RECOMMENDATION:
That the report dated June 3, 2003, entitled,
“Recommendation Report - Unionville Homes
Society Millennium Project - Site Plan and Zoning Amendment Applications for
4300 Highway #7 East, Markham Ontario, Plan #2886, Block C and Part of Block B,
File Number SC 00-241797 and ZA 00-242730” be received;
That
the record of the Public Meeting held on Tuesday, March 25, 2003 with respect
to the re-zoning application be received;
That the
zoning application (ZA 00-24273) submitted by the Unionville Homes Society be
approved, and the draft zoning by-law amendment attached as Appendix ‘A’ be
enacted;
And that the site plan
application submitted by the Unionville Homes Society, file number SC
00.241797, be approved subject to the following conditions:
- That the owner enter into a site plan agreement with the Town,
containing all standard and special provisions and requirements of the
Town, Region of York and other authorized public agencies, including access requirements on Highway #7 East, to the satisfaction of the
Region of York Transportation and Works Department, prior to commencing
any work on the site or road allowance, including providing any associated
financial securities required by the Region;
- That prior to final approval of the site plan, the owner shall
provide to the Town of Markham plans that reflect the recommendations of
the technical studies to be finalized to the
satisfaction of the Town;
- That prior to final approval of the site plan, the
owner shall obtain all Committee of Adjustment approvals for consent to
convey easements for servicing, pedestrian, and vehicular access;
- That prior to the execution of the site plan
agreement, the owner obtain legal ownership of the lands to be transferred
from the Ontario Realty Corporation to the Town of Markham, and then
transferred from the Town of Markham to the Unionville Homes Society. Alternatively, the final site plan
would need to be revised to function based on the owner’s current land
holding, to the satisfaction of the Town.
- That prior to the execution of the site plan agreement, the owner
shall submit final drawings, including but not limited to, site plans and
elevations drawings, landscape plans, and engineering drawings that comply
with all requirements of the Town and authorized public agencies, to the
satisfaction of the Commissioner of Development Services;
- That the owner shall ensure satisfactory arrangements have been
made to satisfy all obligations, financial or otherwise required in the
site plan agreement, including provision for payment of all applicable
fees, recoveries, cash-in-lieu of parkland, Developer’s Group obligations,
local services contributions and development charges;
- That the owner shall covenant and agree in the site plan agreement
to deposit a Letter of Credit for the urbanization of the Highway #7 East
frontage of the subject lands by the applicant, including utility and
sidewalk locations to the satisfaction of the Town and the Region of York;
- That the owner shall covenant and agree in the site plan agreement
to provide a
master landscaping plan, to be integrated in phases, to the satisfaction
to the Commissioner of Development Services;
- That the owner shall covenant and agree in the site plan agreement
to provide a Letter of Credit for the on-site storm water management and
installation of external storm sewer improvements to the satisfaction to
the Commissioner of Development Services;
- That the owner shall covenant and agree in the site plan agreement
to protect and provide for the conveyance to the Region of York of any
future road widenings or grade separation of Highway #7 East, to
accommodate any future rapid transit corridor and/or station locations,
provide an easement for the future installation of municipal services, and
provide a Letter of Credit and enter into a services-in-lieu agreement for
the extension of municipal services along Highway #7 East;
- That the owner shall covenant and agree in the site plan agreement
to reimburse the Town of Markham for any costs incurred associated with
the land transaction from the Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) to the
Unionville Homes Society.
- That the owner shall covenant and agree in the site plan agreement
to indemnify the Town of Markham, its employees, elected officials,
contractors and agents against any and all actions, causes of actions,
suits, claims and demands whatsoever which may arise either directly or
indirectly by reasons of undertaking any of the owner’s work with respect
to the development proposal, the decommissioning and ongoing maintenance
of the existing building, or the lands transferred into the ownership of
the Unionville Homes Society by the Town of Markham and any infrastructure
improvements associated with the future widening of the GO Transit rail
corridor.
- That the owner shall covenant and agree in the site plan agreement
to protect for an approximate 3 to 4 metre future widening of the GO
Transit rail corridor and possible grade separation as determined by
future studies to be undertaken by the Region and/or GO Transit;
- And further that the site plan approval will lapse after a period
of three years commencing June 3, 2003, in the event that a site plan
agreement is not executed during that period.
PURPOSE:
This report
recommends that the draft implementing zoning by-law for the Open Space Two
(O2) category and setback amendments be approved to provide for the expansion
of the existing Union Villa long-term care facility. This report also recommends conditions for site plan approval of
the proposed addition of a 160-bed long-term care facility to the existing
building at 4300 Highway #7 East.
BACKGROUND:
Site description and area context
The
total amount of land affected by the site plan application consists of
approximately 17.79 acres (7.2 ha) that comprises the existing Union Villa
long-term care facility. Approximately 2.243 acres (0.908 ha)
within the southeast corner of the site is subject to the rezoning application,
of which 0.938 acres (0.38 ha) is being
transferred into the ownership of the Unionville Homes Society for the purposes
of this development.
The
site is located on the north side of Highway #7 East, east of Village Parkway,
and west of the GO Transit tracks and Kennedy Road. Land uses to the west of the site include residential townhomes,
the temporary location of the Mitsubishi car dealership, and the White Rose
retail outlet. North of these lands is
a residential neighbourhood, and to the east, are a variety of retail land uses
and the Volvo car dealership. A plaza
(containing office, retail and restaurant uses) is directly to the south. The plaza shares a signalized intersection
onto Highway #7 with the existing Unionville Homes Society facility.
The Proposal
Union
Villa is a 162-bed, long-term care facility.
In order to upgrade this facility to current Ministry of Health
standards, the applicant is proposing to construct an addition to the existing
building. The addition will be a
3-storey (10.5 metres), 160-bed institutional building for the long-term care
of York Region seniors. The existing
facility to the rear of the property will be decommissioned, however the
laundry and kitchen facilities will be renovated and upgraded for the use of
the proposed addition. The gross floor
area of the proposed addition is 8,863 m² (95,401 ft²). The rear portion of this site is the subject
of an application for consent for mortgage purposes.
The
Unionville Homes Society has submitted a decommissioning plan to the Town that
is currently under review by internal departments. The Society has agreed to enter into an agreement, stipulating
the terms of maintaining the decommissioned building to the satisfaction of the
Town. The applicant expects that the
decommissioned building will eventually be renovated and re-utilized for a
similar use, once funding becomes available, and the need arises.
Current Official Plan designation permits the use
The subject
property is designated Institutional in the Official Plan (revised 1987), as
amended. This designation is
predominantly used for community, educational, health care, governmental, or
religious purposes, including hospitals, centers for the disabled, nursing
homes, homes for the aged, or similar residential health care facilities. The proposed use is permitted and an
Official Plan amendment is not required.
Existing Zoning requires rezoning and
additional amendments
A Committee of Adjustment consent application
has been submitted
The owner has
submitted an application to the Committee of Adjustment (to be brought forward
on May 21, 2003) to convey an interest in the lands that contain the portion of
the existing building to be decommissioned (illustrated on Schedule ‘A’ in
Appendix ‘A’), and provide for access easements across the existing land
parcels. The owner has indicated that
the conveyance is only for mortgage financing purposes. The Unionville Homes
Society plans to redevelop the existing building once the required funding
becomes available.
The owner
will be required to finalize and obtain the access easements as a condition of
site plan approval. These easements (to
be registered on title and run with the title of the lands on the subject
parcels) include servicing, pedestrian, and vehicular access easements to
ensure that no portion of the subject lands shall be land-locked.
ORC land parcel will be transferred to the
Unionville Homes Society for this proposal
Sanitary services are not yet available along Highway #7
East
Finalization of the area specific development charges is
pending
There is no area specific development charge by-law in effect at this
time. The owner will be required to pay
contributions towards local services benefiting this property. This financial contribution by the owner
will be secured through the site plan agreement, and will not be eligible for
credits towards development charges (refer to recommendation condition #5).
The owner will be required to provide on-site stormwater quality control
or cash-in-lieu for downstream upgrades.
The additional developable area is subject to Town-wide hard development
charges (refer to recommendation condition #8).
Town staff provided Council with a report that was
endorsed on June 8, 1999, encourage a high quality “Town Centre” vision for
Highway #7 East. This vision is to
create an urban boulevard with a street edge that will support a mix of
commercial, residential, and institutional uses. This urbanization includes improving the pedestrian environment
in relation to safety and the interfaces of adjacent land uses. Currently, the Town is undertaking a
comprehensive strategy for the Highway #7 East corridor to address land uses,
transportation, development, infrastructure and financial incentives for
intensification and redevelopment of Highway #7 East and the future Markham
Centre.
The applicant has requested the frontage to remain as
is, until services become available along Highway #7 East, at which time, the
applicant has agreed to urbanize the frontage of the site. To facilitate the redevelopment of these
lands, and as a condition for the Hold (H) removal for the existing building to
be redeveloped, Town staff recommends the urbanization of the lot frontage to
occur once municipal services become available along Highway #7 East. This would result in a single cost incurred
by Unionville Homes Society for the redevelopment of Highway #7 East. Consequently, the owner will be required to
provide a Letter of Credit for the final urbanization of Highway #7 East (refer
to recommendation condition #6).
Site plan and elevations are considered acceptable
The proposal will result in overall site and built
form improvements to the property. The
development will be required to comply with the recommendations of the final
Highway #7 Streetscape Study by providing quality urban design elements,
landscape components to screen the parking lot from view, and to address the
interface and connections with the existing neighbourhood. Staff have worked in cooperation with the
owner to achieve significant improvements to the site, including:
q
Integrating
the remnant land parcel (ORC lands) into the proposed development;
q
The
preservation of a number of mature trees on the existing land parcel;
q
The
introduction of additional trees along Highway #7 East;
q
An enhanced
master landscape plan to be phased throughout the site;
q
The
inclusion of a pedestrian access from Highway #7 East;
q
Bringing the
new building in proximity with Highway #7 East;
q
Providing
wall materials, windows and rooflines compatible with a residential look and
sympathetic to the adjacent heritage district;
q
The
provision of a canopy feature at the entrance of the facility and fully glazed
common block linking the residential wings at the centre of the pin-wheel
layout; and
q
The establishment
of a continuous masonry base treatment along the length of the elevation.
Urban Design staff recognizes the challenges in
providing a site plan that responds to the needs of the Unionville Homes
Society residents while addressing the restrictions of the current municipal
servicing requirements and maintaining the existing building. Staff is generally satisfied with the site
plan and elevations for the proposed long-term care facility, and recommend
approval.
FINANCIAL
CONSIDERATIONS:
The Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) has agreed to release the
triangular land parcel fronting onto Highway #7 East, just west of the GO
Transit tracks to the Town of Markham for a nominal fee and administration
costs. In turn, Town of Markham will
convey the land to the Unionville Homes Society for the purposes of this
development. Upon completion of the
land transfer, the Unionville Homes Society agreed to reimburse the Town for
any administrative costs associated with this transaction.
BUSINESS UNITS
CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The
applications were circulated to internal departments and external commenting
agencies. All comments and/or
requirements have been reflected in the site plan and elevations or will be
incorporated in the final site plan and in the site plan agreement.
GO Transit
While it is
anticipated that future track construction requirements should not encroach
upon private property, the provision of future all-day GO rail service along
the Markham/Stouffville/Uxbridge line has been identified as potentially
requiring double tracking of the rail corridor. If the Highway #7 East and rail intersection remains at its
current elevation, GO Transit does not anticipate the need for additional
property and/or supporting track structures.
However, if
in the future, a municipal/regional decision is made to construct a grade
separation, consideration will be given to building a retaining wall on the
west side of the rail corridor, which would eliminate the need to acquire
additional property from the site. If
this cannot be accommodated, additional property may be required on both sides
of the corridor in this area to accommodate the tracks. As condition of site plan approval, the
applicant will be required to provide for the corridor widening, anticipated to
be an additional 3-4 metres on each side of the corridor, subject to further
studies to determine actual land requirements.
Region of
York has approved site access to Highway #7 East
The Region of
York Transportation and Works Department has reviewed the revised site plans
and has no objection to its approval.
However, the Region of York is currently undertaking an Environmental
Assessment for the future Rapid Transit Corridor along the Highway #7
alignment. Should this section of
Highway #7 East be identified as the preferred route for the proposed transit
way, all left turn movements may be consolidated at key intersections, which
may impact the access movements at this location.
The Region
has also identified this area for a potential road widening along the frontage
of Highway #7 East. Should the Region
require the lands for a road widening, the owner will be required to convey the
lands, free of all costs and encumbrances.
CONCLUSIONS:
The Unionville Homes Society has served York Region
and the Markham community since 1967, as a financially viable, not-profit
organization. They provide up-to-date
medical care facilities for the elderly that is beneficial to their residents,
their families and to the local community.
These amendments represent an important opportunity for the Markham
community and staff recommends approval of the zoning by-law amendments and
site plan application subject to the conditions contained within this report.
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David Clark
Town Architect
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Alan Brown, C.E.T.
Director of Engineering
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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
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DOCUMENT:
Q:\Development\Planning\APPL\SITEPLAN\00241797
Unionville homes\DSCJune3-2003.doc
ATTACHMENTS:
Figure
1: Location Map
Figure
2: Context/Zoning Map
Figure
3: Aerial Photograph
Figure
4: Site Plan
Figure
5: Elevations
Figure
6: Elevations
APPLICANT: Contact: Mr. Stuart Watson
Unionville Homes Society
4300 Highway #7 East
Unionville,
Ontario L3R 1L8
Telephone:
905-201-9516 Fax: 905-201-1380
AGENT: Contact: Mr. Edward Applebaum, Associate
Montgomery Sisam Architects
Inc.
35 Britain Street
Toronto, Ontario M5A 1R7
Telephone: 416-364-8079 Fax: 416-364-7723
Figure
1: Location Map
