RECOMMENDATION:
That a Public Meeting be held to
consider the applications submitted by Cornell Rouge
Development Corp. (Madison Homes / Forest Hill Homes) for draft plan of
subdivision approval and implementing zoning to permit a residential plan of
subdivision on Part of Lots 14 and 15, Concession 9
in the Cornell Community.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to provide
preliminary information regarding applications for draft plan of subdivision
approval and implementing zoning and to recommend that the Committee authorize
the scheduling of a public meeting.
BACKGROUND:
Property and Area Context
The subject lands are 27.703 hectares
(68.45 acres) in area and are located within the Cornell Community with
frontage on the south side of 16th Avenue and also on the east side
of the existing Markham By-pass and the west side of the future Markham
By-pass. The lands are currently vacant
and in agricultural use.
To the north, across 16th
Avenue, are lands that are currently in agricultural production as well as
additional lands within the Cornell Community that have been draft-approved for
development to the northwest. To the
south are additional lands owned by the applicant that extend to Highway 7,
between the existing Markham By-Pass and the future Markham By-pass. To the east, beyond the future Markham
By-pass are lands within the Rouge Park North.
To the west, across the existing Markham By-pass, are lands that are
currently in agricultural production and are also the subject of applications
for draft approval and rezoning (Mattamy).
Proposal
The applicant has submitted applications
for draft plan of subdivision approval and implementing zoning. The proposed plan of subdivision is
comprised of the following:
|
Residential Units
|
Minimum Lot Frontage
|
Area
|
|
|
|
|
Single Detached
|
|
12.0 m (39.4 ft.)
|
2.840
ha (7.018 acres)
|
Single Detached
|
151
|
9.0
m (29.5 ft.)
|
3.639 ha (8.992 acres)
|
Semi-Detached
|
48
|
14.4
m (47.2 ft.)
|
0.930 ha (2.298 acres)
|
Townhouses
|
77
|
4.5 m (14.8 ft.)
|
1.437
ha (3.55 acres)
|
Elementary
Schools (2)
|
|
|
5.140
ha (12.701 acres)
|
Park / Woodlot
|
|
|
3.659
ha (9.041 acres)
|
Sales and Model
Homes
|
|
|
0.945
ha (2.335 acres)
|
16th
Avenue Buffer
|
|
|
0.186
ha (0.460 acres)
|
Walkway
|
|
|
0.034
ha (0.08 acres)
|
Streets &
Lanes
|
|
|
8.893
ha (21.974 acres)
|
Total
|
361
|
|
27.703
ha (68.453 acres)
|
Official Plan and Zoning By-law
The Official Plan designates the
majority of the lands as Urban Residential and a portion around the woodlot as
Environmental Protection Area. The
Cornell Secondary Plan designates the lands a combination of Neighbourhood
General, Neighbourhood Centre, Open Space, Open Space – Environmentally
Significant Area, and Elementary School.
The proposed unit types are permitted within the respective Secondary
Plan designations. By-law 304-87
currently zones the lands Agricultural One (A1) and Open Space Two (O2).
POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF APPROVAL OF THE
PROPOSAL:
The proposed draft plan of subdivision
is generally consistent with the broad principles emerging from the Town’s
review of the Cornell Community Structure and Open Space Master Plan. Approval of the draft plan of subdivision
will provide an additional 361 units of housing in the Cornell community and
provide up to two elementary school sites in the northeast portion of the
community.
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, will be
addressed in a final staff report to be presented to Committee at a later date.
Community
Structure
The Town is currently completing a
review of the Community Structure and Open Space Master Plans for all of the
remaining phases of Cornell, with the assistance of Urban Strategies Inc. and
Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company. As
part of this process, Andres Duany is tentatively scheduled to present drafts
of the new plans to Council and the public on May 7, 2003.
Staff and Duany Plater-Zyberk &
Company have undertaken a preliminary review of the proposed draft plan and
have several concerns based upon adherence of the plan to the principles of New
Urbanism and the emerging new Master Plan for Cornell.
The specific concerns include:
Lot Depth: The majority of the lots on
the proposed draft plan of subdivision are 25 metres (82 feet) deep whereas in
the existing community of Cornell the lots are generally a minimum of 31 metres
(102 feet) deep. The proposed 25 metre
lot depth leads to a resulting house design that requires the garage to be
attached to the rear of the home, rather than being a separate building as in
the existing community. There is a
concern that the proposed lot depth would compromise the outdoor amenity area
and result in the lanes appearing to be inordinately wide. The outdoor amenity area is particularly
impacted on lots with less than 12 metres frontage.
Street Layout: The principles of New
Urbanism call for a highly connected grid or modified grid pattern of streets,
to provide a clear and consistent network orientation. Curvilinear road
patterns tend to be disorienting and not supportive of pedestrian movements, and are generally to
be avoided. Streets that do curve
should maintain roughly the same east-west or north-south orientation, except where natural features dictate
otherwise.
Certain street orientations on the
proposed draft plan require further review in this regard:
1.
In the northeast corner of the plan,
there is an L-shaped block that results in awkward deflections of the
surrounding streets and an inordinately long block length.
2.
Two local roads in the centre of the
plan, to the east of the elementary school/park/woodlot, curve from an
east-west orientation to a north-south orientation. This street pattern departs from the grid pattern of Cornell, and
also needs to be reviewed in the context of supporting pedestrian movements to
the school/park/woodlot campus and to the intended neighbourhood centre in this
area.
Interface with 16th
Avenue: 16th
Avenue passes through the middle of Cornell and therefore should be treated as
a main street within the community. As
shown on Figure 2, the Metrus and Mattamy plans to the west respond
appropriately to this condition by facing homes directly onto 16th
Avenue. The proposed draft plan uses
single loaded roads along16th Avenue which are normally included as
an “edge” treatment for a community.
School Locations: The proposed draft plan
locates two elementary school sites directly across the street from each
another. This would create unacceptable
levels of traffic congestion during peak times.
Draft Plan Boundary: The proposed draft plan
includes sixteen lots fronting on proposed Street “16” located south of the
elementary school blocks. This street
location and partial lotting would establish a development pattern for the
adjacent lands to the south and west, ahead of more complete, comprehensive
planning. It is felt that the applicant
should examine possible adjustments to the Phase 1 boundary, to try and avoid
establishing a development pattern for the adjacent lands ahead of
comprehensive plans.
Staff, with the assistance of Duany
Plater-Zyberk & Company, will work with the applicant to resolve the
concerns outlined above as well as any issues identified through the
circulation and detailed technical review of the proposal.
Non Lane-Based Product
All homes
within this proposed draft plan are to be lane-based, as required by the
Cornell Secondary Plan. However, the
applicant has indicated that they will be seeking approval in future phases of
their development to include some conventional product that would provide a
garage and driveway at the front of the home.
Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company are examining this issue as part of
the review of the Cornell Community Structure and Open Space Master Plans. No consensus has yet been reached regarding
the suitability of this type of product within the Cornell Community, or the
conditions under which conventional product might be permitted, including the
lot size, mix and distribution within neighbourhoods. Should it be determined that conventional product will be
permitted in future phases of the applicant’s lands, staff would not consider
the provision of all lane-based product within this first phase of the applicant’s
development to constitute a “credit” towards the amount of lane-based product
that would be required in any phases that may not be entirely lane-based.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
No
financial implications are to be considered in this report.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The
proposal is currently in circulation to other Town Departments and agencies.
|
|
|
|
|
Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Director of Planning & Urban Design
|
|
Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Commissioner of Development Services
|
ATTACHMENTS:
Figure
1 - Applicant/Agent & Location Map
Figure
2 - Area Context/Zoning
Figure
3 – Proposed Draft Plan of Subdivision
Figure
4 – Aerial Photo
DOCUMENT: q:\development\planning\appl\subdiv\03109544
cornell rouge development corp\preliminary report.doc
LOCATION MAP:
