RECOMMENDATION:
THAT
the staff report entitled “Application for Temporary
Use Zoning By-law Amendment to Permit the Open Storage of Vehicles, Sarena
Properties Ltd., 197 and 199 Langstaff Road East, Thornhill, ZA 04-028777”, be
received;
AND
THAT the application as submitted by Sarena
Properties Limited (ZA 04 – 028777), be refused for the reasons
set out in this report;
AND THAT By-law Enforcement staff take all
necessary action to ensure the property is brought into conformity with the
existing zoning.
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY:
The application is for a Temporary Use Zoning By-law
Amendment to permit open storage of motor vehicles in a Residential (R1)
zone. A previous application, for the
same purpose, on part of the subject lands (197 Langstaff Road) was denied by Council in
2001. The use was illegally established at 197 Langstaff Road prior to the first application
being submitted in 2001 (and exists to this day). Despite refusal of the first application,
by-law compliance has not been achieved as the matter is still before the
Ontario Municipal Board on appeal. The
applicant has now acquired an adjacent property (199 Langstaff Road), has extended the illegal
use onto this adjacent property, and filed a second application seeking
temporary use zoning to permit the open storage use on both properties. It is recommended
that this application be refused, as it does not meet the criteria for a
temporary use set out by the Markham Official Plan
(Section 7.3 e)) and the Thornhill Secondary Plan (Section 14.3 c)), for the
following reasons:
- A motor vehicle storage yard is not
compatible with surrounding residential uses in this part of the Langstaff
Community (adjacent parcels are zoned Residential
(R1)). Adequate
protection is not afforded to existing neighbouring residences either in
terms of the visual impacts from the large car storage areas or noise
impacts from the inevitable loading and unloading of vehicles in front of
existing houses. The use is eroding
the residential character of the area;
- The applicant made no effort to preserve
the mature woodlot in place on the subject sites prior to developing the
illegal use, and in fact made every effort to remove all traces of the
vegetation;
- The
development has entailed significant and prohibited investment in the
property and significant paving of the sites, both of which are not
permitted by the Markham
Official Plan and the Thornhill Secondary Plan. The owner has installed a hard surface
(crushed asphalt) treatment over most of the sites, storm water management
controls have been installed, as well as lighting and perimeter fencing,
all of which was done without the requisite Town approvals. The development on the property is
unlawful, inappropriate and contrary to the criteria for temporary uses,
and these significant changes involve major physical changes and
significant financial investments in the properties, which could
compromise the future redevelopment of these properties for other uses.
- The
illegally established use at 197 Langstaff Road East
has been extended illegally onto 199 Langstaff Road East. The unlawful development has contributed
to a general proliferation of illegal outdoor storage uses in the
area. The proposal is not
consistent with the Town’s objectives for improvements and redevelopment
of the area, and is contrary to the Official Plan and Secondary Plan.
The
actions of this applicant are of serious concern to staff. It is disappointing that this applicant would
extend the illegal motor vehicle storage yard use onto a second, adjacent
property before resolving the matter of the Town’s denial of the original
temporary use application in 2001. The
applicant’s disregard for lawful planning process and the Planning Act is
disconcerting.
BACKGROUND:
Property and Area Context
The combined lot area of 197 and 199 Langstaff Road East is 0.8051.5 ha (1.99 acres).
The sites are currently being used as an open storage facility for new
cars and are located behind the existing residential buildings on the two lots. The properties are located west of Bayview Avenue on the west side of Langstaff Road, within the Thornhill
Community (See figure 1).
Adjoining
the subject lands are:
- To the north is a
residential property,
- To the south are
illegally operating both offices and an open vehicle storage use;
- To the east are residential
properties, some of which also have illegal open storage; and
- To the west are residential
uses.
The 197 Langstaff Road E. site has a lot frontage of 25.7 m (84.32 ft) and the 199 Langstaff Road E. site has a lot frontage of 34.8 m (114.2 ft). The lands are designated “Urban Residential”
by the Markham Official Plan and “Medium Density Housing” by the Thornhill
Secondary Plan. The current zoning of
the lands is R1 – Residential.
The History of 197 and 199 Langstaff Road
197 Langstaff Road existed as a single detached home according to the Town’s records
until some point after 1999. (See Figure
3 –Air Photo 2001). At some point in
1999 or 2000, the rear yard of this property was converted for storage of
vehicles. (See the converted storage yard in Figure 4 – Air Photo 1999). After an order to comply was issued, an
application was submitted by Sarena Properties Limited to permit open storage
of vehicles on a temporary basis at 197 Langstaff Road East. A Public Meeting was held, and
at this meeting the owner and resident of 199 Langstaff Road objected to this use. Planning
staff recommended denial of the application in a report to Development Services
Committee dated October 02, 2001. The application was denied by Council on October 9, 2001. The application was appealed by the applicant to the OMB, however, at
the applicant’s request the appeal was not scheduled for a hearing. The By-law Enforcement Department has not pursued
charges on the property as the zoning application is still before the OMB.
Sarena
Properties Ltd. purchased the abutting property to the south, 199 Langstaff
after the previous application was denied.
Since acquiring the adjacent property the applicant has completed works
on the property to facilitate the open storage of vehicles without any
application or approval from the Town.
The owner has now submitted a temporary zoning by-law application to
permit the open storage of vehicles on a temporary basis for 197 and 199 Langstaff Road.
By-law Enforcement Program
The Langstaff Road area is currently subject to a zoning compliance review program by the
By-law Enforcement Department. The
program has started with the properties at the east end of Langstaff Road and will continue to the west with more properties being investigated
within the next few months. The first
phase of the program has resulted in orders being laid on 196, 197, 198, 199,
201, 203, 205 and 206 Langstaff
Road. The intent of the program is to bring the
properties into conformity. In many
cases, these properties still contain residential uses in the front, while the
rear yards are used for either storage of vehicles or as contractor’s yards,
which open storage uses do not conform to the R1 zoning.
Proposal is for Temporary Storage of Vehicles
The applicant
is proposing to amend the Zoning By-law to permit the existing open storage of
motor vehicles on both properties, as a temporary use. The buildings at the easterly portion (front)
of the lots were originally constructed as houses and continue to be rented for
residential purposes.
Official Plan
The subject lands are designated “Urban Residential” in the Official
Plan and are further
refined by the Thornhill Secondary Plan to “Medium Density Housing”. Outdoor storage is not
permitted in the Urban Residential or Medium Density Housing designations. However, temporary uses are permitted subject
to the criteria discussed below.
Zoning
The current zoning is R1 – Residential. This category does not permit open
storage. An application to amend the
zoning by-law is being requested to allow open storage on a temporary basis.
Staff are undertaking a review of Secondary Plan policies in the
Langstaff Area
The Langstaff Land Use Study has recently
been initiated. The purpose of the study
is to review the appropriateness of the current Retail Warehouse (west of the CNR line) and Medium Density Housing
(East of the CNR line) designations set out in the Thornhill Secondary Plan, in light
of development trends over the past decade, and recent proposals including the
proposed YRTP transitway improvements.
This study may recommend changes to the existing Langstaff designations and/or
policies as set out in the Thornhill Secondary Plan and the Official Plan
(Revised 1987).
The proposed use, temporary open storage of
vehicles, is not appropriate even while the land use study is being undertaken. The use is having a significant detrimental
impact on the area, by increasing land use conflicts; perpetuating a
pattern of unsightly, low quality uses; and undermining future redevelopment
options. Zoning permissions are rare for the open
storage of vehicles, and once established it may be difficult to displace this
use and achieve zoning conformity and area redevelopment for higher order, compact
uses in keeping with the current or future planned function of the area.
The establishment of this use, even on a
temporary basis, undermines future re-development this property as well as the
surrounding area because of the land use conflicts and preclusion or delay of
other, more appropriate, redevelopment options.
DISCUSSION:
Official Plan
As set out in both
the Town of Markham Official Plan and the Thornhill Secondary Plan, a temporary use By-law may be
adopted to allow a use that is not permitted by the Official Plan, provided
that it meets the conditions identified in Section 7.3 e) of the Official Plan
and Section 14.3(c) of the Thornhill Secondary Plan. As discussed below, the car storage use
contravenes key criteria established in both of these documents.
Town of Markham Official Plan
Section 7.3 (e)
of the Town of Markham Official
Plan establishes the following
conditions for permitting temporary uses:
- Council may pass by-laws to authorize the temporary use of land,
buildings or structures for an appropriate purpose that is not permitted
under the land use designation as shown on Schedule “A” – LAND USE, for a period of up
to three years
The proposal is not an appropriate use for the land, buildings or
structures on the property. The area is
zoned residential and designated in the Official Plan as medium density
residential. The establishment of this
use will jeopardize the long term development intentions of the area as
specified under the current Official Plan and Thornhill Secondary Plan as it
conflicts with these existing policies as well as the standards set out in the
zoning by-law.
- Council, when enacting a Zoning By-law permitting a temporary use,
shall require that the proposed use is of a temporary nature and shall not
entail any major construction or investment on the part of the owner so
that the owner will not experience undue hardship in reverting to the
original use upon the termination of the temporary use provisions. Requirements may be made in the By-law
for provisions to restore buildings, sites, structures or uses to those in
effect before enactment of the By-law.
This requirement is included to ensure that the uses permitted are
indeed temporary and the owner will not experience any undue financial hardship
in reverting to a permitted use upon the expiration of the temporary use
provisions.
The proposed car storage use does not meet the test that a use shall
not entail any major construction or investment on the part of the owner. The parking area and the front yard of the
dwelling have already been surfaced in crushed asphalt, significant drainage
infrastructure and lights have been installed, and fencing has been erected
around the perimeter of the property all of which represent a significant
financial investment in the site.
Currently the vehicles are unloaded in the front yards of the
dwellings and individually driven into the open storage yard. If open storage was a permitted use, this
loading space would still not be appropriate or permitted.
iii.
Council may extend a Zoning By-law permitting a
temporary use for further periods of up to three (3) years each, in accordance
with the provisions of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, provided such
extension does not jeopardize the long term development intentions for the
subject lands/area as specified in this Plan.
This is the first time that a by-law would be passed on the subject
land and as such this provision does not apply.
However, permission, even for a first 3 year period will establish the
use and could jeopardize long term development intentions.
Thornhill Secondary Plan
The Thornhill
Secondary Plan expands on the Official Plan polices (Section 14.3 c)). This section identifies certain tests against
which an application for a temporary use by-law should be evaluated:
i)
“Not disruptive to
neighbouring property owners and the general area...”
To ensure that the temporary use is compatible
with the surrounding neighbourhood the Secondary Plan requires that the use
should not be disruptive to the neighbouring property owners. Visual impacts, noise, parking and traffic,
amongst other nuisance factors, are of particular concern.
Staff are of the opinion that a motor vehicle
storage yard is not a compatible, benign, or neutral interim temporary use in
relation to adjacent residential uses and zoning. This application introduces truck traffic on the
site as well as open storage in the rear yards.
Residential uses are present on both the subject sites and on
neighbouring properties. Both the open storage
of cars (covering over 2/3 of the subject sites) and the front yard delivery of
cars are extremely disruptive to the existing dwellings on site and in the general
area. Furthermore, this business has been in operation illegally for
some time, and is not consistent with the Town’s planning objectives for the
area. This illegal use is eroding the residential character of this portion of
Langstaff, has contributed to a general proliferation of illegal outdoor
storage uses in the area, and is not consistent with the Town’s objectives for
improvements and redevelopment of the area.
ii)
“Any new buildings and site improvements
should be temporary and minimal in nature”;
Although the owner proposes no
new buildings on the site, and the
motor vehicles themselves can be readily moved, the owner has invested
significantly in site modifications and infrastructure needed to accommodate
the vehicle storage yards. As a result, the scale of the operation and
the required site improvements are not minor and have significantly changed the
character of the property.
Furthermore, staff are of the opinion that
extensive and costly mitigative measures (e.g. landscaping, fencing, stormwater
management and lighting control) would be required to adequately address the negative
impacts of a motor vehicle storage yard on surrounding residential uses. These measures would not represent a minor
investment in the property and would therefore not be consistent with Secondary
Plan Polices relating to temporary uses provisions.
iii)
“Existing, significant vegetation should not
be removed to accommodate temporary uses”;
This policy is included to protect the natural
environment. Figure 4 – Air photo 1999
shows the state of the property before the open storage use was established on 197 Langstaff Road. Figure
3 - Air photo 2001 shows that since the property was purchased by Sarena
Properties Limited, significant vegetation has been removed and the site has
been re-graded and surfaced with crushed asphalt to accommodate the car storage
compound. Staff are concerned that this
work was done prior to a zoning application being filed with the Town and the
required approval being obtained.
Similar work has now also been completed at 199 Langstaff Road since 2001.
This has further expanded the scale of this use and the impact on the
natural environment.
iv)
“Uses that require upgrading of existing
municipal services should not be considered in the context of temporary uses”;
There are no municipal services to be constructed or improved in this
proposal. However, the owner has
constructed a system to handle storm water on the site as result of the crushed
asphalt paving that has be put into place on the site.
v)
“Generally, extensive paving of parking
facilities should not be essential or necessary to accommodate a temporary
use”;
The proposal is the open storage of vehicles. The vehicles are being parked (stored) on an
asphalt parking area. The applicant has
indicated that extensive work has been completed on the site in the form of a
French drain. This was done to resolve
concerns of over land flow as a result of crushed asphalt surface constructed
to store the vehicles.
If approved, a Holding provision should be placed on the zoning and a
site plan agreement required
Should Council decide to approve the temporary use by-law, despite
staff’s recommendation for refusal, a Holding provision should be attached to
the by-law. Removal of the Holding
provision should be subject to the owner obtaining site plan approval and
complying with any conditions to that approval.
The site plan approval and any agreements required should not only
contain provisions that clearly outline what mitigative measures are to be used
until the use ceases but also how the site would be rehabilitated, upon the
termination of the by-law and the use.
FINANCIAL
CONSIDERATIONS:
No financial issues have been identified at this time.
ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSIDERATIONS:
The report from
2001 indicated that there was significant environmental impact from the removal
of vegetation including trees on 197 Langstaff Road, and resulting from the re-grading of the site and resurfacing with
crushed asphalt to accommodate the car storage compound. The same is now true for the 199 Langstaff Road property as well.
BUSINESS
UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The application has been circulated to
various Town departments and external agencies and all comments have been
received.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on this analysis, staff are of the
opinion that this application should be refused, as it does not meet the
criteria for a temporary use set out by the Markham Official Plan
and the Thornhill Secondary Plan, for the following reasons:
- A motor vehicle storage yard is not
compatible with surrounding residential uses in this part of the Langstaff
Community (adjacent parcels are zoned Residential
(R1)). Adequate
protection is not afforded to existing neighbouring residences either in
terms of the visual impacts from the large car storage areas or noise impacts
from the inevitable loading and unloading of vehicles in front of existing
houses. The use is eroding the
residential character of the area;
- The applicant made no effort to preserve
the mature woodlot in place on the subject sites prior to developing the
illegal use, and in fact made every effort to remove all traces of the
vegetation;
- The
development has entailed significant and prohibited investment in the
property and significant paving of the sites, both of which are not
permitted by the Markham
Official Plan and the Thornhill Secondary Plan. The owner has installed a hard surface
(crushed asphalt) treatment over most of the sites, storm water management
controls have been installed, as well as lighting and perimeter fencing,
all of which was done without the requisite Town approvals. The development on the property is
unlawful, inappropriate and contrary to the criteria for temporary uses,
and these significant changes involve major physical changes and significant
financial investments in the properties, which could compromise the future
redevelopment of these properties for other uses.
- The
illegally established use at 197 Langstaff Road East
has been extended illegally onto 199 Langstaff Road East. The unlawful development has contributed
to a general proliferation of illegal outdoor storage uses in the
area. The proposal is not
consistent with the Town’s objectives for improvements and redevelopment
of the area, and is contrary to the Official Plan and Secondary Plan.
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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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Q:\Development\Planning\APPL\ZONING\04
028777 - Sarena -langstaff\PriliminaryReportDSC-197-199Langstaff - April 19.doc
ATTACHMENTS:
Figure
1: Location
Figure
2: Area Context
Figure
3: Air Photo - 2001
Figure
4: Air Photo -1999
Figure
5: Site Plan
Figure 1
APPLICANT
/ AGENT: Sarena Properties Ltd. Phone: (905) 881-6245
Attn:
Domenic Sinicropi Fax: (905) 764-8006
139 Elgin St.
Thornhill, ON
L3T
1W7
