Report to: Development Services Committee Date of Meeting: November 21, 2006

SUBJECT: PRELIMINARY REPORT
a) Application by 1691126 Ontario Inc. for Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment to permit high density residential uses, at grade retail, and office commercial uses at 7161 & 7171 Yonge Street, northeast corner of Yonge Street and Meadowview Avenue, Thornhill

(File Number OP 06-127138 and ZA 06-127273)

b) Yonge-Steeles Corridor Study recommended by the Planning and Urban Design Department

PREPARED BY: Ron Blake, Manager – West District, ext. 2600

Doris Cheng, Planner II – West District, ext. 2331

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the staff report entitled “a) Application by 1691126 Ontario Inc. for Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment to permit high density residential uses, at grade retail, and office commercial uses at 7161 & 7171 Yonge Street, northeast corner of Yonge Street and Meadowview Avenue, Thornhill (File Number OP 06-127138 and ZA 06-127273); b) Yonge-Steeles Corridor Study recommended by the Planning and Urban Design Department”, be received;

THAT the applications submitted by 1691126 Ontario Inc. be referred back to Staff for consideration within the context of the proposed Yonge-Steeles Corridor Study;

THAT the terms of reference for the Yonge-Steeles Corridor Study, attached as Appendix ‘A’ to this report, be endorsed;

THAT this report, figures and appendix be circulated to the Region of York, City of Vaughan, and City of Toronto for information;

THAT staff be authorized to proceed with consultant selection and commencement of the Yonge-Steeles Corridor Study, upon pre-approval of 2007 Capital Budget request #7731;

THAT funding for this project be provided for from the 2007 Capital Project #7731 – Yonge – Steeles Corridor Study;

THAT Council pre-approve the 2007 Capital Project #7731 – Yonge – Steeles Corridor Study, in an amount up to $150,000 from the proposed 2007 Capital Budget;

AND THAT staff call a Public Meeting on the applications by 1691126 Ontario Inc. once the applications have been considered in the context of the Yonge – Steeles Corridor Study, and the concerns/issues identified in this report have been addressed to staff’s satisfaction.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Staff anticipates the necessary funds to complete the proposed Yonge-Steeles Corridor Study will be in the order of $150,000.00. The Planning and Urban Design Department has included a 2007 Capital Budget submission in the amount of $150,000.00 ($135,000.00 Development Charges & $15,000.00 Operating Budget funded) for the Yonge – Steeles Corridor Study. It is recommended that the 2007 Capital Project #7731 – Yonge – Steeles Corridor Study be pre-approved and be used as the source of funding for this project.

Upon Council pre-approval and endorsement of the Yonge-Steeles Corridor Study terms of reference (draft attached as Appendix ‘A’), staff will proceed with the consultant selection process. This will involve a two step process – an initial Request for Qualifications (i.e. expression of interest and summary of qualifications), followed by an invitation to a short list of firms (identified through the RFQ process) to submit a detailed submission to a Request for Proposals. Consultant selection will be based on several criteria including experience, familiarity with the issues and location, completeness of the work program, a comprehensive project team and the cost to complete the study. Staff anticipate the study will begin in the first quarter of 2007 and be completed in the fourth quarter of 2007.

1. Purpose 2. Background 3. Discussion 4. Financial 5. Environmental

6. Accessibility 7.Engage^21st 8. Affected Units 9. Attachment(s)

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to provide preliminary information regarding applications by 1691126 Ontario Inc. for Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments to permit high density residential uses, at grade retail, and office commercial uses at 7161 & 7171 Yonge Street. The report also recommends that Council authorize a land use study for the Yonge – Steeles Corridor, as contemplated by the Thornhill Secondary Plan.

BACKGROUND:

Property and Area Context

The subject properties comprise approximately 4.0 hectares (9.88 acres) in area and are located at the north east corner of Yonge Street and Meadowview Avenue. A gas station is located on the lands at 7161 Yonge Street. The property at 7171 Yonge Street contains a free standing Wendy’s restaurant at the northwest corner of the site, a telecommunications transmission tower at the northeast corner of the site, and a single storey plaza known as the North Yonge Market Place which contains a mix of retail, service and commercial uses. Tenants within the plaza include Pharmacy 1 Drug and Food, Galleria Supermarket, Mid-West Mattress, Murphy’s Auto Service, Fabricland, Camp Connection General Store, Persia Market, and other uses.

The surrounding lands generally include a mix of service, retail, commercial and residential uses. The surrounding uses were developed over a number of decades and include:

In the Town of Markham:

Meadowview Avenue to the south and east is fronted by single family homes, and some home occupations/businesses.
To the south, along Yonge Street: are a variety of low rise commercial uses, used car dealers and a two-storey retail and service commercial plaza at Grandview and Woodward Avenue.

To the east, fronting onto Doncaster Avenue: one and two storey structures which contain residential and commercial uses. To the east: the Canadian Self Storage facility and a mix of industrial / commercial uses, primarily in one and two storey multiple unit industrial buildings.
To the north and northeast: the CN Rail corridor. North of the rail corridor are one-storey retail and service commercial uses (Glen Cameron Place Plaza) containing a variety of retail, restaurants and supermarket. East of Glen Cameron Place is a series of multiple unit industrial/commercial buildings, and beyond are additional one and two-storey retail commercial plazas.

In the City of Vaughan on the west side of Yonge Street:

To the northwest, north of the rail corridor: two – 20 storey residential buildings and one 18 story residential building. The two - 20 storey towers contain retail at grade and on the second floor.
To the west and southwest: an automotive campus, used car sales lots and a collision repair centre.

Planning History

Proposals for redeveloping the subject site date to 1989, when the Town began work on the Thornhill Secondary Plan. During the course of the Thornhill Secondary Plan study process, a series of community meetings were held regarding the Yonge-Steeles Corridor (defined by the Thornhill Secondary Plan as the lands bordered by Yonge Street, the CN Rail line, Dudley Avenue, Steeles Avenue plus the block north of Steeles immediately east of Dudley Avenue). Key issues that arose at these meetings included concerns about inadequate road and transportation infrastructure, traffic infiltration into low density residential neighbourhoods, and lack of adequate parks and other community services in the area.

While the Yonge-Steeles Area was recognized from the outset of the Thornhill Secondary Plan study as a future focal point for intensification and redevelopment, the existing capacity limitations of the transit and road network serving the area were recognized as a constraint on redevelopment. At the time, Markham was preparing the Thornhill Secondary Plan, and the City of Vaughan was preparing an Official Plan Amendment for the north west quadrant of the Yonge-Steeles intersection which would also permit significant intensification. In response to these concerns, the former Metropolitan Toronto Planning Department initiated a consultation process between planning and transportation staff representing Markham, Vaughan, North York, York Region and Metropolitan Toronto, to discuss mutual development concerns associated with the Yonge-Steeles Area. Among other recommendations, the committee recommended that the Yonge-Steeles area be recognized as a future intermediate node in a GTA context; that the existing transportation infrastructure could accommodate development densities of 1.5 fsi in the Corridor; and prior to any development beyond 1.5 fsi across the Yonge-Steeles Corridor, a comprehensive transportation study would be required confirming availability of capacity and strategies to accommodate the desired density and land use mix. These planning principles were consistent with the proposed development densities for the Yonge-Steeles Area set out in the draft Thornhill Secondary Plan, which was prepared between 1990 and 1995.

The Thornhill Secondary Plan was adopted by Markham Council as OPA 1 in October 1995, and was approved by the Region of York in June 1997, with modifications. These modifications included, among other policy changes, the addition of a policy which states that “Any increase in average density above a floor space index of 1.5 shall require a comprehensive transportation analysis satisfactory to the local and regional municipalities partaking in the Yonge/Steeles Subcentre Review.”

Also, the owners of Centrepoint Mall (located at the south west corner of the Yonge-Steeles intersection), indicated concerns that additional development in the Yonge-Steeles corridor as set out in the Draft Secondary Plan, would compromise the accessibility and viability of the Mall, due to the capacity constraints of the Yonge-Steeles intersection. In response, the Region applied a deferral to the lands within the Yonge-Steeles Corridor as shown on Schedule ‘AA’ of the Thornhill Secondary Plan. The deferral on these lands remains in effect, however staff are working with the Region to develop a strategy to deal with the deferral.

The proposed development exceeds current Official Plan provisions

The applicant is proposing to demolish the existing buildings (gas station, free standing restaurant and single storey plaza) to facilitate new development. The proposed development is illustrated in Figure 4 and includes:

Proposal	GFA	Density
Two 39-storey (fronting on to Yonge Street) and two 32-storey (fronting on to Meadowview Ave.) condominium residential towers with at-grade service and retail uses in the towers fronting onto Yonge Street.	Residential 128,931 m² (1,380 Units)	3.21 FSI
A ten-storey commercial office building at Yonge Street with at-grade service and retail uses and a 3-storey office at the rear property line.	Office 14,792 m²	0.37 FSI
Retail uses are proposed in a low-rise building abutting the rail lands and framing a central courtyard parking area north of the residential buildings.	Retail 11,165 m²	0.28 FSI
TOTAL	154,888 m²	3.86 FSI