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.
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.
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).
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.
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