RECOMMENDATION:
That the Record of
the Public Meeting held on October 2, 2001 regarding applications submitted by
the Al Hussain Foundation at 10992 Kennedy Road to Amend the Official Plan, Zoning
By-law, Minister’s Zoning Order (Airport), to permit the conversion of the
existing funeral chapel to a place of worship and the construction a 183.5 m2
addition, be received;
That Council endorse
the proposed draft Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments, to permit the
conversion of the existing funeral chapel to a place of worship and
construction of a 183.5 m2 addition, attached as Appendix ‘A’ and
‘B’
And That the
applicant’s exemption request from Bill 27 be endorsed by Council and referred
to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing;
And That the draft
Official Plan and the Zoning By-law Amendments be presented to Council for
adoption, once the Ministry of Municipal Affairs has granted an exemption from
Bill 27, permitting the conversion of the funeral chapel to a place of worship
and the construction of the 183.5 m2 addition;
And Further That
staff prepare a further report to Development Services regarding the proposed
site plan application to permit the 183.5 m2 addition.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to
provide an evaluation of the applicant’s proposal for an amendment to the
Official Plan, Zoning By-law, Ministers Zoning Order (Airport) and site plan
approval to permit a place of worship, in addition to the existing funeral
prayer chapel and cemetery on the subject lands. The report recommends adoption of the
Official Plan Amendment and approval of the Zoning By-law Amendment.
BACKGROUND:
Property located on the west side of Kennedy Rd., north of Elgin Mills
The 1.9
hectare (4.74 ac.) property is located on the west side of Kennedy Road, North of Elgin Mills Road, with 66 metres
(216 ft) of frontage on Kennedy Road. The site currently contains a cemetery and an
accessory 600 m2 (6,458 ft2) funeral prayer chapel. There is an additional 12 ha (30 ac) of land
to the north and west of the site within the same ownership, which is intended
to remain in agricultural use.
In 1997 Council approved a cemetery and accessory funeral prayer chapel
on the subject lands. The application
for a 2500 m2 place of worship was deferred at that time
In
1996, the Al Hussain Foundation submitted applications to amend the Official
Plan (Revised 1987) and Zoning By-law 304-87, as amended, to permit a 2500 sq.
m. place of worship and a cemetery on 4 hectares of land at 10992 Kennedy
Road. Council partially approved those
applications (excluding the 2,500 m2 place of worship) as follows:
a. Official Plan Amendment No. 53, approved May 26, 1999,
re-designated 1.9 ha of land at the southeast corner of the property
municipally known as 10992 Kennedy Road from “Agriculture- A1” to
“Institutional – Cemetery” to permit a cemetery;
b. Zoning By-law 238-98 was passed by Council to permit a
cemetery and an accessory funeral prayer chapel and storage building not
exceeding 600 sq. m. on the subject property. The building was restricted to a
maximum of one storey not exceeding 300 sq. m. ground floor area, with the
remainder of the floor area below grade;
c. That portion of the Al Hussain Foundation applications
for Official Plan amendment and rezoning seeking approval to permit a place of
worship on the subject property was deferred by Council in 1997 pending a
review of the Town’s place of worship policies; and,
d. A site plan
control agreement for a cemetery and funeral prayer chapel was registered in
June 2000.
Other necessary approvals for the cemetery and
accessory funeral prayer chapel were obtained
A Regional Official Plan
Amendment, required to permit the cemetery, was approved in April 1999. It added a site-specific exception to permit
a cemetery and accessory building on 1.9 ha (4.6 ac) of land in the
“Agriculture Policy Area” designation in the Regional Official Plan.
A Minister’s Zoning Order
(Airport) Amendment was approved in March 1999, permitting a cemetery together
with an accessory prayer chapel and storage shed, subject to a maximum height
of one storey, a maximum gross floor area of 600 m2 (6,458 ft2),
a maximum ground floor area of 300 m2 (3,229 ft2) and
minimum front and side yard requirements.
February 2001, the owner submitted a revised application to permit a
place of worship on the site
The
applicant’s revised proposal was to construct a 1058 sq. m. addition
to the north, west and south sides of the existing 600 sq. m. funeral
prayer chapel, and reconfigure the building to a 1658 m2 (17,847 ft2)
place of worship, half of which would be below grade. The proposed uses within the expanded
building included a lobby, prayer hall, office, and funeral chapel on the
ground floor, and a second prayer hall, kitchen, washrooms, library, and
storage area on the basement floor. The
proposed building would have a height of 20m for the dome, and 25.5m for two
minarets. In support of the revised
applications, the applicant submitted:
- A conceptual site plan illustrating a 1658 m2 (17,847 ft2)
place of worship and 98 parking spaces;
- A draft
Official Plan Amendment proposing a redesignation of the site from
“Institutional – Cemetery” to “Institutional – Place of Worship”;
- A
Justification Report for the proposal which included:
a. Planning analysis (February
2001);
b. Agricultural Assessment (March 1997);
c. Traffic Analysis (June 1997);
d. Functional Servicing Analysis (June1997); and,
e. Hydrogeologic Review (March 1997).
In October 2001, the
applicant submitted an application to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and
Housing to amend the Minister’s Zoning Order (Airport) to permit this
development. The Province is awaiting
the Town’s comments. To date, no
decision has been made by the Minister on that application.
A statutory public meeting
was held in October 2001.
On October 2, 2001 a statutory public meeting was held to consider the
applications for Official Plan Amendment and rezoning to permit an expansion
and conversion of the existing 600 m2 (6,458 ft2)
building to a 1658 m2 (17,847 ft2) place of worship. Development Services Committee referred the
applications back to staff and the consultant for the Places of Worship Study
for a report and recommendation following the Places of Worship Study open
house. The Open House was held on September 5, 2002.
Revised plans for a 2011 m2
(21,646 ft2) place of worship submitted in 2002.
In February 2002, the
applicant submitted revised drawings illustrating a 2011 m2 (21,646
ft2) place of worship, with a capacity of 511 persons in the ground
floor prayer hall, and 116 parking spaces.
On September 19, 2002 these plans were presented at a public information
meeting arranged by the Ward Councillor.
Resident’s concerns relate
primarily to the impact of the proposal on the surrounding area
Concerns expressed through
the public process included traffic congestion, the capacity of the building,
adequacy of on-site parking, preservation of the rural atmosphere, noise,
impact on agricultural operations, precedent for further urban development in
the rural area, the impact of the proposed development and associated septic
system on surrounding wells and tile drainage, the relationship between the
proposal and the Places of Worship Study, and the visual impact, including
lighting, massing and colour of the building.
Council authorized the
Places of Worship Study to include an evaluation of the Al Hussain Foundation
Applications.
In July 2001, Council
authorized the retention of Macauley Shiomi Howson Ltd., and associated
sub-consultants, to undertake the Places of Worship Study. The approved Terms of Reference for the
Places of Worship study included identification of issues and trends relating
to places of worship, a comprehensive review of the Town’s policies relating to
places of worship including parking standards, as well as a review of the Al
Hussain Foundation applications for Official Plan Amendment and rezoning to
permit a place of worship at 10992 Kennedy Road.
The
review of the applicant’s justification report by Macaulay Shiomi Howson
concluded that:
- The Place of Worship
needs of the Islamic community are for regional places of worship,
however, this trend is also true for other religious groups;
- The Town’s policies
appear to be successful in providing locations for regional places of
worship;
- There is no general
trend to combining new cemeteries and places of worship; and,
- The financial issue
raised, related to the additional costs of combining cemeteries and places
of worship, is unique to the Al Hussain site and arises because they have
an existing cemetery and funeral prayer chapel facility, which can be
easily expanded to accommodate a place of worship.
The Places of Worship Study concluded that the Town’s
current planning policies for new places of worship in the rural area are
appropriate.
The Places of Worship Study
concluded that there appears to be no need or justification for a change to the
current policy of prohibiting the development of new places of worship in the
rural area, except in unique circumstances.
The rationale for these conclusions included:
·
The range of site
needs, including places of worship which serve a regional function, can be met
in the urban area;
·
No significant
growth is expected in the rural area, so new places of worship are not required
to serve the rural community;
·
The policy
direction at the Provincial, Regional and Town levels directs that the rural
area be “the focus of resource activity, resource-based recreational activity
and other rural land uses”, and not uses which have the option of locating in
the Urban Area; and,
·
The financial
situation of worship groups is not sufficient justification for permitting
places of worship in the rural area.
The
consultant’s study concluded that the Al Hussain proposal for a place of
worship presents a unique circumstance in which a place of worship could be
permitted within the existing building with minimal impacts on the surrounding
area, provided that certain technical issues can be addressed. The unique circumstances noted by the
consultants included:
·
the lands have
already been taken out of agriculture use (as a result of the redesignation to
permit a cemetery and prayer chapel);
·
the lands have
been designated for institutional use, including an approved building intended
for funeral prayers and preparation;
The consultant concluded
that the key impacts from the proposed expansion and conversion of the building
to a place of worship are the additional visual impact and the impact of the
expanded activity at the site on the rural area. Restricting the place of worship use to the
existing building could minimize each of these impacts, provided that technical
issues relating to traffic, parking and servicing can be addressed.
The
applicant’s current application proposes to convert existing funeral prayer
chapel to place of worship and to construct a 183.5 m2 addition
The applicant has submitted
an Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment and an Amendment to the
Minister’s Zoning Order (Airport) in support of the proposal to permit the
conversion of the existing funeral prayer chapel to a place of worship in
addition to the permitted cemetery. The
applicant has also submitted a site plan application to permit the construction
of a 183.5 m2 (1,975 ft2) addition to the existing 600m2
(6,485ft2) prayer chapel.
Council has approved, in principle the conversion
of the funeral prayer chapel to a place of worship
In June 2003, Council
approved, in principle, the conversion of the existing funeral prayer chapel to
a place of worship, in addition to the permitted cemetery, subject to:
- The place of worship use being confined to the
existing building (600 m2) plus any necessary minor additions
which serve to improve the functionality of the existing structure for use
as a place of worship, but do not increase the person capacity of the
worship area;
- Clarification from an architect, as to the person
capacity of the worship area, as defined by the Places of Worship Study;
- Provision of sufficient parking on the site to
meet or exceed the new parking standard for places of worship recommended
by the Places of Worship Study;
- Submission of a traffic impact study, acceptable
to the Town and the Region;
- Confirmation that the proposed private sewage and
water services are adequate for the proposed place of worship use and will
not have any significant negative impact on surrounding land uses;
- Submission of a site plan application for a place
of worship within the existing building, including landscaping and
elevation drawings; and,
- Submission of an application to the Region of
York for amendment to the Regional Official Plan to permit the conversion
of the existing building to a place of worship, in addition to the
permitted cemetery use.
Following
the submission of the required plans, supporting studies and applications,
staff was directed by Council, to report back to Development Services Committee
regarding the revised applications.
OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:
Official Plan Amendment required to allow
development to proceed
The proposed Official Plan
Amendment (Appendix ‘A’) includes a new site-specific policy providing for the
place of worship on these lands.
Amendment to the Zoning By-law required to support
development
In order to permit the
place of worship on the subject property, a zoning by-law amendment is required
adding the new use. A draft by-law is
attached as Appendix ‘B’.
The lands are subject to Bill 27
Bill 27 is a Provincial Act to
establish a greenbelt study area that is intended to, among other things,
protect agricultural land by establishing clear limits on development. The Act received first reading in December
2003, and is retroactive to that date.
It received Royal Assent on June 24, 2004. The Act restricts municipalities from making
decisions on some planning matters within the defined greenbelt study area.
Under Bill 27, municipalities are
not permitted to adopt or approve any of the following, if it would permit
urban uses outside of urban settlement areas:
- Enact by-laws under Section 34 (Zoning),
36 (Holding Provision), 37 (Bonusing), 38 (Interim Control), or 39 (Garden
Suites) of the Planning Act.
- Adopt Official Plans or amendments under
Section 17, 21, or 22 of the Planning Act.
- Approve a draft plan of subdivision under
Section 51 of the Planning Act.
Bill 27 defines “Urban Settlement
Area” as land designated in an upper tier Official Plan as an urban area, urban
policy area, town, village, hamlet, rural cluster, rural settlement area, urban
or rural system or rural service centre or future urban use area as of December
16, 2003. The York Region Official Plan
does not designate the property at 10922 Kennedy Road as any of the above. As such, the passing of a zoning by-law or
adoption and approval of a local Official Plan Amendment in connection with
proposed additional development at 10992 Kennedy Road does not appear to comply
with Bill 27.
Bill 27 states that any Amendment
to the Official Plan and Zoning By-law purported to be enacted or given by a
municipality that contravenes this Bill is of no effect.
In March 2004, the applicant
forwarded a letter to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, requesting
an exemption from the provisions of Bill 27 citing, among other things, the
recommendations of the Places of Worship Study, comments from the Region of
York supporting an exemption to Bill 27 and Council’s approval, in principle,
permitting the conversion of the existing funeral prayer chapel to a place of
worship. The Ministry indicated that a
Greenbelt Task Force has been formed to determine how to most effectively
establish greenbelt protection. Although
they recognize that there may be legitimate reasons why some applications
should be allowed to proceed, the Task Force will explore how it might
establish a clear and transparent process for dealing with requests from
property owners who are affected by Bill 27.
This process is still being formulated.
The Region of York is the approval
authority for this local Official Plan Amendment. The Region will not issue a Notice of
Decision on this amendment unless it complies with the final provisions of Bill
27.
The adoption of the Official Plan
Amendment or passing of the Zoning By-law for additional urban uses at 10922
Kennedy Road should await approval of an exemption to Bill 27 by the Ministry
of Municipal Affairs.
The Official Plan
Amendment and Zoning By-law will be presented to Council for adoption, once the
Ministry of Municipal Affairs grants an exemption from Bill 27.
The Region of York and
Town staff support an exemption from Bill 27 to permit the current place of
worship proposal.
Current Proposal is for Place of worship use confined to existing
building, plus any necessary minor additions
The
current proposal is in keeping with the June 2003 Council direction to support
the conversion of the existing funeral prayer chapel to a place of worship,
plus an addition to improve the functionality of the structure.
The applicant proposes to construct
a 183.5 m2 addition to the existing prayer chapel, 120.8 m2
(1,300 ft2) of this floor area will be above grade, the basement
will be 62.7 m2 (674.9 ft2). The uses of the proposed addition to the
ground floor plan are limited to men’s and women’s coat/shoe rooms, lobby,
stairs and elevator shaft. The basement
addition consists of a lobby, stairs and elevator shaft (Figure 7). The addition does not increase the person
capacity of the worship area. The
worship area is contained within the existing building.
Clarification of the person capacity from architect
The Places of Worship Study
recommends the person capacity of the worship area should be determined as the
greater of:
- One fixed seat person or,
- 0.5 m bench space per person or,
- 0.75 m2 net floor area per
person in non-fixed seating areas.
The applicant has indicated that
the worship area does not contain any fixed seats or benches. Therefore, the capacity is 464 persons, based
on the net floor area of the worship area.
The applicant has indicated that the person capacity as defined by the
Places of Worship Study is higher than the 150 persons they anticipate will
attend.
Sufficient on site parking is to be provided, in accordance with the new
parking standards
Based on the higher of 1 space per
4 person capacity of the worship area or 1 space per 9 m2 net floor
area of the building, 116 parking spaces are required. The applicant’s original site plan submission
indicated only 109 parking spaces. The
applicant revised the plan to provide the additional 6 spaces, including 5 handicapped
spaces to comply with the parking standards recommended in the Places of
Worship Study.
Submission of traffic study required
The applicant submitted a traffic
study to the Town and the Region of York in December 2003. The Region of York have advised that they
concur with the conclusions of the Traffic Impact Study submitted by the
proponent and that a southbound right turn lane and a northbound centre left
turn lane are required. The new turn
lanes are required as a condition of site plan approval. The study indicates that the total future
traffic volumes revealed good levels of service at the Kennedy Road entrance
and the expansion is not expected to generate additional site traffic, as the
capacity of the mosque (i.e. prayer hall area) is not being increased.
Confirmation that the proposed private sewage and water services are
adequate and will not have a negative impact on the surrounding uses.
The applicant’s environmental
engineer indicates that the existing sewage system has a one week storage of
effluent. The proposed mosque is
typically utilized once per week and although the daily discharge is for 250
people per day, the weekly sewage loading rate is 1,750 people/week. Any peak load that may occur in one day would
be held in the balancing tank and discharged to the system over the next six
days. The proposed mosque’s person
capacity is set at 464 persons. Should
this many people attend on a given day, the effluent would be discharged over
the next two days and there would be no generated flow other than for cleaning
staff. The applicant’s engineer
recommends that a permanent sign indicating that the occupant load should be
posted for a maximum weekly occupancy of 1,750 people, thus meeting the
requirements of the Ontario Building Code.
Site plan approval required
The applicant submitted a site plan
application and revised plans on June 17, 2004, to permit a 183.5 m2
(1,975 ft2) expansion to the existing building. The site plan application is currently under
review by Town Departments and outside agencies. Site plan approval is delegated to the Director
of Planning and Urban Design, however, on August 30, 2004, Development Services
Committee directed staff to report to Development Services with respect to site
plan approval. Once the Official Plan
Amendment and Zoning By-law have been adopted by Council, the site plan will be
forwarded to Development Services at a later date.
Submission of an application to amend the Regional Official Plan
The site is designated
“Agricultural Policy Area” by the Regional Official Plan, which permits farm
and accessory uses. On April 20, 1999,
Amendment No. 8 to the Regional Official Plan came into full force and effect
providing a site specific exception to the policies of the “Agricultural Policy
Area.” That amendment permits a cemetery
and accessory building on 1.9 hectares (4.7 ac.) of the applicant’s
landholding.
The Planning Justification Study
submitted by the applicant indicates that the proposed addition to the existing
building will improve the functionality of the building, acknowledge a unique
situation on the property and will not remove any additional land from the
agricultural production. Based on this,
the proposed addition is considered a minor addition to the existing funeral
prayer chapel building permitted by Regional Official Plan Amendment No.
8. The Region indicates that a further
amendment to the Regional Official Plan to permit the conversion of the funeral
prayer chapel to a place of worship and to construct the addition is not
required.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
There are no financial matters to be considered
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The
application has been circulated to Town Departments for review and
comments. All conditions and
requirements received have been addressed and will be incorporated in the site
plan agreement.
CONCLUSION:
Region of York and Town staff support the
applicant’s exemption request from Bill 27.
The Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments attached as Appendix ‘A’
and ‘B’ will be forwarded to Council, without further report, once an exemption
from Bill 27 is received from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. A further report to Development Services
Committee related to the site plan application will be forwarded once all site
plan issues have been dealt with and an exemption to Bill 27 has been granted.
|
|
|
|
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Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Director of Planning & Urban Design
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Jim
Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Commissioner of Development Services
|
ATTACHMENTS: Figure 1 –
Applicant/Agent and Location Map
Figure
2 – Area Context and Zoning
Figure
3 – Air Photo
Figure
4 – Site Plan
Figure
5 – Elevations
Figure
6 – Elevations
Appendix
‘A’ – Draft Official Plan Amendment
Appendix
‘B’ – Draft Zoning By-law
APPLICANT/AGENT: Khalil
U. Syed
100
Mclevin Avenue
Suite
211
Scarborough,
ON
M1B
2V5
Tel: (416) 298-4001
Fax: (416) 298-4341
Q:\Development\Planning\APPL\SITEPLAN\04 018281 Al
Hussain Foundation\final report.doc
