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REPORT TO DEVELOPMENT SERVICES COMMITTEE |
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TO: |
Mayor and Members of Council |
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FROM: |
Jim Baird, Commissioner of Development Services |
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Valerie Shuttleworth, Director, |
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PREPARED BY: |
Scott
Heaslip, Senior Project Coordinator East
Development District Strategic
and Policy Planning |
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DATE OF MEETING: |
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SUBJECT: |
Update
to the Secondary Plan for the Cornell Community |
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RECOMMENDATION:
That the staff report entitled “Update to the Secondary Plan for the
Cornell Community” dated
And that the draft updated Secondary Plan for the Cornell community, attached as Appendix “A” to the staff report, be received;
And that the draft updated Secondary Plan for the Cornell community be circulated
to agencies and to landowners within the
And that staff be authorized to schedule a community open house and a statutory Public Meeting to consider the updated Secondary Plan for the Cornell community;
And that Council request the Provincial Ministry of Transportation and the Region of York to expedite the transfer of jurisdiction of the section of Highway Seven between 9th Line and Reesor Road to the Region of York in order to apply Regional arterial road standards to facilitate the development of a compact, mixed-use, pedestrian friendly and transit supportive node along this section of Highway 7 in accordance with Provincial and Regional policy;
And that Mr. R. Hanmer,
Regional Director Central Region, Ministry of Transportation, and Mr. B.
Macgregor, Commissioner of Transportation and Works, Region of York, be advised
accordingly.
PURPOSE:
The
purpose of this report is as follows:
- To provide an
overview of the update to the Secondary Plan for the Cornell Community.
- To recommend
that the draft Secondary Plan document be released for public review and
comment.
- To request
that Committee authorize staff to schedule a community open house and a
Public Meeting to consider the updated Secondary Plan.
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY:
The Secondary Plan for the Cornell community is now 10 years old and
can benefit from updating to address a number of items, in particular, to:
·
respond to current senior government policy
initiatives including the Provincial Growth Plan and Greenbelt Plan and the
Region of York’s Centres and Corridors Strategy;
·
integrate the current initiatives associated
with the Master Plan for the Markham Stouffville Hospital, the East Markham
Community Centre, the York Rapid Transit Plan/VIVA, the Rouge North Management
Plan, and the recommendations of the Eastern Markham Strategic Review,
particularly as they relate to the planning of the Cornell Centre Mixed Use District
and the provision of a regional scale business park in Eastern Markham; and
·
update the land
use schedules to address the evolution of a Parks and Open Space Master Plan
for the Cornell community.
A draft updated Secondary Plan has been prepared in consultation with
stakeholders and public agencies. The updated Secondary Plan will replace the
current secondary plan. Among other
things, the updated Secondary Plan:
·
designates the lands within the Cornell Centre Mixed Use District,
focused on the Highway 7 corridor through the Cornell community, for higher
density urban residential and office uses mixed with community amenity and
mixed-use retail area uses, business park uses, and institutional uses within a
community facilities and health care campus;
·
incorporates
the lands between the permanent Markham By-pass and the Rouge Park/Greenbelt
boundary into the Urban Service Area and designates these lands Industrial for
business park uses in accordance with Council’s recommendations from the Eastern
Markham Strategic Review;
·
updates
the map schedules to correspond to the updated open space master plan for the
Cornell community; and
·
deletes
the Rouge Park North/Greenbelt lands from
the Cornell Planning District and incorporates them into the Rural Planning
District (No.22).
The next steps are to
release the draft document for comment, hold a community open house and a
statutory public meeting. The schedule will
make it possible for Council to adopt the updated Secondary Plan in June, 2006.
BACKGROUND:
Location
The
current Secondary Plan for the Cornell Community applies to the area generally
bounded by 9th Line to the west, Highway 407 to the south, and the
channel of the Little Rouge Creek to the east and north. (See
Figure 1)
Development to date has been in accordance with
the 1994 Secondary Plan
In 1993, the original master plan for the Cornell community was prepared under the direction of Andres Duany, Architect and Town Planner. In 1994, the Cornell Secondary Plan (OPA #20), prepared by Town staff, was adopted by Council. The master plan prepared by Andres Duany formed the foundation of the policies and schedules contained in the Secondary Plan.
In 1996 Law Developments entered into an option agreement with the provincial government (Ontario Realty Corporation) to purchase all of the provincially owned lands within Cornell, approximately 1100 acres in total. Law closed on the purchase of the first phase lands and developed approximately 1200 units in accordance with the original master plan.
In October 2000 Law
Developments and its three partners closed on the remaining lands and
subsequently conveyed them to the current owners (Metrus Developments, Mattamy
Homes,
The Town has subsequently approved draft plans of
subdivision for each of the current owners, comprising an additional 1914 units
generally located to the north and east of the Law first phase development, in
accordance with the policies contained in the current Secondary Plan.
The Secondary Plan needs to
be updated to address Policy Changes and Land Use Initiatives
The 1994 Secondary Plan
supported a very successful first phase of development; however, the principles
and plan which apply to the Cornell community and date from the early 1990’s
need to be reviewed and updated to address a number of items, in particular:
- To bring the
Secondary Plan into conformity with current Provincial and Regional policy
directions.
- To finalize
the location and total amount of parkland and open spaces.
- To integrate
the current initiatives associated with the Master Plan for the
As well, the Town is using the
Secondary Plan review process to formally respond to the requests from the
current landowners to include permission for grade related housing not served
by rear lanes.
Emerging
Policy Directions need to be incorporated into the Cornell Secondary
Plan
The update to the Cornell Secondary Plan needs to address a number of
significant new Provincial, Regional and
The Province has initiated a set of provincial growth management
initiatives which, together with revisions to the
The Provincial Policy Statement (PPS), dated March 2005, requires sufficient land to be made available through intensification and redevelopment and, if necessary designated growth areas, to accommodate an appropriate range and mix of employment opportunities, housing and other land uses to meet the projected needs for a time horizon of up to 20 years.
The Provincial Greenbelt Plan, dated February 2005, a component of the provincial growth strategy, identifies where urban growth will not occur in order to provide for the permanent protection of agriculture and environmental lands. Rouge Park North lands previously located within the Cornell Planning District now comprise part of the provincial greenbelt. These lands no longer need to form part of the Cornell Planning District and can be incorporated into the adjacent Rural Planning District. These lands are subject to the provisions of the Provincial Greenbelt Plan.
The Provincial Proposed Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe,
dated November 2005, emphasizes intensification and redevelopment of existing
urban areas to increase compact urban form and reduce the need for
The Town of
Region of
Emerging Regional policy complements the Provincial policy and
encourages additional development within the existing urban areas of the
Region. “Regional centres” and “key development
areas” along Regional corridors will be the prime locations for infill and
intensification.
In June 2004, the Region of York adopted an updated growth management
strategy for Centres and Corridors (implemented by ROPA #43 in January
2005) to guide the development of an urban structure based on a hierarchy of
Centres and Corridors, served by rapid transit.
Set within the context of the Regional Centres and Corridors strategy,
Avenue Seven through Cornell is a “key development area” which should be developed
on the principles of balanced live/work opportunities, compact urban form,
natural heritage protection, transit supportive development and a choice of
housing opportunities.
The Town of
Town of
In 1993, the Town of
Based on the recommendations of the Employment Lands Strategy Study, in May, 2000, the Town initiated the Employment Lands Technical Study (ELTS) to identify potential lands for possible future business park use at two locations outside the urban boundary of the Town. One of these locations was the east quadrant of the Town adjoining the Highway 407 Corridor, north and east of the established urban area of the Town. The Employment Lands Strategy Study identified the opportunity to create a significant employment area focused on the interchange of the Markham By-pass and Highway 407.
In June 2002, Council
adopted the Secondary Plan for Box Grove incorporating employment lands in the
vicinity of Highway 407 and the Markham By-pass, initiating the establishment
of a new business park in
In 2003, the Town of
Based on the recommendations of the Eastern Markham Strategic Review,
the Province did not include the lands identified in the Employment Lands
Technical Study in the
The Cornell Centre employment
lands present an opportunity to establish a regional scale technology based
business park (ie. a life sciences cluster developed in conjunction with the
health care campus) at the hub of a number of transportation facilities (ie.
Markham By-Pass, Hwy 407 & 7, GO Gateway Station and Viva regional rapid
transitway terminus.) By combining approximately 45 ha of expansion lands with
employment land proposed for Cornell and existing in the Box Grove communities,
The Town has initiated a major review of the Avenue Seven Corridor (the Highway 7 Corridor Study) to develop a comprehensive strategy for guiding and managing the evolution of the future urban structure, infrastructure improvements and transit services within the Avenue Seven Corridor. The strategy will be transit oriented and identify specific policies and integrated actions to provide for transit supportive development along the Avenue Seven Corridor. The strategy will align with Provincial and Regional policy direction and will identify “key development areas”, including the Avenue Seven corridor through Cornell, where infill and intensification will occur over time. It will also establish transit supportive land use and built form criteria in support of detailed Secondary Plans for these key development areas providing greater specification and directions regarding land use, density of development, infrastructure needs and built form. The ultimate objective is for Avenue Seven to be transformed into a significant public boulevard with a rapid transitway and mixed-use development at transit supportive densities.
The updated Parks and Open Space
Plan needs to be incorporated into the plan
In July 2002, the Town updated
a Parks and Open Space Master Plan for the Cornell community with the
assistance of George Dark of Urban Strategies Limited. The focus of the 2002 exercise was to resolve the gap
between the total acreage of parkland and open space shown on the original
master plan and the amount that the Town is able to secure through the
development approval process. This
review, which consisted of a series of workshops with developers, residents,
public agencies and Town staff, confirmed an overall parkland program
comprising one large centrally located community park and a variety of smaller
parks distributed through the neighbourhoods.
In May, 2004, staff settled on the terms of a “Parkland Dedication Agreement” between the Town and the Developers Group pursuant to the updated Parks and Open Space Master Plan that established the size and location of the major parks and open space elements. This agreement will ensure that parkland and open space are delivered in future phases in accordance with the updated parks and open space plan and in accordance with the terms of the 1996 Parkland Dedication Agreement between the Ontario Realty Corporation and the Town, which requires parkland to be dedicated at a rate of 5 acres per 1000 population (versus 4 acres/1000 in other OPA 5 communities) and woodlots to be dedicated over and above parkland. This agreement will be finalized in accordance with the updated secondary plan.
The land use schedules to the new secondary plan are
updated to correspond to the updated Parks and Open Space Master Plan.
The proposed Hospital – Community Centre Complex needs
to be addressed in the plan
The
- the renovation
and expansion of the
- the relocation
of the
- a new Health
and Wellness facility (approximately 150,000 sq. ft.) to provide
out-patient rehabilitation, asthma and diabetes clinics, as well as
professional offices and related retail opportunities.
In September 2004, Council authorized Town staff to
work with the
The site master plan is predicated on the expansion of
the hospital/community centre lands south by one block. The hospital is currently negotiating the
acquisition of the required lands.
The enlarged hospital-community centre site, together with policies to
guide development of the complex, are incorporated into the new Secondary Plan.
VIVA
rapid transit service will be extended to service Cornell and
Viva, York Region’s new rapid transit service, commenced operation in
September 2005 and in the near future will provide fast, convenient connections
to link
Public
Consultation to Date
On
On
On
DISCUSSION
The updated Secondary Plan
responds to Policy Changes and Land Use Initiatives
A draft of the updated
Secondary Plan for the Cornell Community is attached as Appendix “A”. The main features of the updated plan are:
New Urbanism to guide development
In August, 2001, the Town conducted a review of Cornell, with the assistance of Andres Duany, in response to the changes in land ownership and the need to ensure that future development will follow and improve upon established principles. This review affirmed the commitment to have Cornell continue to develop based on the principles of New Urbanism, and identified opportunities for evolution and improvement.
The draft Secondary Plan updates,
refines and strengthens
the policies requiring development in Cornell to be based on the principles
of New Urbanism. The principles guiding the implementation of the Cornell plan
provide that each neighbourhood and district is based on having:
- a neighbourhood focal point or centre and an edge;
- a five minute walking radius from the centre to
the edge;
- a grid of interconnecting streets;
- compact built form in proximity to the streets to
foster pedestrian activity and social interaction;
- a mix of uses and human activities including,
live, work, shop and play, worship and education;
- priority given to public space and civic
buildings;
- protection and enhancement of natural and
cultural heritage features; and
- a network of large and small parks and open
spaces interconnected through pathways, sidewalks and green corridors.
Refined “Cornell Centre” Mixed Use District
The draft redefines land use elements within the current secondary plan
into a mixed-use district known as “Cornell Centre” focused on the Avenue Seven
Corridor through the Cornell community from 9th Line to the Rouge
Valley. Cornell Centre will be a
compact, mixed-use, pedestrian friendly and transit supportive node
incorporating a balance of live-work opportunities.
The major components of the Cornell Mixed Use District include:
- A major mixed-use retail centre on the south side of Avenue Seven incorporating retail, office, residential, service commercial and amenity features in a vertical mixed–use setting that will act as a “main street” community focal point for the Cornell Centre District;
- A range of street-oriented high and medium density residential building forms and tenures with the highest concentrations of height and density along the Avenue Seven corridor at the Bur Oak intersection, stepping down in height and density to make a built form transition to the newly developed and established neighbourhoods to the north and the west. Higher buildings may also be appropriate in the area immediately north of Highway 407 as this area is relatively isolated from existing or proposed lower density residential uses.
- A concentration of hospital, wellness and health
care related facilities are integrated with the Town’s community centre
and library to anchor the
- A network of interconnected parks, plazas, public and private open spaces and green corridors linked to major natural features, storm water facilities and the Rouge valley system;
- The evolution of Highway 7 to a high quality urban boulevard (Avenue Seven) with quality streetscape treatment, regional rapid transit facilities and high density mixed -use buildings that contribute to pedestrian activity along the length of the corridor;
- A major employment node centered on the Avenue Seven and Markham By-pass corridors well served by the intersection of major road and transit infrastructure, acting as an employment focus and gateway to Eastern Markham and encompassing a range of forms and formats including high density office development along the Avenue Seven corridor, as well as campus style developments and more traditional office industrial formats, and
- The eastern terminus to the Region’s Avenue Seven rapid transit system (VIVA) adjacent to the corridor, supporting the concentration of activities and mix of uses and providing a transit hub to connect with local bus routes serving Eastern Markham.
The density and mix of housing types provided for in the Cornell
Centre Mixed Use District is intended to accommodate different housing tenures
and affordable housing forms consistent with provincial and regional affordable
housing policies.
The Cornell Centre Mixed Use District is also premised on sustainable development policies, including measures to ensure, among other things:
·
a
balance of live/work opportunities providing a diversity of housing and
job choices;
·
compact
form, pedestrian amenity, reduced reliance on single occupancy vehicles through
parking and Travel Demand Management strategies;
·
the
integration of high density mixed use development with bus and rapid transitway
services provided within the Avenue
Seven and Bur Oak Avenue development corridors; and
·
the
use of new green technologies and best practices in sustainable building
and open space design with an emphasis on air and water quality, water and
energy efficiency and conservation, and efficient waste management practices.
Population and Employment estimates updated
The current Cornell Secondary Plan estimates a total population of
approximately 30,000 persons in 10,000 units, and 8,000 to 10,000 jobs.
The updated estimate is approximately 38,000 persons in 14,500 units, and
11,000 to 13,000 jobs.
The additional residential units
and jobs will be located within the Cornell Centre Mixed Use District adjoining
Avenue Seven, with approximately 8,000 jobs located in the business park.
These estimates are consistent with the proposed Provincial Growth Plan
targets for intensification corridors and designated
Parks and open space plan updated
The map schedules to the Secondary Plan are updated to correspond to an
updated Parks and Open Space Master Plan.
Rouge Park Lands Deleted
The
Certain lands deferred
The business park lands in the area between the Markham By-Pass and the Rouge Park/Greenbelt boundary are not currently within the urban settlement area of the Region of York Official Plan. These lands are identified as a deferral area pending the approval by the Region of an expansion to the urban settlement area.
Additional Commercial Area in north end of
community
A new “Community Amenity Area – Retail Centre” designation located
north of
The updated secondary plan incorporates input from
broad range of stakeholders
The content of the draft updated Secondary Plan attached to this report has been informed by extensive consultation over the last 10 years with residents, landowners, developers, design professionals including Andres Duany, and public agencies.
Update of Traffic Study has been initiated
McCormick Rankin, Consultants in Transportation, has been retained to update the traffic impact assessment for the Cornell community to take into account the additional development potential in Cornell Centre. The consultant’s preliminary findings will be available prior to the community open house and the Public Meeting to consider the updated secondary plan.
Highway 7 needs to be transferred to
The section of Highway 7 from
Residential use permissions
The current Cornell Secondary
Plan requires all grade related housing to be served by rear lanes. Certain of
the Cornell developers are requesting that policies be included in the updated Secondary
Plan to permit grade related housing not served by rear lanes (“front loaded
housing”).
All development to date in the
Cornell community is served by rear lanes.
This is unique among
Being a fully lane based
community has a number of important benefits, including:
1. A dramatically improved quality of
streetscape by moving driveways and garages to the rear of the homes and out of
public view. Streets are pedestrian and transit friendly. Homes have a greater
number of windows facing the street, improving informal supervision of the
streets and improving public safety.
2. Overall residential densities are
generally higher, resulting in a more compact community and reduced overall
land requirements.
3. A greater integration of different
dwelling types within neighbourhoods.
Single detached, semi detached, townhouse, live-work, duplex and small
scale apartment dwellings all coexist comfortably within the same neighbourhood,
in many cases on the same street. Coach homes (apartment units over garages)
are only possible in a lane based community. Coach homes are becoming
increasingly popular with purchasers and are providing affordable rental
housing dispersed throughout the community.
4. Homes facing onto major streets,
dramatically improving the quality of these streets by avoiding the need for
noise barriers and large berms.
5. Floorplans are much improved, not
being compromised by the intrusion of the garage.
Staff have been discussing this issue with the developers for a number of years. The primary case presented to staff to allow a component of front loaded product has been to broaden the range of housing options in Cornell to include larger homes.
In 2003, a consensus was reached with the developers, with the assistance of Andres Duany, that a component of front loaded product could be considered at appropriate “edge” locations based on a formula that would permit smaller frontage lots balanced with larger frontage lots so that an “average” 50 foot frontage be maintained for front loaded product.
Ongoing development in Cornell since 2003 has included a much broader range of lane based housing than was the case with the initial phase, including single detached lots of up to 13.4 metres (44 feet) frontage, which are able to accommodate homes of more than 280 square metres (3000 sq. ft.). There is thus no compelling reason to move away from the requirement that Cornell be a fully lane community at this time. Staff do remain open to further discussion with the developers on this issue and possibly amending the secondary plan to include front load product, subject to specific locational criteria and development standards, if a compelling case can be made to do so.
NEXT STEPS
Staff recommend the following next steps:
- Release the draft document and circulate it to
all affected landowners, all registered ratepayers associations in
- Hold a community open house in April to review the draft document and receive public feedback.
- Meet with interested stakeholders, as appropriate.
- Hold the required statutory Public Meeting in May 2006.
Depending on the outcome of the public
consultation, adoption of the updated Secondary Plan could occur in June 2006.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
No
financial implications at this time.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
Internal departments have been involved in the various reviews to date
and will be further consulted before the updated Secondary Plan is adopted.
ATTACHMENTS:
Figure 1 -
Location Map
Appendix
A - Draft text of updated Cornell Secondary Plan
(DISTRIBUTED
UNDER SEPARATE COVER)
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Director of Planning &
Urban Design |
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Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Commissioner of Development
Services |
Q:\Development\Planning\MISC\MI 512
Cornell Secondary Plan Update\report to DSC - March 7, 2006.doc