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TO: |
Mayor and Members of Council |
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FROM: |
Jim Baird, Commissioner of Development Services Valerie Shuttleworth, Director of Planning & Urban Design |
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PREPARED BY: |
same as above |
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DATE OF MEETING: |
2006-Jan-10 |
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SUBJECT: |
Parkland
conveyance applying to the remaining undeveloped residential phases of the
Leitchcroft Planning District. |
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RECOMMENDATION:
That the staff report dated January 10, 2006, entitled “Parkland conveyance applying to the remaining undeveloped
residential phases of the Leitchcroft Planning District”, be received for
information and consideration;
That the letter dated October 17, 2005,
attached as Appendix A to this report, from the Solicitor representing the
Times Group, proposing an alternative option for parkland conveyance, be
received;
That the parkland conveyance strategy
proposed by staff for the Phase II A and II B lands, and endorsed by Council in
June 2005, consisting of a conveyance to the Town of a 5.9 acre park block
south of South Park Road and west of Times Avenue, remain in effect;
That the Town return the letter of credit
to the owner, in the amount of $467,913.97,
taken as security for parkland conveyance associated with Phase II A
development, pursuant to the 2002 subdivision agreement (65M-3575);
And that the Phase III parkland
dedication, consisting of 2.05 acres of land plus additional cash- in-lieu (the
amount to be determined based on the number of residential units to be approved
by Council), be dealt with at the time of site plan approval of the Phase III
lands.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to provide a
brief history of the parkland conveyance issues in Leitchcroft, to present
staff’s strategy for parkland dedication, and to compare it with the owner’s
recently proposed alternative option.
BACKGROUND:
Leitchcroft residential development approved in several phases
The overall phasing of the
residential lands within the Leitchcroft Planning District is shown on Figure 6. The subject lands of this report include
Phases II A, II B and III, as shown on Figures 3 and 6. Phase II A is built, Phase II B is under
construction, and Phase III (adjacent to Highway 407) is a future residential
phase.
In 2001 the owner submitted
applications for Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments, and draft plan of
subdivision, to permit additional residential development on the lands bounded
by Times Avenue, Highway 7, Saddlecreek Drive and Galleria Parkway (the Phase
II A residential area, see Figure 6).
The applicant proposed that this development would be served by a one
acre urban park located on the north side of
In 2003 the owner applied for a
zoning by-law amendment and site plan approval to permit a further 413
residential units (the Phase II B lands immediately south of the Phase II A
lands, see Figure 6).
In June 2005, Council endorsed the
staff recommendation report for the Phase II B applications, which included a
parkland conveyance strategy as part of the site plan approval conditions. As set out in condition 4 g) of the staff
recommendation report (see Appendix D attached), the owner was required to convey
a park block of 5.9 acres south of South Park Road as a condition of site plan
approval of this phase of development.
This conveyance was intended to satisfy all of the outstanding parkland
associated with Phases II A and B.
As further detailed in the body of
the
While the staff recommendations did
not specifically address the issue of return of the letter of credit collected
during the Phase II A approvals, the Town’s intent was to address the parkland
requirements for Phases II A and B fully through land conveyances and to return
the letter of credit once this condition had been satisfied.
During the summer of 2005, staff
prepared a draft site plan agreement for the Phase II B development, which
incorporated the endorsed parkland conveyance strategy (i.e. conveyance to the
Town of 5.9 acres of parkland to meet Phase II A and B requirements). An extract of the draft agreement is attached
as Appendix C.
The parkland conveyance strategy
proposed by staff in this report is entirely consistent with the conveyance
strategy presented in the June 2005 recommendation report and endorsed by
Council. In addition, staff are
proposing that the letter of credit, taken in 2002 as security for future
parkland conveyance associated with the Phase II A development, now be returned
to the owner, since all parkland conveyance requirements associated with that
phase of development will be satisfied by the conveyance of the 5.9 acre park
block.
In October 2005, the owner approached the
Town with an alternative parkland conveyance option consisting of the
following:
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Immediate conveyance of
a 7.95 acre park block (the ultimate park size to accommodate future Phase III);
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Cashing the letter of
credit for $467,913.97 (2.76 acres x $169,534.05/acre) and the Town accepting this amount as an
up-front cash in lieu contribution for 2.76 acres of parkland associated with
future development of the lands south of
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Any residual cash in
lieu requirements associated with future development south of
The owner met with staff and the Deputy
Mayor on
DISCUSSION
There are two key differences
between the Town’s and the owner’s parkland conveyance strategies:
1) Full vs. staged parkland
conveyance:
Owner’s
proposal: immediate conveyance of full park block (7.95
acres)
Staff
proposal: conveyance of 5.9 acres now to meet current
(Phase II A and B) requirements; conveyance of remaining 2.05 acres of land (to
create a 7.95 acre park block) plus additional cash in lieu (the amount to be
determined based on the number of residential units proposed) at site plan approval
of the Phase III development south of South Park Road.
2) Cashing out vs. returning Letter of Credit
Owner’s proposal: that the Town
cash the letter of credit, in the amount of $467,913.97 (based on 1998 land
values), and that this amount be used as part of the cash-in-lieu contribution
(equivalent to 2.76 acres of parkland) that will arise from future residential
development of the Phase III lands south of South Park Road.
Staff proposal: that the letter
of credit be returned to the owner; that the phase II B park requirements be
met entirely by land dedication (5.9 acres) not cash in lieu of parkland (which
is the Town’s option pursuant to the subdivision agreement (Appendix B)); and
that all future cash in lieu contributions for the final phase of development
south of South Park Road (Phase III) be calculated at the time of site plan
approval, at the land values prevailing at that time.
The owner’s proposal would allow
for immediate conveyance of the full parkland block (7.95 acres), and provide an
up-front cash in lieu contribution for the equivalent of 2.76 acres associated
with future development south of
In order to evaluate the Owner’s proposal,
staff have prepared an updated land valuation for comparable medium and high
density residential land in order to identify the current cash in lieu value
for the 2.76 acres of parkland subject to the letter of credit. According to this evaluation, the equivalent
2005 value for this land would be in the range of $750,000 per acre (compared
to the 1998 value of $169,534.05/acre used in calculating the Letter of
Credit). As a result, the cash in lieu
value for the 2.76 acres in question, at todays value, would be in the order of
$2,070,000. The owner’s alternative
option, therefore, represents a potential lost cash in lieu revenue to the Town
of approximately $1.5 million dollars.
Based on this financial consideration, and
the fact that there is no immediate need for the Town to require parkland
dedication (beyond the 5.9 acres associated with Phases II A and B) or cash in
lieu in advance of the Phase III approvals, staff recommend that the parkland
conveyance strategy proposed by Staff in June 2005 and endorsed by Committee
and Council at that time, remain in effect, and that the letter of credit be
returned to the owner.
ATTACHMENTS:
Figure 1 – Location Map
Figure 2 – Context and zoning map
Figure 3 – Air photo
Figure 4 – Draft reference plan: 5.9 acre park block
Figure 5 – Draft reference plan: 7.95 acre park
block
Figure 6 – Location of residential development
phases
Appendix A – Letter to Town setting out owners
parkland conveyance strategy
Appendix B – Extract from 2002 subdivision
agreement
Appendix C – extract from Draft Site Plan
Agreement (Phase IIB lands)
Appendix D – Extract from
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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 |
Q:\Development\Planning\Teams\WEST\leitchcroft parkland issues\DEVELOPMENT
SERVICES COMMITTEE revised november 15.doc
FIGURE 1
OWNER: 1107656 Ontario Inc.
c/o Mr.
Hashem Ghadaki
330 Highway
7 East Suite PH3
L4B 3P8
Tel: 905-882-2552
Fax: 905-882-2553
AGENT: Mr.
Kagan
Shastri
188 Avenue
Road,
Tel: 416-324-4224
Fax:
416-324-4224
LOCATION MAP:
