M I N U T E S
SHOPS
ON STEELES WORKING GROUP
2010-04-28
Canada
Room
Attendance
|
Members of Thornhill Sub-Committee: Councillor E. Shapero Deputy Mayor J. Heath Mayor F. Scarpitti Councillor Regrets Councillor V. Burke Regional Councillor J. Jones Staff: R. Blake, Manager Development West S. Campbell, Senior Planner L. Wimmer, Senior Planner Urban Design A. Tari, Committee Clerk |
Applicant
& Design Team Jeff Greene,
Gatzios Steven Kirshenblatt, Kirkor Architects Shelly Mecklinger City of City of Lynne Poole, City of Toronto Residents Gary Kay Nafiseh Pourhassani Marsha Winton Eileen Liasi David Slotnick Brian Compson Fred Webber Frances Halperin Daniel Aufgang Patricia Hough Karen Cilevitz, Advisor Regrets Bob James |
The Shops on Steeles Working Group meeting convened at 7:10 PM with Councillor E. Shapero in the Chair.
1. OPENING REMARKS AND
INTRODUCTIONS
The Chair
welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked staff for their work in putting
this meting together.
2. MINUTES
FROM MEETING OF APRIL 12, 2010
It was
noted that the Working Group had requested some information from the applicant at
the April 12, 2010 meeting, but have not received the information to date.
Moved by Eileen
Liasi
Seconded by Marsha Winton
That the
minutes of the Shops on Steeles Working Group meeting held on April 12, 2010,
be adopted, as amended.
CARRIED
3. CITY
OF TORONTO REPORT TO THE NORTH YORK
COMMUNITY
COUNCIL ON APRIL 27, 2010
Ms. Lynne Poole, City of Toronto advised the working group that they have prepared a report entitled “2900 Steeles Avenue East at Don Mills Road in the Town of Markham – Official Plan Amendment Application Status Report” (Appendix A) in response to the Statutory Meeting scheduled for May 4, 2010 to ensure that the City of Toronto’s comments and/or concerns are officially on record, and that this report was considered at the North York Community Council on April 27, 2010 with a further motion put forward by Councillor David Shiner (Appendix B). She confirmed that the report and motion will be considered at the Toronto Council meeting on May 11, 2010. Ms. Poole reviewed the details outlined in the City of Toronto staff report.
Toronto
Councillor David Shiner explained the purpose of the motion he moved (and was
adopted) at the April 27, 2010 North York Community Council meeting.
The
working group inquired about the sanitary sewer connection for this proposal. Toronto Councillor Shiner advised that there
is no capacity to connect to the Toronto system south of Steeles Avenue.
4. OFFICIAL
PLAN AMENDMENT – DRAFT TEXT
Ms. Sally
Campbell, Senior Planner distributed a copy of the Draft Official Plan
Amendment submitted by the applicant.
She advised that staff have not yet provided their comments. Ms. Campbell indicated that the purpose of an
Official Plan Amendment is to layout out the vision, framework and evolution of
the proposed development. She advised
that staff will request more detail in the Official Plan Amendment to ensure
that it aligns with the Region of York and the Town’s policies and objectives. Ms. Campbell indicated that a lot of the
re-writing for the Official Plan Amendment will be done by Town staff.
There was
discussion regarding the use of a Precinct Plan.
There was
discussion regarding the amount of residential being proposed for this site and
staff pointed out that they have in previous meetings with the applicant and
their representatives, advised that planning staff would like to see more
redevelopment of residential across the entire site and a general reduction in
the amount of residential.
5. BUILT
FORM, HEIGHT, DENSITY
Mr. Stephen Kirshenblatt, Kirkor Architects delivered a PowerPoint presentation reviewing the proposed elevations for the site.
The Working Group discussed the following issues and/or concerns related to the presentation:
- Buildings are too modern with no character
- Too much residential density
- Spacing between the residential buildings not sufficient
- Where is the balance between a two storey commercial building and 32 storey residential building
- Shadowing to the existing communities and to the other buildings on the site
- Parking is insufficient
- What type of park is being proposed on this site
The Working Group inquired about incorporating buildings that have retail on the bottom two floors with residential development on-top. Mr. Mecklinger advised that the difficulty with that type of development is noise and maintenance issues depending on the type of retail there. He indicated that restaurant uses are rarely granted in those developments.
6. NEW
BUSINESS
There was
discussion regarding the procedures of the Statutory Public Meeting scheduled
for May 4, 2010. Staff advised that
their presentation will look at the overall principles and concepts being
proposed. The Working Group suggested
that both proposed site plans (by the applicant) should be presented that
evening and describing the differences.
7. NEXT
STEPS
Mayor
Frank Scarpitti advised the Working Group that following the Statutory Public
Meeting there will need to be continuation of work with the Working Group. He suggested that in order to resolve some of
the issues it may be beneficial to work with a smaller group of representatives
for the community, the applicant, staff and Council. Those discussions could then be reported back
to the Working Group.
ADJOURNMENT
The Shops on Steeles Working Group meeting adjourned at 9:30 PM.