Report to: Development Services Committee                                 Report Date:  June 17, 2008

 

 

SUBJECT:                          PRELIMINARY REPORT

                                            Red Banner Developments Limited

                                            Zoning By-law Amendment Application to clarify the range and nature of permitted uses and amend the parking standards for 5970 and 5990 16th Avenue.

                                            File No. ZA 08 115374

 

PREPARED BY:               Doris Cheng, Senior Planner, extension 2331

 

 

RECOMMENDATION:

That the report dated June 17, 2008 entitled “PRELIMINARY REPORT, Red Banner Developments Limited.  Zoning By-law Amendment Application to clarify the range and nature of permitted uses and to amend the parking standards for 5906 and 5990 16th Avenue.” be received. 

 

That Staff be authorized to schedule a statutory Public Meeting to consider the proposed Zoning By-law amendment application.

 

That Council authorize a partial refund of the zoning application fee for the reasons outlined in the report; a fifty percent (50%) refund is recommended by staff ($3950.00);

 

And that Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Not applicable

 

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Not applicable

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 an application for Zoning By-law amendment to clarify the range and nature of permitted uses and to amend the parking standards and recommend that a statutory public meeting be held with respect to these zoning amendment matters. The amendments will clarify and add to the list of permitted uses for the existing Markham Heritage Centre Plaza.

 

BACKGROUND:

Property and Area Context

The lands subject to the application for Zoning By-law Amendment consists of approximately 0.38 hectares (0.95 acres) located at the north west corner of 16th Avenue, and Markham Road, east of Heritage Corners Lane (the access road to the Heritage Estates Subdivision.  To the north of this property is Markham Museum owned by the Town, to the east, across Markham Road, is the Garden Basket Plaza, to the west is the Rouge Valley Senior’s Residence, and to the south, across 16th Avenue is a Gas Station and residential homes.

 

Planning History

In 1987 and 1992, the site was subject to site specific Zoning By-law amendments.  The 1987 By-law was crafted for the original construction and zoning of the Markham Heritage Centre, however it listed specific uses such as animal hospitals and veterinary establishments, apothecary shops, boutique fashion stores, hardware stores, photography studios, etc.  In an effort to further expand this list of uses, the intent of the 1992 By-law was to generalize the permitted uses.   However, the 1992 By-law was crafted in such a way, that while the intent was to expand the list of uses, it instead eliminated the original list of uses and substituted a revised list permitted uses.  This inadvertently rendered a number of existing uses legal non-conforming and as the tenants and specific use locations changed, certain uses became illegal.  Subsequently, to accommodate existing tenants at the plaza, the landowner submitted several variance applications to allow the uses that were originally permitted under the 1987 By-law.  Since then, By-law Enforcement staff has been enforcing the 1992 By-law, resulting in legal complications between the landowner and tenants.  As a result, Red Banner Developments has submitted this application to resolve the continuing administrative problems and to avoid similar situations in the future.

 

Current Zoning and Official Plan Designation


The Official Plan, as amended, designates the lands as Commercial – Community Amenity Area.  As identified in Section 3.4.6.2 a) of the Official Plan, the planned function of this designation is to “provide for a multi-use, multi-purpose centre offering a diverse range of retail, service, community, institutional and recreational uses serving several nearby residential and/or business areas”.

 

The subject lands are zoned Special Commercial One (SC1) under By-law 1229, as amended by By-law 383-87 and By-law 52-92.  The list of permitted uses within By-law 52-92 includes:

 

·        Amateur and semi-professional theatres

·        Banks, financial institutions

·        One (1) day care centre

·        Historical museums, libraries and art galleries

·        Personal service shops

·        Professional and business offices

·        Restaurants, fast-food restaurants and take-out restaurants

·        Retail stores

 

While the intention of By-law 52-92 was to expand the list of permitted uses, the By-law deleted the original list of permitted uses, resulting in some of the original uses/tenants within the building becoming illegal over time.  

 

Proposal

The proposal is to amend the zoning bylaw and bring the by-law into conformity with the general intent of the Town of Markham Official Plan, by clarifying the range and nature of permitted uses, permit a broader range of uses, and to amend the parking standards at the existing Markham Heritage Centre Plaza site. 

 

The proposed Zoning By-law amendment would also provide clarity on the uses by providing a defined list of uses for the site as well as unify all of the variances received to date on loading bay reductions and other standards.  The amendment will integrate the original 1987 By-law as well as the 1992 By-law list of uses.  The consultant is also proposing a new parking standard for this site which utilizes a shared use parking formula.

 

OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:

The applicant requests the application fees be refunded

In order to avoid future variance requests, this proposed amendment to the By-law will provide clarity and resolve the administrative difficulties that have occurred in the past.

 

In view of the history associated with the zoning of the lands and the costs incurred by the landowner as he has attempted to resolve these interpretation issues, the applicant has submitted the Zoning By-law Amendment application fees under protest pursuant to the provisions of Section 69 (3) of the Planning Act and requests that Council waive the application fees ($7,900.00) associated with this application.  The consultant has also filed an appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board for consideration. 

 

Staff are of the opinion that if the application was submitted for the sole purpose of correcting a previous error in the list of permitted uses, then a full refund of the fees may be appropriate.  However, the applicant is also requesting a new parking standard for the site, and the consolidation in the zoning by-law of relief from development standards.  Under these circumstances, Staff believes that a partial refund may be considered appropriate at this time.

 

The applicant is requesting an amendment to the parking standards

Due to the configuration of the site and the Town requirement for a road link to the Markham Museum which bisects the property, fulfilling the standard requirements for parking is difficult.  The applicant applied for and received relief from the parking requirements and a reduction in loading spaces through the Committee of Adjustment in April 1999.  Since this variance, the parking requirement has changed with the change of tenants and/or use.  The applicant is requesting a new parking standard be applied that recognizes the shared use of parking by tenants within this plaza.  The applicant has submitted a parking study in support of the amendment which will be distributed to a third party peer review for comments.

 

A Town owned road bisects the site

As part of the original site plan application for the Markham Heritage Centre, the Town of Markham acquired a road right-of-way which bisects the site.  This access was intended to accommodate the potential extension of Peter Street and an additional maintenance access for the Markham District Historical Museum.  The original October 18, 1988 report recommending site plan approval indicated that the access road was to be constructed and maintained by the applicant, yet remain in the ownership of the Town.  Staff are concerned about the implications of a private landowner maintaining a town owned road within a parking lot.  Mapping indicates that storm sewers and watermains exist under this access road.  Staff are examining the possibility of declaring the lands surplus and obtaining surface and strata easements across the property.  This will be addressed in the final recommendation report, if required.

 

Potential Benefits of Approval of the Proposal:

The proposed amendments will provide a list of permitted uses which will bring the uses into conformity with the general intent of the Official Plan and further clarify and expand the list of permitted uses. 

 

Concerns/Issues to be resolved:

The following is a brief summary of concerns/issues raised to date.  These matters, and any others identified through the circulation and detailed review of the proposal can be addressed in a final staff report to be presented to Committee if required, at a later date.  Concerns and issues include:

 

FINANCIAL TEMPLATE (external link):

Not applicable.

 

HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS

Not applicable.

 

ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:

Not applicable at this time.

 

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

The application submitted by Red Banner Developments has been circulated to various Town departments and external agencies and is currently under review.  Requirements of the Town and external agencies will be reflected in the preparation of the Zoning By-law and in the preparation of a final report, if required.

 

CONCLUSIONS:

Staff recommends that a statutory public meeting be held to consider the proposed amendments.

 

RECOMMENDED BY:  

 

 

 

________________________________                    ______________________________

Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P, R.P.P                                                 Jim Baird, M.C.I.P, R.P.P

Director, Planning & Urban Design                                      Commissioner, Development Services

 

ATTACHMENTS:

Figure 1 – Location Map

Figure 2 – Area Context/Zoning

Figure 3 – Air Photo 2007

Figure 4 – Existing Site Plan

 

AGENT:      Mr. John McDermott

                     McDermott & Associates Limited

                     1550 Kingston road, Box 1408

                     Pickering ON 

                     Tel:  905-509-5150         Fax: 905-509-9898

                     Email:   mcdplan@rogers.com

 

File Path:  Amanda\File 08 115374\Documents\Recommendation Report

 

Figure 1 – Location Map