road

                                            File Numbers:  OP 09-126880, ZA 09-126881, SC 09-126882

 

PREPARED BY:              Edward Mak, Planner, extension 8230

 

 

 

RECOMMENDATION:

1)      That the report entitled “RECOMMENDATION REPORT, 1756845 Ontario Inc., Applications for Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment, and Site Plan Approval to permit the conversion of a dwelling for medical clinic and accessory uses at 7475 McCowan Road and 52 Walford Road, File Nos. OP 09-126880, ZA 09-126881, SC 09-126882”, dated June 22, 2010 be received;

 

2)      That the application submitted by 1756845 Ontario Inc. to amend the Official Plan, be approved, and the draft Official Plan amendment attached as Appendix ‘A’, be finalized and enacted without further notice;

 

3)      That the application submitted by 1756845 Ontario Inc. to amend Zoning By-law 90-81, as amended, be approved, and the draft by-laws attached as Appendix ‘B’, be finalized and enacted without further notice;

 

4)      That the Site Plan Amendment application (SC 09-126882) submitted by 1756845 Ontario Inc. to permit the conversion of a dwelling for medical clinic and accessory uses at 7475 McCowan Road and 52 Walford Road be endorsed in principle, subject to the conditions set out in Appendix ‘C’ to this report;

 

5)      That site plan approval be delegated to the Director of Planning and Urban Design or designate, to be issued following execution of a site plan agreement.  Site Plan approval is issued only when the Director or designate has signed the site plan;

 

6)      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 (HR, Strategic, Affected Units)                                   6. Attachment(s)

 

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to recommend approval of the Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendments and Site Plan for proposed medical and business offices uses within an existing dwelling at 7475 McCowan Road and 52 Walford Road.

 

 

BACKGROUND:

Property and Area Context

The 0.27 hectare (0.67 acre) site is comprised of two properties located at the northeast corner of McCowan Road and Denison Street, and municipally addressed as 7475 McCowan Road and 52 Walford Road in the Armadale community (see Figure 1). 

 

A two-storey detached dwelling currently exists on the southerly property with driveway access to both McCowan Road and Denison Street.  The northerly property (52 Walford Road) is a vacant residential lot with frontage on Walford Road.  The southerly property contains no significant vegetation, while the northerly property contains several mature trees and a hedgerow.

 

Land uses surrounding the subject properties include predominantly residential communities to the north, east, south across Denison Street, and west across McCowan Road with dwellings rear-lotted on McCowan Road and Denison Street.  A future walkway block abuts the lands to the east.  A daycare facility is located to the south across Denison Street, and a retail commercial plaza is located to the southwest across the intersection (Figures 2 and 3).

 

Proposed medical clinic uses in existing building with minor addition

The applications seek to convert the existing dwelling with minor building additions, for business and medical office uses.  Uses accessory to the medical office, including a pharmacy and medical laboratories, are also proposed.  The total gross floor area of the existing building and proposed addition is 783 m2 (8,424 ft2). 

 

The proposal involves the refinishing of the façade, demolition of the veranda and balcony on the east elevation, a partial demolition of the existing garage, and the construction of a minor addition for a new vestibule and accessory pharmacy.

 

Existing vehicular accesses to McCowan Road and Denison Street are proposed to be relocated further north and east respectively.  A total of 41 parking spaces are proposed on site, whereas 28 parking spaces are required in accordance with the Town’s parking standards (Figures 4 and 5).

 

 

OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:

Official Plan designation and applicable Zoning By-law

The subject properties are designated “Urban Residential” in the Official Plan and further designated as “Urban Residential (Low Density)” in the Armadale West Secondary Plan       (PD 24-1).  The Official Plan provides for commercial uses within the “Urban Residential” designation through the identification of Neighbourhood Commercial Centres in Secondary Plans.  The Official Plan Amendment attached as Appendix ‘A’ seeks to add a site specific exception to permit business and medical office uses within the current residential designation.

 

The lands are zoned Third Density (Special) – Single-Detached Residential (R3[S]) and Ninth Density – Single-Detached Residential (R9) under By-law 90-81, as amended.   The proposed zoning amendment to permit the business and medical office uses is attached as Appendix ‘B’.

 

Site plan and building elevations are generally acceptable subject to revisions

The proposed site plan and elevations are generally acceptable subject to revisions to address staff’s concerns with respect to building façade treatments, appropriate buffering to adjacent properties, and the parking configuration.  

 

Staff are generally satisfied with the proposed site configuration.  The massing of the existing dwelling remains substantially unchanged.  Parking provided along the northern and western perimeter of the property will be screened with landscaping.  A walkway connection from Denison Street is proposed to provide direct pedestrian connection from the sidewalk to the building.  The two driveways will provide satisfactory on site traffic circulation.  The relocation of the driveways further away from the McCowan Road and Denison Street intersection will reduce conflicts with intersection movements.  The McCowan Road access will be restricted to right-in/right-out movements.

 

The proposed elevations of the remodelled building are generally compatible to the surrounding residential neighbourhood employing an architectural style that exhibits a character typical of a single family dwelling with a colour palette and building materials that are complimentary to the abutting residential buildings. 

 

Acquisition of landscaping block abutting 52 Walford Road

The relocated McCowan Road access crosses a landscaping block at the rear of 52 Walford Road which is currently owned by the Town.  This landscaping block was conveyed to the Town as a condition of approval of the residential subdivision to the north to provide mitigative planting in front of the noise attenuation fencing required along the residential rear yards. Since the lot at 52 Walford Road is no longer being considered for residential development, the noise attenuation fence and associated planting is no longer required.  The applicant will be required to acquire the block and integrate it into the proposed development as a condition of site plan approval.

 

All outstanding issues to be addressed prior to final approval

A number of issues remain to be resolved prior to final approval of the site plan application including finalization of the traffic impact study, approval of the parking configuration (particularly the proposed tandem parking), requirements for a deeming by-law/merging of the properties, and tree preservation.  Resolution of these issues are included in the conditions of site plan approval attached as Appendix ‘C’.   Staff are satisfied that these issues can be resolved with only minor changes to the site plan.

 

Issues identified at public consultation meetings have been addressed

On February 2, 2010 a statutory Public Meeting was held to obtain public input with respect to the proposed Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications.  A number of residents made deputations in support and opposition to the applications, and as a result the applications were referred to the Milliken Mills Sub-Committee for further consideration.  Subsequent to the March 3, 2010 Subcommittee meeting, an additional community meeting was held on May 5, 2010.

 

Concerns raised included: appropriateness of the proposed medical office use and impact on the surrounding residential neighbourhood, increased traffic/parking on Walford Road, size and nature of the pharmacy, health concerns associated with the proposed use, and impact to adjacent dwellings associated with privacy, noise, loitering and property value.  These matters have been addressed as outlined below.

 

Appropriateness of medical office use on residential lands

Concerns were raised that the proposed medical office use on residential lands was not appropriate and would not be in keeping with the surrounding residential neighbourhood.   The addition of business and medical office uses on the lands is appropriate.  The 0.2 ha property at 7475 McCowan Road has access only from two major streets and is isolated from the residential lands to the north and east.  The corner property does not have vehicular access from Walford Road.   The rationale for non-residential uses on this corner property is similar to that of a previous approval of a daycare facility at the southeast corner of McCowan Road and Denison Street.  Although the lands at 52 Walford Road currently have access from Walford Road, vehicular access will not be permitted through the site plan approval.  The inclusion of this property not only improves site access from McCowan Road, but also provides for improved internal circulation and parking. 

 

In addition, the proposed official plan amendment and zoning by-law amendment limits the development on the lands to the approximate size of the existing building.  The residential character of the existing building is proposed to be maintained.  The proposed official plan and zoning by-law amendments do not preclude the lands from being developed for residential uses in the future.   

 

Impact on adjacent dwellings

Residents were concerned that the proposed development could have negative impact to abutting dwellings with respect to loss of privacy, increased noise, and loitering on the subject site.   These impacts can be minimized through site design, including appropriate setbacks, noise attenuation and landscaping.   With respect to loitering, the applicant has indicated that the business hours of the medical office will not extend beyond early evening.  No other commercial uses, such as convenience retail use, which may attract people to the site after hours, are permitted on the site.   In addition, appropriate outdoor lighting will be provided for security purposes.

 

Surplus parking provided to alleviate overflow parking concerns

Concern was raised that the medical office use would generate additional traffic on Walford Road, even in the absence of direct vehicular access from Walford Road, as people could park on Walford Road and use the public walkway to access the medical office site.  The concern was that the proposed number of parking spaces would be insufficient to meet the demand of the medical office, even though the number of spaces met the Town’s parking by-law requirements, and that some would find it easier to park on Walford Road than to negotiate turns onto Denison Street or McCowan Road from the medical office site.       

 

The site plan as originally submitted proposed 29 parking spaces whereas 24 spaces were required. The site plan was revised to add 12 parking spaces (including 6 tandem spaces), providing for a total of 41 spaces.  Staff are satisfied that adequate parking is provided on site.  Prior to final approval of the site plan, staff will confirm whether the location of the additional 12 spaces (including the 6 tandem spaces) are acceptable, or whether the number can be reduced in favour of increased landscaping in the parking lot.

 

Public walkway recommended to be maintained

It was suggested at the community meetings that the future public walkway not be built in order to discourage parking on Walford Road.  Staff do not support the elimination of the walkway.  Staff encourage walkways wherever possible to provide direct pedestrian access to transit stops from residential subdivisions.  Denison Street is a major transit route with a transit stop located at the McCowan/Denison intersection. 

 

Pharmacy size has been reduced

Concerns were raised with respect to the scale and capacity of the pharmacy, namely that the pharmacy would attract customers not associated with the medical office, and thereby generate additional traffic to the site.  The area of pharmacy has been reduced to 70 m2 (750 ft2) from the original proposal of 107 m2 (1,150 ft2).  Staff are recommending that no external access to the pharmacy be provided to ensure that the pharmacy functions only as an accessory use, rather than as a retail store.  

 

Health concerns from proposed medical clinic use

Residents expressed health concerns with respect to the proposed medical office’s handling of medical waste and radiation from x-ray operations.  Any waste generated in the building would need to be stored internally in accordance with Town standards.  The applicant has indicated that special arrangements will be made to pick up medical waste generated from the medical clinic for safe disposal, which would otherwise be contained internally within the building.  With respect to radiation, appropriate protection will be provided within the building to protect employees, patients and the general public, as would be the case in any medical office.  

 

Proposed Zoning By-law Amendment

The proposed zoning by-law amendment includes provisions for:

 

·         Additional permitted uses:     business offices, and medical office with accessory pharmacy and laboratory uses

 

The by-law also provides for landscaping along the west, north and south property lines.

 

 

FINANCIAL TEMPLATE (external link):

Not applicable.

 

 

HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS:

Not applicable.

 

 

ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:

The proposed medical office building within an existing building aligns with the strategic focus of Growth Management, Transportation/Transit, and Environment by providing the following:

 

Growth Management

 

Transportation/Transit

 

Environment

 

 

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

All requirements of the Town and external agencies have been reflected in the preparation of this report and conditions of approval.

 

 

CONCLUSIONS:

Staff recommend that the draft Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments contained in Appendix ‘A’ and ‘B’ be finalized and enacted.  Staff are also satisfied with the proposed site plan and elevations and recommend that they be endorsed in principle subject to matters outlined in this report and conditions attached in Appendix ‘C’.

 

 

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 and Zoning

Figure 3 – Air Photo 2009

Figure 4 – Proposed Site Plan

Figure 5 – Proposed Elevations

 

Appendix ‘A’ – Draft Official Plan Amendment

Appendix ‘B’ – Draft Zoning By-law Amendment (90-81)

Appendix ‘C’ – Recommended Site Plan Conditions

 

 

AGENT:        Mr. Ben Quan

                        QX4 Investments Ltd.

                        17 Bauer Crescent

                        Markham, ON  L3R 4H3

                        Tel.:  (416) 564-0351              FAX:  (905) 479-4517

 

File path: Amanda\File 09 126880\Documents\Final Report