Report to: Development Services Committee Report Date: June 22, 2010
SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATION REPORT
Digram Developments Inc.
Applications for Draft Plan of Subdivision (19TM-09004) and Zoning By-law Amendment
East of Highway 48 and south of Major Mackenzie Drive
Greensborough Community
File Numbers: ZA 09-122311 and SU 09-122312
PREPARED BY: Marg Wouters, Manager of Development - East District ext. 2758
RECOMMENDATION:
1) That the report dated June 22, 2010 entitled “Recommendation Report, Digram Developments Inc. Applications for Draft Plan of Subdivision (19TM-09004) and Zoning By-law Amendment, East of Highway 48 and south of Major Mackenzie Drive, Greensborough Community. File Numbers: ZA 09-122311 and SU 09-122312” be received.
2) That the record of the Public Meeting held on November 3, 2009, regarding the applications for approval of Draft Plan of Subdivision and implementing Zoning By-law be received;
3) That the draft plan of subdivision (19TM-09004) submitted by Digram Developments Inc be draft approved subject to the conditions attached as Appendix ‘A’ to this report;
4) That the application submitted by Digram Developments Inc to amend Zoning By-laws 304-87 and 177-96, as amended, be approved and the draft by-laws attached as Appendix ‘B’ be finalized and enacted without further notice;
5) That servicing allocation for 36 townhouse units (101.52 population) of conditional 2011 allocation be granted to Digram Developments Inc, subject to written confirmation from the Trustee of the Greensborough Developers Group that servicing allocation is available from the total 2011/2012 sewer and water allocation previously granted to the Greensborough Community;
6) That the Town reserves the right to revoke or reallocate the servicing allocation should the development not proceed in a timely manner;
7) That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to enter into a No Presale Agreement with owners of 19TM-09004 for the remaining 423 units which agreement shall be registered on title, committing the owner not to enter into any agreements of purchase and sale with anyone, including other developers or builders, for the lands until York Region has advised in writing that the expected completion of the Southeast Collector Trunk Sewer project will be within twelve (12) months.
8) That the Owner provide the Town with the required payment of 30% processing fees in accordance with the Town’s applicable Fee By-law;
9) That the draft plan approval for plan of subdivision 19TM-09004 will lapse after a period of three (3) years from the date of issuance in the event that a subdivision agreement is not executed within that period;
10) 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 recommend approval of plan of subdivision and zoning by-law amendment applications in the Greensborough Planning District. The subject lands are comprised of a number of properties totaling 14.2 hectares (35.2 acres) located between Major Mackenzie Drive and Donald Cousens Parkway. The proposed plan of subdivision contains a total of 459 units, consisting of semi-detached, townhouse and low-rise apartment condominium units. A valleyland block, stormwater block and two park blocks are also proposed.
The draft plan of subdivision is consistent with the Greensborough Secondary Plan and the recently endorsed Addendum to the Community Design Plan for the Greensborough Community, which applies to the remaining lands north of the Donald Cousens Parkway. All of the proposed development, except for a small portion of road adjacent to the stormwater pond, is outside of the valley and 10 metre buffer. Lands to the east of the plan of subdivision have been acquired to satisfy in part the parkland dedication requirements of the plan. The valleyland portions of the acquired properties are being conveyed gratuitously to the Town for Rouge Park purposes. In addition, the applicant has agreed to a tree compensation package to mitigate tree loss elsewhere in the subdivision and to mitigate the small encroachment into the 10 metre buffer.
All of the issued identified at the Public Meeting and through the development approval process have been addressed. Staff recommend that the draft plan of subdivision be approved subject to the conditions of draft approval attached as Appendix ‘A’ and that the implementing zoning by-law attached as Appendix ‘B’ be finalized and enacted without further notice.
1. Purpose 2. Background 3. Discussion 4. Financial
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to recommend approval of plan of subdivision and zoning by-law amendment applications in the Greensborough Planning District.
BACKGROUND:
Property and Area Context
The subject lands are comprised of a number of properties totaling 14.2 hectares (35.2 acres) located between Major Mackenzie Drive and Donald Cousens Parkway in the Greensborough Planning District (Figure 1). The subject lands are generally vacant, with two vacant dwellings remaining. Mature vegetation is located in the area of the dwellings, one being just south of Major Mackenzie Drive and the other being in the easterly portion of the lands.
To the north, across Major Mackenzie Drive, are a number of single-detached dwellings, valley lands of the Little Rouge Creek, and stands of trees. Northeast of the site are single-detached dwellings and agricultural lands. To the immediate west are vacant lands intended for commercial development, including a gas station. Further west and south, across Donald Cousens Parkway, are additional lands intended for residential development within the Greensborough Community. Immediately east of the subject lands are the Little Rouge Creek and agricultural lands (Figures 2 and 3).
Proposed Plan of Subdivision
The draft plan includes a total of 459 residential units comprised of the following:
|
Unit Type |
Number of Units |
Minimum Frontage |
|
Semi-detached |
52 |
8.0-8.5 m |
|
Townhouse |
103 |
6.0 m |
|
Townhouse – Lane Based |
69 |
4.5 m |
|
Low-rise Apartments (Stacked Townhouses) |
235 |
|
|
Total |
459 |
|
The draft plan
also contains a stormwater pond, a valleyland block and two park blocks.
(Figure 4).
OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:
The proposed plan of subdivision is generally
consistent with the Official Plan and Greensborough Secondary Plan
The lands are designated ‘Commercial – Community Amenity Area’ in the Official Plan (Revised 1987) as amended. A small portion of the lands are also identified as Greenbelt.
The Greensborough Secondary Plan designates the majority of the lands ‘Community Amenity Area – North of By-pass’. Small portions of the lands are designated ‘Hazard Lands’ coinciding with the Little Rouge Creek valley lands. A separate ‘Hazard Land’ portion along Major Mackenzie Drive reflects the boundaries of the current Regulatory Floodline. The Floodline alignment will change once municipal services are installed as part of this subdivision, and the Hazard Land designation will no longer apply (without amendment to the Plan) in accordance with Secondary Plan policies.
Generally, the planned function of the Community Amenity
Area designation is to provide for a multi-use, multi-purpose centre offering a
range of retail, office, service, community, institutional and recreational
uses serving several nearby residential and/or business areas. Medium and
high density housing is also provided for at appropriate locations. The Greensborough Secondary Plan further
provides that the primary use of the lands designated ‘Community Amenity Area –
North of By-pass’ in the Greensborough Planning District may be residential
development, including low density forms of housing.
The
Greensborough Secondary Plan further stipulates that:
·
development on the
lands designated ‘Community Amenity Area – North of By-pass’ shall be based on
a Community Design Plan satisfactory to the Town; and
·
through the Community Design Plan for the
lands designated ‘Community Amenity Area – North of By-pass’, open space uses,
such as parks and stormwater management facilities, shall be directed to the
area where the distance between the Donald Cousens Parkway and the Little Rouge
Creek is at its narrowest, and that other land uses adjacent to this area shall
have regard to their impacts on the future Rouge Park North.
A Community Design Plan has been endorsed by Council
On June 15, 2010 Committee endorsed an addendum to the Greensborough Community Design Plan which satisfies the requirements of the Secondary Plan for the ‘Community Amenity Area – North of By-pass’ designation. The Addendum includes all of the lands within the ‘North of By-pass’ designation, including the commercial property to the west of the draft plan and the lands within the Town’s urban service area west of 9th Line.
The Addendum provides urban design guidance for the development of the lands, and addresses community structure, architecture and site planning, streetscape design, the open space system and sustainable development guidelines.
The land use concept consists of a commercial block at the western portion of the plan, low and medium density development and open space south of Major Mackenzie Drive and medium density residential and place of worship uses between 9th Line and Donald Cousens Parkway. The draft plan of subdivision reflects the land use concept in the endorsed Community Design Plan.
The Addendum was endorsed by Council subject
to a number of revisions as outlined in the staff report dated June 15,
2010. The applicant will be required to
amend the draft plan of subdivision to reflect these revisions.
Greenbelt Plan
policies do not apply
Although a portion of the lands are identified as Greenbelt, they fall under the ‘transitional policies’ of the Greenbelt Plan which state that where an official plan was amended prior to December 16, 2004 to specifically designate land uses(s), this approval may continue to be recognized and any further applications required to implement the official plan approval are not required to conform to the Greenbelt Plan. OPA 51 (Greensborough Secondary Plan) was approved in 1997 and therefore continues to apply to the lands identified as Greenbelt.
Limit of development has been established to satisfaction of TRCA and Town
The Town and the TRCA have reached agreement with the applicant regarding the limit of development and the location of the stormwater management pond adjacent to the valleylands of the Little Rouge Creek. The limit of development was established based on the greater of the Regulatory Storm floodplain, the stable top of bank, contiguous valley vegetation, plus a 10 metre buffer.
All of the proposed development is outside of the 10 metre buffer except for a small portion of road adjacent to the stormwater pond. A detailed review of vegetation to be removed and the possibility for trees to be transplanted was undertaken. It was determined that approximately 300 trees less than 20mm (0.8 inch) caliper and 56 over 40mm (1.6 inch) caliper would be replaced. Based on this evaluation a tree compensation package in keeping with the Town’s Streetscape Manual policies has been agreed to by the Owner. The package will include:
- A restoration planting plan for the buffer and valley that includes as many whips and 40mm caliper trees and appropriate understory plantings that can be accommodated;
- Additional tree planting in the vicinity of the storm pond over and above the TRCA requirements;
- On lot (rear yard) tree planting of 40mm caliper trees for the semi-detached and townhouse lots; and
- Additional tree planting, over and above the standard planting requirements, for each of the three condominium blocks.
The tree compensation will replace and enhance the existing tree canopy. The landscape plans, in addition to the standard street tree planting and landscape buffers, will include plantings of approximately 500 - 600 whip size trees, 575 40mm caliper size trees and additional understory within the valley and 10m buffer.
Although a small portion of road infringes on the 10 metre environmental buffer, the road is single-loaded, providing the benefit of allowing open views into this portion of the Rouge Park.
Parkland Dedication
The applicant has acquired neighbouring properties immediately to the east to satisfy part of the parkland requirements of the plan of subdivision. The Town has agreed to accept the tableland of these two properties (south of Little Rouge Creek as shown in Figure 3) in their entirety for parkland dedication purposes. The valleyland portion of the property immediately to the east, is being conveyed gratuitously to the Town. The tableland component of these properties, in addition to the two park blocks within the plan of subdivision, generally satisfies the parkland dedication requirements of this plan of subdivision.
Addition of
semi-detached housing
Staff had concerns with the originally proposed
number of 6m townhouse lots along the primary streets in the subdivision. The concerns are that a 6m townhouse frontage
provides a less desirable streetscape in terms of the amount of non-driveway
space available for landscaping and street trees. The plan of subdivision has been revised to
replace the 6m townhouse lots on the primary streets with 8.0m and 8.5m
semi-detached lots. Staff are satisfied
that the semi-detached lots will provide an improved streetscape and will
provide for a greater range of housing within the subdivision. The Addendum to
the Community Design Plan will be amended accordingly.
Issues identified at the Public Meeting have been
addressed
The statutory Public Meeting to consider the draft plan of subdivision and rezoning applications was held on November 3, 2009. Committee had a number of comments regarding tree preservation, parkland locations, road alignments, and the interface with the abutting commercial site to the west. The owners of the property immediately to the east of the plan of subdivision expressed concern about lack of involvement in the Community Design Plan process. These comments, and other issues identified through the review process, have been addressed as follows:
Incorporation of existing trees in relocated park
Committee requested that the park block internal to the plan be relocated to incorporate trees near Major Mackenzie Drive and in the eastern portion of the property. The widening of Major Mackenzie Drive and the location of a 10m stormwater easement along the entire length of the south side of Major Mackenzie Drive will require the removal of many of the trees in this location. The trees in the easterly portion of the property will also be removed, but staff are satisfied that the tree compensation package agreed to be applicant, as outlined above, will produce a net benefit of trees. Also as mentioned above, valleylands external to this subdivision are being conveyed gratuitously as a condition of approval.
Alignment of north-south road between Donald Cousens Parkway and Major
Mackenzie Drive
Committee commented that the straight nature of
this public road (Street ‘1’) could encourage speeding and that it may be used
as a short cut by some between Major Mackenzie Drive and Donald Cousens
Parkway. Staff are proposing lay-by
parking and mini-roundabouts as traffic calming devices on this road.
Committee also questioned the signalization of the
Delray Drive and Castlemore Avenue intersections with Donald Cousens Parkway,
indicating that adding signalized intersections on Donald Cousens Parkway
appeared contrary to the function of the Parkway as a fast moving
‘by-pass’.
The DCP is identified as a Regional Arterial Road in the Region of York Official Plan. Given the level of development in Greensborough, the DCP has to serve both a mobility (by-pass) function and an access function. The two signalized intersections between 9th Line and Major Mackenzie Drive are necessary to provide for vehicular access to both the northerly and southerly parts of Greensborough. The number of signalized intersections along the DCP in Cornell also allows for greater access for pedestrians and cyclists crossing the DCP between south and north Greensborough, and also acts as a deterrent for speeding. The ‘slowing down’ effect of the intersections can be mitigated by coordination of the traffic signals to ensure the continuous traffic flow appropriate to the by-pass function for the road.
Appropriate
interface between residential and commercial uses
Committee commented that there needed to be improved pedestrian
connectivity between the residential subdivision and the abutting commercial
property to the west. Although no
vehicular access is proposed from the residential streets to the commercial
blocks, pedestrian connection will be provided through sidewalks on both sides
of the primary street (Street ‘2’) leading to the commercial site. Appropriate buffers and connections will be
addressed through the landscape plans for the draft plan of subdivision and
through site plan approval for the commercial block.
Nature of proposed low-rise apartment development
Committee requested examples of the type of the low-rise apartments being proposed. Examples of the proposed built form are included in the Community Design Plan Addendum and include low-rise apartment buildings or stacked townhouses accessed by private driveways. The existing stacked townhouses on the south side of Bur Oak Avenue, opposite the Greensborough village square are one example. They consist of ground-oriented buildings with one unit occupying the ground floor, and multiple units occupying the upper two or three floors, with all units having direct stair access to grade.
Involvement of neighbouring property owners in the CDP
The owner of the two properties immediately to the
east of the subdivision (see Figure 3) expressed concern that they had not been
involved in the development of the Community Design Plan, and that all of the
tableland on their properties was identified as parkland. The tableland portion of the two neighbouring
properties to the east (south of the Little Rouge Creek), as well as the valleyland portion of the property
immediately to the east of the Digram lands have since been acquired by the
applicant as outlined above. The
tableland is being conveyed to the Town as part of the parkland dedication for
this subdivision, and the valleylands are being conveyed to the Town
gratuitously.
Servicing allocation to be assigned to part of
subdivision
The applicant has indicated that conditional 2011 servicing
allocation for 36 townhouse units is available from the Developers Group
Trustee. The remainder of the units do
not have allocation. Conditions regarding the draft approval of units
with conditional allocation and without allocation (i.e., entering into no
pre-sales agreements and indemnity agreements) are included in the conditions
of draft approval attached as Appendix ‘A’.
Sustainability
Initiatives
The Community Design Plan identifies a number of sustainability
initiatives that will be undertaken through the development of this plan of
subdivision, particularly for the medium density condominium blocks. These include consideration of a number of
Energy Star requirements, and regard for the Region’s Sustainable Home Incentive
Program (SHIP).
Proposed Zoning
By-law amendment
The lands are currently zoned Rural Residential Four (RR4) and Open Space 1 (O1) in By-law 304-87, as amended. Amendments are required to delete the subject lands from this By-law and to incorporate the lands within the Town’s Urban Expansion Area By-law 177-96, as amended, with appropriate zones to permit the proposed development.
Holding Provisions will be applied
to the residential zones which do not have servicing allocation. The Hold will be removed once the following
are satisfied:
- adequate
water and sanitary sewer allocation is available;
- pre-requisite
agreement with the
Town of Markham not to pre-sell units within the draft plan until a
specified date (one year prior to the required Regional servicing
infrastructure being available); and
- execution
of an indemnity agreement with the Region to protect the Region in the
event servicing
infrastructure is not delivered in the anticipated timeframe have been
executed.
Draft
zoning by-laws to implement the above-noted portions of the proposed plan of
subdivision are attached as Appendix ‘B’.
The Ministers’ Airport Zoning Order applies to a very small portion of the subject lands. As the affected lands are within the valley lands to be conveyed to the Town, an amendment to the Order is not being sought. As the affected lands are already zoned O1, the proposed zoning by-law excludes these lands.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE: (external link)
Not applicable.
HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS:
Not applicable.
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:
The proposed plan of subdivision aligns with the Town’s strategic priorities of Growth Management and Municipal Services by completing development within the urban area and implementing the proposed development in phases in coordination with available servicing allocation. The parkland and valleyland dedication, restoration planting and extensive tree planting support the Environmental priority.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The proposal has been circulated to various Town departments and external agencies. All conditions and requirements have been addressed and incorporated in the draft plan and conditions of draft 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 of Development
Services.
ATTACHMENTS:
Figure 1 – Location Map
Figure 2 – Air Photo 2009
Figure 3 – Area Context and Zoning
Figure 4 – Proposed Plan of Subdivision
APPLICANT: Owner: Masood Pervez
Digram Developments Inc.
327
Renfrew Drive, Suite 302
Markham, ON L3R 9S8
AGENT: Ms. Sandra Wiles
KLM Planning Partners Inc.
24 Jardin Drive Unit 1B
Concord, Ontario L4K 3P3
Telephone: 905-669-4055 Fax: 905-669-0097
Email: swiles@klmplanning.com
FILE PATH: Amanda\File 09 122312\Documents\Preliminary Report
Figure 1 – Location
Map
