RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the report entitled “RECOMMENDATION REPORT: Applications for Draft Plan of Subdivision Approval and Rezoning by Romandale
Farms Limited & 404 Developments Inc., Cathedral Town Phase II, 10350 Woodbine Ave. (File nos. SU 05 009154; ZA 05 009155)” be received;
THAT the record of the Public Meeting held on June 7,
2005, relating to the application by
Romandale Farms Limited and 404 Developments Incorporated (Cathedral
Town Phase II), 10350 Woodbine Avenue, for approval of a residential draft plan
of subdivision and zoning by-law amendment, be received;
THAT Draft Plan of
Subdivision 19TM-05002 prepared by Design Plan Services Inc., identified as
drawing number 0238-2\10 and dated August 5/05, be draft approved, subject to
the red line revisions and conditions of draft plan approval set out in
Appendix ‘A’ to this report;
THAT the Director of
Planning and Urban Design be directed to issue draft approval once the Owner
has complied with the requirement to enter into the agreement set out below
restricting pre-sale of certain residential units in the subdivision;
THAT prior to
issuance of draft plan approval, the Owner shall enter into an agreement with
the Town, applying specifically to Block 55 and Blocks 43 to 49 inclusive of
draft plan 19TM-05002, which agreement shall be registered on title, committing
the Owner not to enter into any agreements of purchase and sale with anyone,
including other developers or builders, for the subject blocks, until the
following conditions have been met:
·
The Town
has completed a detailed design study for the Woodbine Avenue By-pass;
·
The owner
has conveyed to York Region, free of all costs and encumbrances, any land required
for the Woodbine Avenue By-pass within the boundaries of draft plan 19TM-05002
as identified by the above study; and,
·
If
required, the draft plan has been revised to reflect any changes to the
Woodbine Avenue By-pass alignment and any associated changes to the
configuration of the subject blocks.
THAT the
applications to amend zoning by-laws 304-87 and 177-96 be approved and the
implementing by-laws set out in Appendix ‘B’ to this report be enacted;
THAT servicing allocation
for the 88 units in this draft plan of subdivision be taken from the 300 units
previously granted to draft plan of subdivision 19TM-01001 (Cathedral Town
Phase 1) in October 2001;
THAT the Town reserve the right to revoke or
reallocate servicing supply to the draft plan of subdivision should the
development not proceed in a timely manner;
AND THAT the applicant submit the required
30% subdivision processing fee.
PURPOSE:
This report presents an overview and evaluation of the
proposed subdivision. The report also
includes draft zoning by-law amendments to permit the proposed development. The
report recommends approval of the draft zoning by-laws and the draft plan of
subdivision, subject to conditions.
BACKGROUND:
Site location and area context
This 5.63
hectare (13.91 acre) site is located on the west side of Woodbine Avenue
between the Cathedral of the Transfiguration to the south; a future residential
subdivision (the Tucciarone lands) and the Hamlet of Victoria Square to the
north; the proposed Woodbine By-pass and future employment lands to the west;
and the Cathedral Town Phase I residential subdivision, which is currently
under construction, immediately adjacent to the east. The subject lands and the surrounding area
are shown in Figures 2 and 3.
The East Carlton Creek and an adjoining
proposed open space corridor are located south of the draft plan of
subdivision, but are not located within the boundaries of the draft plan, and
are separated from the draft plan by the proposed westward extension of Betty
Roman Boulevard. The open space corridor
surrounding the East Carlton Creek will be addressed in a separate draft plan
submission (the Cathedral Town Precinct application). It should be noted that all of the current
draft plan of subdivision submissions for the West Cathedral Community were
presented at a public meeting on June 7, 2005.
There are no environmental features,
significant vegetation, or heritage structures within the boundaries of this
draft plan of subdivision.
A
residential subdivision with a mix of townhouses and detached dwellings is
proposed
The draft plan of
subdivision proposes an 88 unit residential subdivision consisting of the
following elements:
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Hectares
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Acres
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Gross Site Area
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5.63
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13.91
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Roads and laneways
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1.67
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4.13
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Neighbourhood Park
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0.33
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0.82
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Open Space (landscape buffers & walkways)
Residential Reserve
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0.19
0.14
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0.47
0.34
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Net Residential Area
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3.30
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8.15
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Single Detached Units
Townhouse Units
Total Residential Units
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44
44
88
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2.23
1.07
3.30
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5.51
2.64
8.15
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Net Density: Low
(units per hectare/acre in
relation to net site area)
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26.66
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10.79
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As shown in
Figure 4, single detached lots will generally be developed in a wide-shallow
configuration, with typical lot depths of approximately 26 to 29 metres and
typical frontages between 13.7 metres and 15.3 metres. However, due to the semi-circular layout of
the street pattern, some detached lots will be much deeper. The townhouse lots will be developed at
typical depths of 33 to 35 metres with approximately 6 metre frontages.
All of the dwellings
will be lane-based, the majority with attached rear garages and courtyard
amenity areas beside the rear garage and behind the main building. The townhouse units will be located along the
southern and western perimeters of the draft plan, fronting Betty Roman Boulevard and the Woodbine By-pass. The
detached dwellings will be located within the interior of the subdivision. A semi-circular neighbourhood park will
provide a focal point for the subdivision.
Statutory public meeting for all the West Cathedral Community draft
plans of subdivision held on June 7, 2005
A number of local residents spoke at this
meeting. Key comments relating to this
application included:
·
Need for a well monitoring program
during construction;
·
Need for a streescape plan for Victoria Square;
·
Support for the Woodbine Avenue
By-pass and the reduced traffic along old Woodbine that would result;
·
Future extension of municipal water
services to Victoria
Square;
·
Need for comprehensive planning in
the West Cathedral Community (schools, parks, open space and environmental
planning);
·
Servicing allocation.
These issues are addressed in subsequent
sections of the report.
OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:
Draft plan conforms to the Cathedral Community Secondary Plan
The Cathedral Community Secondary Plan (OPA #42), approved in 1997,
contemplates development of a mixed-use community on approximately 310 hectares
(765 acres) in north west Markham. The proposed draft plan of subdivision conforms to the intent of the
1997 Cathedral Community Secondary Plan.
Figure 5 shows the land use designations for the secondary plan.
The subject lands are designated “Urban Residential - Low Density”, by
OPA 42. The proposed detached and
townhouse dwellings, and the neighbourhood park, are all permitted within this
designation. The proposed low density
residential areas of the draft plan (consisting of detached and townhouse
dwellings) average a net residential density of 26.66 units per hectare (10.79
units per acre). This conforms to the
Secondary Plan which provides for a net density range of 17 to 37 units per
hectare (6.9 to 14.9 units per acre) in low density areas.
Although the proposed Woodbine Avenue by-pass was not shown in the 1997 Cathedral Community Secondary Plan,
the by-pass is located outside of the boundaries of this draft plan
application.
Council approved an amendment to
the Cathedral Secondary Plan in June 2004
An amendment to OPA 42 was prepared by Town staff in
2004, in response to:
·
changes in the Land Owners’ development
concepts for the Community;
·
evolving environmental standards and stormwater
management practices;
·
both the Town of Markham and
the Region of York Councils’ endorsement of an arterial road by-pass of Victoria
Square.
The
amendment was adopted by Town Council in June 2004, and is currently awaiting
approval by the Region, with modifications.
Staff anticipate that this amendment will be approved by the Region in
early fall 2005. The draft plan of
subdivision conforms to the revised land use plan set out in the secondary plan
amendment (see Figure 6).
Amendments to the zoning by-laws will be required
Development of
the subject lands is currently governed by the Town’s Rural Area By-law
(304-87), which zones the lands Agricultural One (A1). The proposed development is not permitted by
this By-law, and the subject lands will have to be deleted from the Town’s rural Area
By-Law (304-87) and incorporated into the Urban Expansion Area By-law
(177-96).
The draft zoning by-law proposes to extend
the zoning framework established for the Cathedral Town Phase 1 development: the
residential portions of the draft plan are zoned under the same exceptions to
the R2-LA Zone. Further text changes
have been included in the draft by-law amendment for the Phase II subdivision,
to incorporate a number of variances identified during the approval of the
Phase I subdivision. An additional
exception zone has been added to the attached by-law, to recognize that the
townhouses fronting on the proposed by-pass (which is not part of the draft
plan and will be built at a later date) will not have direct frontage on a
public road (although access will be provided from the publicly-owned rear lane
serving these dwellings).
In addition to the above, the draft zoning
by-law applies a Holding Provision (H) zone to the townhouse blocks and
residential reserve fronting the by-pass.
Prior to removal of the (H), only existing uses are permitted. The by-law establishes that the (H) will not
be removed until the Town has completed the design study for the By-pass, and,
if required, the draft plan is appropriately revised and land for the realigned
By-pass within the boundaries of the draft plan has been conveyed to the
Region.
The draft zoning by-law zones the neighbourhood
park under the OS 1 zone. The draft
zoning by-laws are attached as Appendix B to this report.
Key
issues raised at the public meeting, as they apply to the subject draft plan,
are addressed through conditions of draft plan approval
·
Streetscape study for Victoria Square: this
issue was raised at the public meeting for the subject application, but was originally raised
by the residents of Victoria Square at the time of the public
meetings leading up to the 1997 Secondary Plan.
At that time, the landowners indicated that they would be prepared
to fund such a study, but not to pay for the actual streetscape
improvements. A method for initiating
the study was not identified at that time.
An Environmental Assessment (EA) will be undertaken by the Town in 2006
for the existing section of Woodbine Avenue between the north limit of
the Woodbine Avenue By-Pass (north of Victoria Square) to the south limit at the
intersection of Major Mackenzie Drive. The above noted Streetscape Study will be
included with the EA. A Funding
Allowance of $193,700 ($48,425 tax rate) is currently in the ASDC by-law for
the Cathedral Community but is currently under appeal.
·
Victoria Square by-pass: the alignment and land requirements for the proposed
Woodbine Avenue by-pass, to be located on the west side of Woodbine Avenue, are
generally located outside of the draft plan of subdivision, although the
detailed alignment of the by-pass may require alterations to the configuration
of the landscape buffer and possibly the townhouse blocks fronting the
by-pass. This issue is addressed in
greater detail later in the report.
·
Traffic impacts on existing Woodbine Avenue: Victoria Square residents are also concerned
about increasing traffic along the existing Woodbine Avenue, which travels through the
middle of Victoria Square. Woodbine Avenue will become a Town road
following completion of the proposed Woodbine by-pass as it will no longer
function as a regional arterial, when the by-pass is complete, traffic levels
on the road should be reduced significantly.
Town staff will continue to work with landowners and local residents to
explore a variety of options to minimize traffic impacts on the existing Woodbine Avenue alignment and the residents
of Victoria Square.
·
Future extension of municipal
water services to Victoria
Square: There will be an opportunity
to extend services
into Victoria Square as development within the
Cathedral Community proceeds on both the east and west sides of Woodbine Avenue. Sewer and water mains will be sized to
accommodate future servicing of Victoria Square. The actual servicing of
individual properties will be at the cost of individual landowners, through
Local Improvement Charges or Section 391 of the Municipal Act or similar
mechanisms.
·
Need for comprehensive
planning of the Cathedral Community: The
Landowner’s Group has prepared detailed, community-wide background studies as
required by the Cathedral Secondary Plan.
With the exceptions noted below, these studies have been completed to the
Town’s and other agencies’ satisfaction.
The status of these studies is addressed in more detail below.
·
Servicing allocation: The draft plan is limited to a total of 88 units,
which is part of the original 300 units granted by Council in October 2001.
The
community-wide background studies are sufficiently advanced to warrant draft
plan approval at this time
The Secondary Plan requires that the
following community-wide background studies be prepared prior to any draft plan
approval in the Cathedral Community:
·
Master servicing plan
·
Development Phasing Plan
·
Tree Conservation Plan
·
External Traffic Study
·
Noise Study
·
Community Design Plan and Parks Master Plan
·
Cultural Heritage Resource Study
·
Environmental and Stormwater Management Plan/EIS
All of the above studies have been
submitted and approved except for the Environmental and Stormwater Management
Plan/EIS and the External Traffic Study.
In the spring of 2005, the Toronto and Region
Conservation Authority submitted detailed comments on the most recent revisions
to the ESMP and EIS. The landowners
group has not yet submitted a revised document addressing these comments. However the TRCA has submitted written
comments to the Town indicating that they are
prepared to support draft plan approval of the Phase II subdivision, subject to
their standard approval conditions, as their comments on the
ESMP/EIS do not specifically relate to the
subject application. Furthermore, there are no environmental
features or significant vegetation within the boundaries of this draft plan of
subdivision.
The External Traffic Study is nearing
completion, but must be finalized by incorporating the conclusions of the Town’s
feasibility study regarding the proposed Highway 404 off-ramp extensions at Major Mackenzie
Drive and Highway 404. This issue is not related to the subject
application.
The
applicant has submitted the required subdivision-specific background studies
The May
17, 2005 preliminary report identified a series of background
studies that were to be submitted prior to draft plan approval, including:
·
Functional
servicing study (including grading plan);
·
Noise
impact study;
·
Internal
Traffic Study;
·
Stormwater
Management Study;
·
Cultural
Heritage Resource Study;
·
Site
and Grading Specific Tree Preservation Plans;
·
Phase
1 Environmental Assessment;
·
Hydrogeological
Study;
·
Lotting
distribution plan – a rendered concept
plan which identifies the lotting mix
within each draft plan area. The Town is
looking for a mix of lot sizes within each residential street or block.
·
Housing
prototype review – conceptual housing prototypes should be reviewed with the
town prior to the finalization of the Architectural Control Guidelines. We wish
to understand the impact of various housing types on lot size and
configuration.
These studies have been submitted by the
applicant, and are currently under review by Town staff. The approval of the above noted studies will
be required as conditions of draft approval.
Design issues identified in the preliminary report have been addressed
The preliminary report identified three
outstanding issues regarding the design of the subdivision, including the need
for diversity of dwelling design along the by-pass; concern about the proposed
visitor parking areas for dwellings fronting the by-pass; and a request for
additional pedestrian walkways. These
issues have been addressed as follows:
·
Diversity of housing types fronting by-pass: The revised draft plan continues
to show townhouse units fronting onto the bypass. Staff are of the opinion that the issue of
diversity of built form can be addressed through the design and massing of
these units, and by the use of innovative design solutions. The proposed lot and block sizes are
therefore appropriate. The draft plan conditions establish that, prior to
release for registration, the applicant present concept plans for the
townhouses fronting the by-pass which satisfactorily address staff’s concerns. The townhouses are also subject to site plan
approval and hold provisions appended to the zoning;
·
Visitor parking areas: These areas have been deleted from the
revised draft plan and are therefore no longer an issue;
·
Request for additional pedestrian walkways: The fire department and the urban design section have advised that
additional walkways are no longer required.
Final design and alignment of the by-pass has not yet been determined and
may impact the western boundary of the draft plan
While the by-pass is technically
outside of the boundaries of this draft plan of subdivision, and the Region has
completed an Environmental Assessment of the by-pass which identifies a
preferred alignment, the final detailed design and alignment of the by-pass may
differ slightly from that shown in the draft plan. The detailed design study for the by-pass
will be undertaken by the Town, but it is not anticipated to begin until the
final quarter of 2005 or early 2006, well after draft plan approval of this
subdivision.
In order to allow flexibility in
the final alignment of the by-pass, without unduly delaying the majority of the
proposed draft plan located to the east of the by-pass, staff recommend the
following approval strategy:
·
the entire draft
plan of subdivision can be approved at this time (subject to the owner entering
into an agreement not to pre-sell townhouse units on Blocks 43 to 49 inclusive,
as outlined in more detail in the next section of the report);
·
the townhouse
blocks, the landscape buffer facing the by-pass, and the residential reserve (Blocks
43 to 49 inclusive, Block 58 and Block 55) will not be released for
registration until the following conditions have been met:
o
the Town has
completed a detailed design study for the by-pass;
o
any additional
land within the subject draft plan that is required as a result of a possible
realignment of the by-pass will be conveyed free of charge to the Region;
o
appropriate
red-line revisions to the draft plan have been submitted;
·
that a holding
(H) provision be placed on the above-noted blocks, and that the H not be
removed until the above conditions have been met.
The approval conditions set out above
have been incorporated into the draft approval conditions attached as Appendix
A. Hold provisions appended to the
zoning will not be removed until the above noted conditions have been
completed.
The Owner must enter into an agreement not to pre-sell residential blocks
fronting on the by-pass prior to issuance of draft plan approval
As noted above, townhouse blocks
facing the by-pass may be impacted by changes to the alignment of this
road. To ensure that these blocks are
not pre-sold before the by-pass alignment is fully resolved, this report
recommends that staff prepare an agreement not to pre-sell, and that the owner
be required to enter into this agreement prior to issuance of draft plan
approval. This agreement would apply
specifically to the townhouse blocks immediately east of the by-pass (Blocks 43
to 49 inclusive), and the residential reserve (Block 55). The agreement will establish that the same
conditions that must be satisfied prior to the release of these blocks for
registration (see previous section) must also be satisfied before the Owner can
pre-sell these blocks.
The Owner has agreed to enter into
an agreement not to pre sell these units.
The subdivision centres on a crescent-shaped neighbourhood park
This park, which will have direct
street frontage along the full length of Charity Crescent, will provide a focal point for the subdivision. The location and area of this park complies
with the approved parks master plan for the West Cathedral Community. No additional park space or cash-in-lieu will
be required as part of this application.
The subdivision has received servicing allocation
In October 2001 Council granted 300
units of servicing allocation to the Cathedral Town Phase I subdivision. In August 2003 a total of 212 units were
draft plan approved. The applicant is
proposing to transfer the remaining 88 units to the subject draft plan. Staff concur that no additional servicing
allocation is required for this draft plan.
CONCLUSIONS
Staff recommend that Council
approve the draft plan of subdivision, subject to the conditions set out in
this report, including the requirement that the Owner enter into an agreement
not to pre-sell certain units until the Town has completed a detailed design study
for the Woodbine Avenue By-pass. The
report also recommends that the implementing zoning by-law amendments, attached
as Appendix B, be approved and enacted.
Staff are of the opinion that the requirement for the owner to enter
into an agreement not to pre-sell blocks adjacent to the by-pass will allow for
timely approval of the draft plan, without compromising future opportunities to
realign the by-pass if indicated by the
detailed design study.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
There are no financial considerations
associated with these applications
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:
There are no environmental features within the
boundaries of this draft plan of subdivision.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The application has undergone a full inter-departmental
circulation. Department comments have been incorporated into the report and the
proposed conditions of draft plan approval.
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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\SUBDIV\05 009154
Cathedraltown phase II\final report cathedral town phase II.doc
ATTACHMENTS: Figure 1 – Location Map
Figure
2 – Air Photo
Figure
3 – Site Context and Zoning
Figure
4 – Proposed Draft Plan of Subdivision
Figure
5 – Land Use Plan, Cathedral Secondary Plan 1997
Figure 6 – Land Use Plan,
proposed Cathedral Secondary Plan Amendment
Appendix
A – Proposed Conditions of Draft Plan Approval
Appendix
B – Draft Zoning By-law Amendments
APPLICANT/AGENT: Design Plan Services Inc.
Attn: T.J. Cieciura
385
The West Mall
Toronto, ON
M9C
1E7
Tel: 416-626-5445
Fax: 416-620-6665
