DEVELOPMENT SERVICES COMMITTEE
	TO:	Mayor and Members of Council
	FROM:	Jim Baird, Commissioner of Development Services Valerie Shuttleworth, Director of Planning & Urban Design
	PREPARED BY:	East District Team Isa James, Senior Planner
	DATE OF MEETING:	21-June, 2005
	SUBJECT:	PRELIMINARY REPORT
		Town initiated Official Plan amendment and amendment to Zoning By-law 304-87 to implement the Town’s neighbourhood commercial strategy within the Wismer Commons Community FILES: OP 05 013998 & ZA 05 014000

RECOMMENDATION:

That a Public Meeting be held to consider Town initiated amendments to the Official Plan and Zoning By-law 304-87 (OP 05 013998 and ZA 05 014000) to ensure implementation of neighbourhood commercial uses on certain lands on the south west corner of Bur Oak Avenue and Roy Rainey Avenue, within the Wismer Commons Community.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to provide preliminary information regarding proposed Town initiated amendments to the Official Plan and zoning by-law to ensure the development of certain lands in the Wismer Commons Community for neighbourhood commercial uses, and to recommend that the required statutory public meeting be held to consider the proposed amendments. This is further to Council’s direction to staff in April to update the Town’s secondary plans and zoning by-laws, as required, to ensure that neighbourhood commercial uses are provided in all of the Town’s new communities.

BACKGROUND:

Location

The subject lands are located at the southwest corner of Roy Rainey Avenue and Bur Oak

Avenue (See Figure 1). The lands are approximately the size of a single family corner lot (16m x 30m) and form part of a larger area that is identified for residential, community amenity, and neighbourhood commercial development in the Wismer Commons Secondary Plan. Applications for draft plan of subdivision and implementing zoning that include the subject lands have been submitted to the Town, but cannot be processed until servicing allocation is available. The lands are currently vacant.

Directly north across Bur Oak Avenue and directly east across Roy Rainey Avenue are existing townhouses. To the northeast is a vacant elementary school site. The surrounding lands have been developed with a mix of single detached homes, semi-detached homes and townhouses.

Official Plan and zoning

The subject lands are designated Commercial (Community Amenity Area) in the Official Plan and are identified in the Wismer Commons Secondary Plan as one of three possible locations for Neighbourhood Commercial use. The Secondary Plan requires that retail be located in one of the three quadrants, and that it not exceed 500 square metres in size. The designation also permits residential uses, subject to it being located above the ground floor.

The subject lands are currently zoned Agriculture One (A1) under By-law 304-87, as amended.

DISCUSSION:

On April 5, Development Services Committee directed staff to update the Town’s secondary plans and zoning by-laws, as required, to ensure that neighbourhood commercial uses are provided in all of the Town’s new communities.

The April 5, 2005 staff report to Development Services Committee identified the subject lands as the only remaining opportunity for neighbourhood commercial development in the Wismer Commons community. The staff report noted that although the Town has provided numerous opportunities for new neighbourhood retail/service development in Wismer Commons and the other OPA 5 communities, there has been limited neighbourhood commercial development in these communities. Development Services Committee directed staff to proceed to implement the strategy outlined in the report to ensure that neighbourhood retail/service uses be provided in specific locations in each of the OPA 5 communities.

The neighbourhood commercial location identified in the northeast quadrant of the secondary plan has already been built out with semi-detached housing. The site in the northwest quadrant has been identified for townhouse development in the Wismer Commons Community Design Plan and a draft plan of subdivision application has been submitted showing the lands to be developed accordingly. The subject site is identified for medium density development in the Wismer Commons Community Design Plan and remains an appropriate central location for the provision of retail uses in the Wismer Community.

The owner of the subject lands is supportive

Staff met with a representative of the owner of the subject lands. He confirmed that the owner would not object to the Town updating the Secondary Plan and zoning by-law to require neighbourhood commercial use on a lot at the corner of Bur Oak Avenue and Roy Rainey Avenue. The neighbourhood commercial development would take the form of a mixed use building accommodating commercial use on the ground floor and one or two residential units above, which is consistent with the development objectives outlined in the April 5 staff report.

A Public meeting should be scheduled to consider the amendments.

ENGAGE 21^ST CONSIDERATIONS:

The recommendations of this report are consistent with Corporate Goal No. 4 “Managed Growth” and will help provide residents of Wismer Commons Community with well-planned retail services.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

There are no financial implications for the Town at this time.

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

Comments from Town departments will be addressed at the time of site plan approval.

ATTACHMENTS: Figure 1 – Location Map

Figure 2 – Area Context

Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Director of Planning & Urban Design

Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Commissioner of Development Services

Figure 1

FILE PATH: Q:\Development\Planning\APPL\OPAPPS\05 013998 Wismmer Neigh Comm\prrptWisNeighCom.doc

OWNER CONTACT INFORMATION: Amber Plain Investments Limited

c/o S.C. Land Management

Application Contact: Sal Crimi

52 Gatcombe Circle

Richmond Hill ON L4L 9P5

Fax: (905) 737-2464

LOCATION MAP