RECOMMENDATION:
That the
recommendation report entitled “Abidien Inc. zoning by-law amendment and
subdivision application to permit 68 townhouse units, 123-231 Helen Avenue,
South Unionville, file numbers ZA.03-115824 and SU.03-119056” be received;
That
the record of the public meeting on January
20, 2004 regarding the proposed plan of subdivision and implementing zoning be
received;
That Abidien Inc. be granted a
servicing allocation of 68 units, such allocation to be from the total allocation available for the South
Unionville Secondary Plan area, contingent on York Region confirming its
acceptance of Markham’s proposed flow control option, as
discussed in the February 15, 2005 report on Servicing Allocation from the
Director of Engineering and the Director of Planning and Urban Design
(hereafter referred to as the “flow control option”);
That the
conditions of draft approval 19TM-030018 (SU. 03-119056) for 68 townhouse units located east of Kennedy
Road, south of Helen Avenue, on the south side of the extension of Caboto Trail (Appendix ‘A’,
attached to the staff report dated June 21, 2005) be endorsed by Council, and
that final approval be delegated to the Commissioner of Development Services, with
such final approval to occur when the Region confirms
its acceptance of the flow control option;
That
the zoning application (ZA. 03-115824) to amend By-law Nos. 304-87 and 177-96,
as amended, to implement draft plan of subdivision 19TM-030018 (SU. 03-119056),
be approved and the implementing Zoning By-laws attached as Appendix ‘B’ be
brought forward to Council for approval once the Region confirms its acceptance of the flow control option;
That the Town reserves the right to revoke
or re-allocate such servicing allocation, at its sole discretion, should
development not proceed in a timely manner;
That the Region of York be advised of the
servicing allocation for this development;
That the applicant provide the Town with the required
payment of 30% subdivision processing fees in accordance with the Town’s Fee
By-law (By-law 17-2000);
And further that the draft plan approval
for plan of subdivision 19TM-030018 will lapse after a period of three years
commencing June 28, 2005, in the event that a subdivision agreement is not
executed within that period.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to recommend conditional approval of the proposed
draft plan of subdivision (19TM-030018) and implementing zoning by-laws for a
plan of subdivision consisting of 68 townhouse units.
BACKGROUND:
The subject property is
located in South Unionville, east of Kennedy Road, south of the proposed Caboto
Trail extension, and has a total area of 2.148 ha (5.3 acres) (Figure 1). The parcel is bounded to the north by lands
owned by Abidien, which recently received draft approval to permit a plan of
subdivision consisting of 145 residential units. To the east and west are older single
detached houses, and to the south across an existing noise attenuation berm is
Highway 407 (Figure 2).
PROPOSAL:
The plan of subdivision consists of 68 townhouses
The applicant is proposing
to construct 68 townhouse units within 9 townhouse blocks. Each block will
contain 6-8 units (Figure 4). All
townhouse units are proposed to be 2 storeys in height with a mix of detached
and attached garages integrated at the rear of the property. The proposed lot frontages consist of 4.5m
(14.76 feet) for interior units and 4.65m (15.26 feet) for end units. Lot depths vary from
approximately 25.2m (82.7 feet) to 40.0m (131.2 feet). All townhouse blocks front onto Caboto Trail with the exception of Blocks 3 and 4 which
front onto the proposed park (Block 10).
DISCUSSION:
Proposal Conforms with Secondary Plan and Community Design Plan
The lands are designated
both in the Secondary Plan and Community Design Plan for Urban Residential
- Medium Density 1 Housing, and Open Space (which reflects the location of the
proposed park block). The Secondary Plan
also permits commercial uses in mixed use buildings generally limited to office
uses, personal service shops, commercial studios and banks and financial
institutions. The applicant continues to
investigate options for mixed-use townhouses, which would allow the main floor
of the townhouses to be used for commercial purposes.
The Secondary Plan permits
a maximum density of 35 units per hectare (14 units per acre) and with a site
area in excess of 2.0 ha, the proposed 68 townhouse units would comply with
this density permission.
Zoning By-law amendments required
The lands are zoned Rural
Residential One (RR1) under By-law 304-87, as amended (Figure 2). Proposed amendments are required to establish
an appropriate zoning category, and to delete the lands from By-law 304-87 and
incorporate them within the Town’s Urban Expansion Area By-law 177-96. The draft By-law attached as Appendix B
proposes to rezone these lands to R2-LA*240 (H) (Residential Two-Lane Access) (Hold)
with development standards consistent with those applied to similar lots on
other plans of subdivision in the vicinity.
A Holding provision (H) has
been placed on the lands to ensure that stormwater
management facilities are in place to serve this development.
Trees within proposed park do not constitute a woodlot
Initially identified as a
potential woodlot, the proposed draft plan identifies a 0.175 ha (0.43 acre) stand
of trees, located on the proposed park, Block 10 (Figure 1). A detailed tree inventory confirms the stand is
comprised mainly of old nursery stock containing ornamental trees and a few
native species. The use of these lands
for parkland purposes will require the removal of the majority of the trees due
to the grade differentiation between the proposed residential townhouse units
and the existing grades. Opportunities
to retain the trees through retaining walls would severely restrict the
visibility and programming of the park space and compromise the relationship
between the park and the street. Given
the nature and quality of the trees within the park site, staff felt that
re-grading was the most appropriate option in concert with reviewing
opportunities to transplant or preserve individual trees as appropriate. Parks staff will require their filling and grading
specifications be adhered to in the development of the park block.
Future improvements to the proposed park will be required to the satisfaction
of the Commissioner of Development Services.
Certain technical studies completed
District wide technical
studies such as Environmental Drainage Plan, Master Servicing Plan, Road
Function and Streetscape Plan, Transportation Study, etc. have been completed.
The applicant has submitted an archaeological survey/assessment of the subject
lands. Staff has reviewed the studies and the
applicant has integrated the recommendations of these studies into the draft
plan.
A detailed stormwater management report has been submitted to the Town. Upon approval by the Engineering Department,
the applicant can apply to remove the Hold provision from the zoning.
An acoustical report has been submitted for review
To determine an appropriate
location for private amenity space for each unit, an acoustical report was
submitted. The noise attenuation berm constructed
in this location, adjacent to the Highway 407, is lower in height than at the McCowan Road and Highway 407
intersection. As a result of this
difference, the acoustical report indicated that the decibel levels generated
by traffic from the highway was not within acceptable levels to locate the
outdoor amenity space at the rear of the homes, above the attached garage, as
proposed. To address this issue, the
applicant is now proposing to locate approximately 6m2 (64.6 ft2) of amenity
space above the front porch for units with attached garages coming off the lane
in the rear yard (Figures 4 & 5). Therefore, the 28 units with attached
garages will have amenity space above the front porch and the remaining 40 units
with detached garages will have amenity space at-grade, in the rear yard.
Servicing Allocation is Proposed from the South Unionville Assignment
In May, 2004, Council received
a presentation from the Director of Engineering which provided information on
water supply and sanitary sewer capacity restrictions in York Region and
Council directed that no further residential draft plan/site plan approvals be
granted until staff reports back on these matters or until the Region confirms
in writing that sanitary sewage capacity is available. Since then the Region
has undertaken additional modelling of the York Durham Sanitary System (YDSS)
and Markham staff have proposed storage options that control flows in certain
municipal trunk sewers that will reduce existing Markham
flows into the YDSS during 25 year storm event.
In
February, 2005, Markham Council endorsed a proposed flow control option
intended to bring the Town’s sewage allocation to a point that would match its
current water allocation of 4,732 units.
We are awaiting Regional Council confirmation of this additional sewage
allocation.
In
the interim, Abidien has been working closely with
the Town to create the infrastructure required to service the South Unionville
Community. Specifically, they are
acquiring land on the Town’s behalf and putting the pieces in place to complete
Helen Avenue and re-align Castan Avenue. In order to allow Abidien to continue this process, complete gaps within
their plan and finalize the road network through the South Unionville community, staff recommend assigning, the 68 units required for this
proposal from the total
allocation available for the South Unionville Secondary Plan area. This allocation would be contingent
on York Region confirming its acceptance of Markham’s proposed flow
control option, as discussed in the February 15, 2005
report on Servicing Allocation from the Director of Engineering and the
Director of Planning and Urban Design.
Applicant is a signatory to the Developers Group
Agreement
There is an
established Developers/Landowners Group Agreement for the South Unionville
Secondary Plan area to secure community facilities including parkland and
schools, and to compensate the landowners on whose properties the community
facilities are located. The applicants
are a signatory to the Developers Group Agreement. The conditions of draft approval include a
provision requiring the applicants to provide a letter from the Trustee
advising that the applicants have made arrangements to satisfy all obligations
related to this plan, financial or otherwise, as set out in the Landowners
Agreement.
FINANCIAL
CONSIDERATIONS:
There are no financial considerations for the
Town in this report.
ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSIDERATIONS:
As discussed in
detail earlier in this report, due to the nature of the existing trees in the
park block, topography and grade differentiation between the proposed residential
townhouse units and the park, the majority of the trees will not be preserved.
However, it is the expectation of staff that improvements to the proposed park
will be required to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Development
Services to compensate for the trees to be removed.
ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS:
There are no accessibility considerations for
the Town in this report.
ENGAGE 21ST
CONSIDERATIONS:
Markham’s strategic plan envisions the Town as an
award winning community leader in architectural excellence and the provision of
master planned communities. The proposal by
Abidien Inc. aligns with the
corporate goal of infrastructure management, building and strategically
managing the Town’s infrastructure to meet the demands and expectations of a
growing community. By managing growth
and providing infrastructure to coincide with the requirements of the expanding
community, the municipal services are delivered in a timely manner.
BUSINESS UNITS
CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
These applications were
circulated to internal departments and external agencies for comment. All comments and/or
requirements have been reflected in the conditions of draft plan approval or
will be incorporated in the final subdivision agreement.
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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\03
119056 Abidien (south Caboto Trail)\Recommendation Report - June 21, 2005.doc
ATTACHMENTS:
Figure 1: Location Map
Figure 2: Zoning/Context Map
Figure 3: Aerial Map
Figure 4: Site Plan
Figure 5: Draft Plan of
Subdivision
Figure 6: Elevations
Appendix A: Conditions
of Draft Plan Approval
Appendix B: Draft By-law
APPLICANT/AGENT: Abidien Inc.
Shakir
Rehmatullah
191 Helen Avenue
Markham Ontario L3R
1J7
Tel: 905-479-9600 x 204 Fax:
905-479-9151
Tony
Masongsong
1151 Denison
Street
Markham, ON L3R 3Y4
Tel: (905) 944-0162 Fax: (905)
944-0165
FIGURE
No. 1
