Report to: Development Services Committee Report Date: June 22, 2010
SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATION
REPORT
Seven Star Plaza Inc.
Official
Plan, Zoning By-Law Amendment and Site Plan Control Applications for 5261
Highway 7, 5293 Highway 7 and 8495 McCowan Road
Files:
OP 08-120413, ZA 08-120455, ZA 03-108688
and SC 03-108706-001
PREPARED BY: Doris
Cheng, Senior Planner - East District, ext. 2331
RECOMMENDATION:
1)
That the report entitled “Recommendation Report. Seven
Star Plaza Inc., Official Plan, Zoning By-law Amendment and Site Plan Control Applications
for 5261 Highway 7, 5293 Highway 7 and 8495 McCowan Road, Files: OP 08-120413, ZA 08-120455, ZA 03-108688
and SC 03-108706-001” be received;
2)
That the record of the Public Meeting held on February
3, 2009, regarding the applications for Official Plan Amendment and Zoning
By-law amendment be received;
3)
That the Official Plan amendment application submitted by
Seven Star Plaza Inc. to redesignate the lands at 8495 McCowan Road, be
approved and the draft Official Plan Amendment attached as Appendix ‘A’ be
finalized and adopted without further notice;
4)
That the application submitted by Seven Star Plaza Inc.
to amend Zoning By-law 1229 as amended, be approved and the draft by-law
attached as Appendix ‘B’ be finalized and enacted without further notice, upon
staff being satisfied with the parking;
5)
That the Site Plan Application (File No. SC
03-108706-001) submitted by Seven Star Plaza Inc. for the lands at 5261 Highway
7, 5293 Highway 7 and 8495 McCowan Road, be endorsed in principle, subject to
the conditions attached as Appendix ‘C’;
6)
That staff continue to work with the applicant to
finalize the elevations to integrate an architectural consistency across the
new buildings, to the satisfaction of the Town Architect;
7)
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 plan;
8)
That should the Owner wish to participate in the
enhanced hoarding programme, the Mayor and Town Clerk be authorized to enter
into a Hoarding Agreement with the Owner;
9)
That the site plan endorsement shall lapse after a
period of three (3) years from the date of endorsement in the event that a site
plan 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.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The subject lands consist of three
properties: 5261 Highway 7, 5293 Highway
7 and 8495 McCowan Road. The property at
5261 Highway 7 is a 0.41 ha (1.7 acre) commercial property located at the southeast
corner of Highway 7 and McCowan Road. The
property contains a single storey commercial/retail plaza (Seven Star
Plaza). The property shares access and
parking with 5293 Highway 7 to the east, which contains a two storey building
with medical offices and retail stores.
The property at 8495 McCowan Road is approximately 0.30 hectares (0.74
acres) in area and is located directly south of the existing Seven Star Plaza
at 5261 Highway 7.
The proposal is
to demolish the existing plaza and proceed with a new
comprehensive commercial development across both 5261 Highway 7 and 8495
McCowan Road. Building ‘B’, located at
the corner of McCowan Road and Highway 7, is designed as a single storey 1,230
m˛ commercial building with a bank as the primary tenant. Building ‘C’, in the southern portion of the
site, is proposed as a one-storey 2,000 m˛ building containing retail and
restaurant uses. Building ‘A’ (the
existing medical office building at 5293 Highway 7) is not intended to be
redeveloped at this time, and the access to the site is intended remain in its
current location to provide access from Highway 7 to all three properties. In addition, a new right-in/right-out access
is proposed from McCowan Road. A total of
225 surface parking spaces is proposed to serve all
three buildings.
The lands at
5261 Highway 7 and 5293 Highway 7 are designated ‘Commercial -Commercial
Corridor Area’ in the Official Plan (Revised 1987) as amended which provides
for the proposed commercial uses. The
lands at 8495 McCowan Road are currently designated ‘Urban Residential’ in the
Official Plan and require an Official Plan amendment to redesignate the lands
from ‘Urban Residential’ to ‘Commercial – Commercial Corridor Area’, consistent
with the designation of the lands at 5261 Highway 7 and 5293 Highway 7.
The lands at
8495 McCowan Road require a zoning amendment to permit the commercial uses,
consistent with the lands at 5261 Highway 7 and 5293 Highway 7. Because the current zoning by-law for the
lands at 5261 and 5293 Highway 7 provides for shared parking and access
arrangements, the proposed zoning amendment applies to all three subject
properties.
Staff are generally satisfied with the site layout and
building elevations. Staff is requesting
minor modifications to the elevations to provide a unified design between the two new
buildings. This includes the use of
consistent design elements in the elevations to create a cohesive architecture for
the project.
A parking study
has been submitted to justify an approximate 55 parking space shortfall. Staff have not yet completed their review of
the study, but have agreed to recommend Council endorsement of the site plan,
conditional on approval of the parking study, and implementation of any recommendations
of the study. The amending zoning by-law
will be finalized and enacted once the study is completed and the revisions to
the site plan (if required) have been finalized. Issues identified at the Public Meeting and
Community Meetings, primarily related to noise, traffic, parking and impacts on
residences to the south have been addressed.
Staff recommend approval of the Official Plan amendment, and
draft zoning by-law amendment and endorsement of the site plan application
subject to conditions.
PURPOSE:
The purpose
of this report is to recommend the approval of Official Plan and Zoning By-law
Amendment applications for the lands at 5261 Highway 7, 5293 Highway 7 and 8495
McCowan Road. The report further recommends endorsement of a site plan control
application for the lands at 5261 Highway 7 and 8495 McCowan Road to facilitate
the comprehensive redevelopment of the commercial property.
Property and
Area Context
The subject
lands consist of three properties: 5261
Highway 7, 5293 Highway 7 and 8495 McCowan Road. The property at 5261 Highway 7 is a 0.41 ha
(1.72 acre) commercial property located at the southeast corner of Highway 7
and McCowan Road. The property contains
a single storey commercial/retail plaza (Seven Star Plaza) with various retail
uses including a variety store and bakery.
The property shares access and parking with 5293 Highway 7 to the east,
which contains a two storey commercial building with retail at grade and
business offices, including medical offices on the second floor.
The property
at 8495 McCowan Road is approximately 0.30 hectares (0.74 acres) in area and
has a 30 metre frontage with direct access from McCowan Road. Located directly south of the existing Seven
Star Plaza, the lands contain a vacant, single detached residential dwelling
and detached garage. Vegetation exists
along the north, east and south property lines (Figures 1 to 3).
The area
context for all three properties is as follows:
The
properties have been subject to previous applications
The existing plaza
at 5261 Highway 7 was originally constructed in the 1960’s. The two-storey building at 5293 Highway 7,
abutting the subject site to the east, was originally given zoning approval by
the Ontario Municipal Board in 1980, and in 1986, a site plan and zoning amendment
were approved to permit the existing building and additional uses. The approved site plan incorporated both 5261
Highway 7 and 5293 Highway 7 as they are under the
same ownership, although the properties retain separate title. A minor variance application was approved in
1994 to permit additional uses on the lands at 5261 Highway 7.
In 2003, the
applicant submitted applications for Official Plan, zoning by-law amendment and
site plan approval to provide for the comprehensive redevelopment of the Seven
Star Plaza over both 5261 Highway 7 and the 8495 McCowan Road property directly
to the south. The applications were met
with public opposition at the September 9, 2003 statutory Public Meeting and
the applications did not proceed.
New applications were submitted in July, 2008
New Official
Plan and Zoning By-law amendment applications were submitted by Seven Star
Plaza Inc. for 8495 McCowan Road in July, 2008.
The purpose of the applications is to redesignate and rezone the property
from residential to commercial, so that the property may be redeveloped as part
of a comprehensive redevelopment of the Seven Star Plaza on the abutting
property to the north.
At the time of their 2008 submission, the applicant had
only submitted a conceptual site plan in support of the Official Plan and
Zoning applications. At the statutory
Public Meeting held on February 3, 2009, a number of concerns were expressed by
the neighbouring residents including the need for the applications to be
considered concurrently with a formal site plan application.
Following the Public Meeting, staff and the Ward
Councillor met with the applicant to discuss changes to the concept plan that
would address some of the concerns raised at the Public Meeting, and to also
discuss urban design requirements for the Highway 7 corridor. The applicant was agreeable to revising the
site plan to reflect the suggested changes, and submitted a formal site plan
application in December 2009. On
February 25, 2010, the Ward Councillor held an additional community information
meeting to discuss the revised site plan with the neighbouring residents and to
address and try to resolve any further concerns.
Proposal is
to redevelop two of the properties as a single commercial development
The proposal is to demolish the existing plaza at 5261
Highway 7 and proceed with a new comprehensive
commercial development across both 5261 Highway 7 and 8495 McCowan Road (Figure
4). Building ‘B’, located at the corner
of McCowan Road and Highway 7, is designed as a single storey 1,230 m˛ commercial building with a bank as the
primary tenant. Building ‘C’, in the
southern portion of the site, is proposed as a one-storey 2,000 m˛ building
containing retail and restaurant uses.
Building ‘A’ (the existing medical office building at 5293
Highway 7) is not intended to be redeveloped at this time, however the access
to the site is intended to be redesigned to provide access from Highway 7 to
all three properties. In addition, a new
right-in/right-out access is proposed from McCowan Road.
A total of 225 surface parking spaces are proposed to
serve all three buildings.
Official Plan
and applicable Zoning Bylaw
The lands at 5261 Highway 7 and 5293 Highway 7 are
designated ‘Commercial -Commercial Corridor Area’ in the Official Plan (Revised
1987) as amended which provides for the proposed commercial uses. The lands at 8495 McCowan Road are designated
‘Urban Residential’ in the Official Plan (Revised 1987) as amended. An Official Plan amendment is required to
redesignate the lands from ‘Urban Residential’ to ‘Commercial – Commercial
Corridor Area’, consistent with the designation of the lands at 5261 Highway 7
and 5293 Highway 7.
The lands at 8495 McCowan Road are zoned ‘Residential One’
in By-law 1229, as amended. The zoning
amendment application would rezone the site to General Commercial (C1) under
By-law 1229 as amended, consistent with the zoning and list of permitted uses on
the lands at 5261 Highway 7 and 5293 Highway 7.
This proposed zone category provides for bake shops/bakery, banks,
business and professional offices, medical offices, medical laboratories,
personal service shops, restaurants, restaurants-take out, retail stores and service
shops.
Because the current zoning by-law for the lands at 5261
and 5293 Highway 7 provides for shared parking and access arrangements, the
proposed zoning amendment applies to all three subject properties.
The proposed
redevelopment of the lands at 8495 McCowan Road and 5261 Highway 7 are considered acceptable, subject to minor revisions
The applicant has worked with staff to address the
concerns of the residents and provide a built form that is consistent with the Highway
7 corridor. Staff are
generally satisfied with the site layout and building elevations (Figures
4-6). Building ‘B’, to be primarily
occupied by a bank, is oriented towards Highway 7 and McCowan Road and provides
wrap around windows along Highway 7 and McCowan Road, and pedestrian access to
both road frontages.
The buildings are predominantly comprised of precast stone
panels with accentuating columns. Aluminum
framed glazing with a precast sign face, incorporating backlit channel
lettering, will be subject to the Town’s Sign By-law. The contemporary façade provides a much needed
upgrade to the site with a contemporary architectural character at street level
(Figure 5). Staff is requesting minor
modifications to the elevations to provide a unified design between Buildings
‘B’ and ‘C’. This includes the use of
consistent design elements in the elevations to create a cohesive architecture for
the project.
The proposed loading and service area for Building ‘B’ has
been located to the east of the building and is proposed to be screened from
public view. The redevelopment of the
site has also afforded the opportunity to provide greater visibility to the
parking lot at the rear of the medical building at 5293 Highway 7.
Sustainability
Initiatives
Staff are requesting that the applicant
consider various sustainability initiatives, including providing additional
trees to be planted in the parking islands to further mitigate the visual
impact and reduce the heat island effect of the parking lot on site. Staff will continue to work with the
applicant to ensure the proposed building materials have regard for FLAP, that
lighting on site will have regard for the dark skies initiative, and that
bicycle storage areas and taxi stands are provided for on site.
Traffic impact and parking justification reports have been submitted
The site plan
includes 225 parking spaces to accommodate the proposed and existing
development on the subject lands, while approximately 280 spaces are
required. This represents a shortfall of approximately 55 parking spaces
from Town requirements.
It should be
noted that the existing properties at 5261 and 5293 Highway 7 were granted a
reduction in parking through a zoning by-law amendment in 1985. The
amendment (By-law 45-85) required a minimum of 188 parking spaces, which
translates into a rate of approximately 1 space per 22m2 of gross
floor area. The proposed 225 parking spaces for 5,871 m2
of GFA, translates into a rate of approximately 1 space per 26m2 of
gross floor area.
A parking
study has been submitted to justify the reduction. Staff have not
yet completed their review of the study, but have agreed to recommend Council
endorsement of the site plan, conditional on approval of the parking study, and
implementation of any recommendations of the study. Based on the
current standard for the existing plaza, staff are suggesting
applying the same rate of 1/22m2 GFA to the proposed development
(which would require approximately 267 spaces).
This is to be finalized through review of the Parking Study and any
necessary revision to the site plan prior to By-law adoption.
Issues
identified at the Public Meeting and Community Meetings have been addressed
Issues raised at
the February 3, 2009 Public Meeting and at community meetings have been
addressed in the revised site plan as follows:
Residents were
concerned for the safety of pedestrians and children
The revised site
plan incorporates many of Staff’s recommendations, particularly relocating the
buildings to expose the existing, under-utilized parking lot at the rear of the
medical office building at 5293 Highway 7.
Greater visibility of the parking lot will improve public safety and
potentially decrease the amount of negative activities which may occur, such as
loitering and defacing of properties.
The applicant is
also providing improved lighting on the site.
The applicant will be required to prevent any light ‘spill-over’ onto
adjacent residential properties while having regard for ‘dark skies’.
Concerns that increased
litter and odours from garbage will be generated
Town standards for
the storage of waste requires that all refuse be contained within a climate controlled, internal storage room. External storage is not permitted. The applicant is also proposing visual
screening of the loading and waste storage area
Truck traffic
issues such as plaza deliveries and related noise pollution
One of the earlier
plaza concepts included a truck access lane at the rear of the new plaza in
close proximity to the neighbouring residential properties to the south. The delivery access has been moved to the
front of the building; access to the back of the building is limited to
man-doors only. All deliveries will
occur from the front entrance. The
applicant has also committed to providing enhanced landscaping and privacy
fencing at the rear of the property.
The proposed TD
bank drive-through facility has been removed from the site plan, in response to
resident concerns with the increased traffic that would be generated by the
facility.
The residents also
expressed concerns regarding the noise generated from the increase in traffic,
the noise generated from the operations within each unit when the rear doors
are open, and the noise generated by the HVAC units on the roof. Any noise from HVAC systems on the roof
will need to be mitigated to ensure the noise levels do not exceed Town
requirements. The systems should also be
adequately screened from view. The
applicant is also proposing a noise attenuation fence to buffer loading and
garbage room operations, as well as a privacy fence and enhanced landscaping to
the rear of the proposed plaza, abutting the residential properties to the
south.
Comments on parking
Some residents
voiced concerns that parking deficiencies would result in overflow parking onto
Southdale Road. Other residents felt
that there was too much parking proposed on the site, and the tenancy of the
plaza did not warrant the number of proposed parking spaces. As previously noted, the applicant has
submitted a Parking Justification Report which staff are
currently reviewing. The applicant is
proposing a reduced number of parking spaces for the site. Staff recommends
that the zoning by-law be finalized and enacted once staff are satisfied with
the study and the site plan revised to reflect the recommendations of the
study.
Concern regarding
the McCowan Road access
McCowan Road and
Highway 7 are within the jurisdiction of the Region of York. While the Highway 7 access is to remain in
its current location, the final alignment of the McCowan Road access is subject
to the review and approval of the Region of York. The Region has indicated they have no
objections to the application, subject to the access on McCowan Road being
restricted to right-in/right-out only.
Both Regional and Town Staff believe the location of the McCowan Road
access is appropriately distanced from the residential neighbourhood to the
south and from the McCowan/Highway 7 intersection.
Precedent of
converting residential properties to commercial uses
The property at
8495 McCowan Road was not part of the residential plan of subdivision to the
south and east of the subject lands. Staff considers the integration of this property with the
lands to the north for redevelopment appropriate as it cannot be integrated
with the residential subdivision and redevelopment to a higher intensity residential
use would be difficult for access and compatibility reasons.
Traffic conflicts
will be addressed through a Regional Environmental Assessment for the widening
of McCowan Road
Several comments
were also noted related to the traffic issues on McCowan Road. A variety of suggestions were made by the
residents to mitigate the impacts of traffic in their neighbourhood, including
closing off Southdale Road from McCowan Road, installing more stop signs, restricting
the road for resident only access with a gate, or making Southdale Road one way
only.
After the statutory Public Meeting in
February, staff contacted the Region of York at the request of Committee regarding
the unsignalized intersections in the vicinity of McCowan Road and Southdale
Drive. Regional staff acknowledged that
the section of McCowan Road, between
Highway 7 and Highway 407 demonstrated a higher than normal collision
frequency, when compared to other similar road sections. In
particular,
the Region acknowledged that a
collision pattern has been identified involving southbound vehicles on McCowan
Road and left turning (northbound) vehicles exiting the commercial plaza on the
west side of McCowan Road (Foody Mart/McDonalds/Tim Hortons’ plaza) which is
common at unsignalized commercial access points.
The Region has indicated that McCowan
Road between Highway 7 and 14th Avenue is proposed to be considered
for widening to accommodate future transit priority lanes, which involves a Class ‘C’ Environmental Assessment (EA). The EA will consider the safety and operation
of the commercial access for Seven Star Plaza and other commercial/retail
plazas in the area, and recommend preferred alternatives. This process will include consultation with
the local community, business owners and the Town of Markham. In the interim, the Region of York has
reviewed the application and has requested that the proposed access from
McCowan Road be restricted to right-in/right-out only.
A draft zoning by-law amendment encompassing all three
properties is attached as Appendix ‘B’. The
proposed by-law restricts the list of permitted uses and will include a
restriction on the amount of restaurant uses permitted on the site. The by-law will also contain site specific
development standards for the site, including an appropriate parking
requirement based on staff’s approval of the Parking Justification Report. Staff recommend that
Committee approve the draft amendment, which will be finalized once the parking
study has been approved as discussed above.
Not applicable
Not applicable
The proposed applications align with the Town’s strategic
priorities of Growth Management and Transportation and Transit.
The applications have been reviewed by various Town
departments and external agencies.
Requirements of the Town and external agencies are reflected in the
implementing zoning by-law amendments and conditions of site plan approval.
CONCLUSIONS:
Staff is satisfied with the proposal and recommends that
the draft official plan amendment attached as Appendix ‘A’, and the draft
zoning by-law attached as Appendix ‘B’ be finalized and enacted without further
notice once staff are satisfied with the Parking Justification Report. Staff
also recommends that the site plan be endorsed in principle, subject to the
conditions attached in Appendix ‘C’.
RECOMMENDED
BY:
___________________________ ____________________________
Biju
Karumanchery, MCIP, RPP Jim
Baird, MCIP, RPP
Senior
Development Manager Commissioner,
Development Services
Figure 2 – Area Context and Zoning
Figure 3 – Air Photo
Figure 4 – Site Plan
Figure 5 – Elevations (Building B)
Figure 6 – Elevations (Building C)
Appendix ‘A’ – Draft Official Plan Amendment
Appendix ‘B’ – Draft Zoning By-law Amendment
Appendix ‘C’ – Conditions of Site Plan Approval
APPLICANT/AGENT: Mark Eplett
Otis
Group of Companies
20 Eglinton Avenue West, Suite 1402
P.O. Box 2040 Toronto,
Ontario M4R
1K8
Telephone: 416-489-2833 Fax:
416-486-6017
Email: markeplett@rogers.com
FILE PATH: Amanda\File OP 08
120413\Documents\Recommendation Report
