RECOMMENDATION:
That the record
of the Public Meeting held on March 1, 2005, regarding the Zoning By-law
amendment, file ZA.04-027753, submitted by Imperial Oil Limited, to permit a
gas station, car wash, convenience store and drive through restaurant at the
northwest corner of Bur Oak Avenue and McCowan Road, municipally known as 550
Bur Oak Avenue, be received;
And That the
application to amend the zoning by-law to permit a gas station, car wash,
convenience store and drive through restaurant, be approved and the
implementing by-law, set out in Appendix ‘C’ to this report, be enacted without
further notice;
And Further That
the application for site plan approval for a gas station, car wash, convenience
store and drive through restaurant, be approved, subject to the following
conditions;
- That the Owner enter into a site plan agreement
with the Town;
- That prior to execution of the site plan
agreement, the Owner shall submit final drawings, and comply with all
requirements of the Town and authorized public agencies, to the
satisfaction of the Commissioner of Development Services;
- That the site plan agreement include provisions
for the payment by the Owner of all applicable fees, recoveries,
development charges and parkland dedications;
- That the site plan approval shall lapse after a
period of three years commencing April 19, 2005, in the event that the
Owner does not enter into a site plan agreement with the Town during that period.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report
is to provide an evaluation of the applicant’s proposal for a zoning by-law
amendment and site plan approval to permit a gas station, car wash, convenience
store and drive through restaurant at the northwest corner of Bur Oak Avenue and McCowan Road.
The report recommends approval of the zoning by-law amendment and
approval of the proposed site plan, subject to conditions.
BACKGROUND:
Subject lands and area context
The
subject lands are approximately 1.26 hectares (3.1 ac) in area and are located
at the northwest corner of Bur Oak Avenue and McCowan Road, as shown on Figure
1. The lands are identified as Block 12
on registered plan 65M-3632. The applicant
wishes to develop only the east, 0.6 hectare (1.4 ac.), portion of the
property. Should the proposal be
approved, the applicant will sever the 0.6 hectare portion from the original
block. The subject lands are vacant and
generally unvegetated.
Adjoining
the property are:
- Markham Trails’ residential subdivision
comprising singles, semis and townhouses to the north;
- Emery Investments’ residential
subdivisions comprising singles and townhouses to the west; and,
- Madrid Investments Limited and Amber Plains
Investments draft plans to the east, across McCown Road in the Wismer Community.
- Adjacent to the northeast boundary of
the property is a single detached dwelling currently being used by a
chiropractor. Directly north of this
dwelling, is a single detached dwelling.
- Immediately south across Bur Oak Avenue
is a commercial plaza.
Official Plan and Zoning
The
subject lands are designated Community Amenity – Arterial in the Official
Plan. The Community Amenity – Arterial
designation in the Official Plan provides for the gas station, car wash,
convenience store and drive through restaurant.
The gas station and car wash are subject to provisions of the Official
Plan that require the review of a specific development proposal, to the
satisfaction of the Town.
Zoning
the subject lands can be supported as the subject site is located at an
intersection of a collector road and an arterial road, which provides for
increased visibility and minimal traffic impacts on the residential
neighbourhood to the west. In addition,
a transition to the residential neighbourhood to the west will be provided for
by the apartments proposed on the western portion of the property, further
minimizing the negative impacts of the gas station.
By-law amendment required to permit a gas
station, car wash, convenience store and drive through restaurant
The
lands are zoned Community Amenity One (CA1*152) by by-law 177-96, as amended
which permits a variety of retail and residential uses. An amendment is required to permit the
proposed development.
The
requested by-law amendment would rezone the lands to permit the gas station,
car wash, convenience store (convenience retail stores are only permitted by
the Community Amenity One zone in the first storey of an apartment or office
building) and drive through restaurant.
A companion site plan application has been submitted for the proposal
(Figures 4 and 5).
OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:
Issues were raised at a Public Meeting held on March 1, 2005. Attached as
Appendix A, are submissions that have been received following the Public
Meeting. The following summarizes the
concerns raised in the letters and at the Public Meeting and how each issue has
been addressed.
Concern from resident
regarding the gas station use
A resident from 147 Hillwood Street indicated that he
purchased the house based on a zoning search he obtained from the Markham
Building Department indicating the uses presently permitted on the subject
property. The list of uses that are
permitted in the Community Amenity One*152 zone range from residential, service
and commercial uses, but do not currently contain a gas station. However, it should be noted that the Official
Plan provides for a gas station, subject to a specific review of a development application
and approval of a zoning by-law amendment.
Integration of future uses on the subject
lands and compatibility of adjacent uses
The
proposal includes approximately half (0.6 hectares, 1.4 ac) of the total site
area (1.26 hectares, 3.1 ac). Emery
Investments (the owner of the subject lands), has indicated that the future use
of the remainder of the lands will likely be medium density residential
(apartments). However, an application has
not yet been submitted.
There
are interface implications with respect to the remaining portion of the
property. To help mitigate any negative
impacts, the applicant has incorporated a 3 metre landscape strip along the
common property boundary. A further
landscape strip will also be required on the future apartment site and
consideration of the placement of the future apartment buildings will have to
be taken into account by Emery Investments.
Site design, including appropriate design of
the drive through restaurant
The
applicant has worked with staff to incorporate architectural and urban design
features that enhance the streetscape and the relationships of the frontages
for both Bur Oak and McCowan Road.
- To establish a stronger built form relationship
to Bur Oak Avenue, the building elements have been linked
together to maximize built form at the corner;
- Walkways along Bur Oak Avenue and McCowan Road provide pedestrian access. The convenience store has unobstructed
pedestrian access from the street.
- Building mass relates to the commercial
plaza to the south, across Bur Oak Avenue;
- An architectural element is included at
the corner (Bur Oak Ave and McCowan Rd) which is integrated with the building
design to provide architectural screening for the vehicular drive through
at the corner;
- Generous landscaped areas are provided to
anchor the building and to screen the drive through.
- Lighting will be in compliance with Town
standards and regulated through conditions in the site plan agreement to
ensure that no direct lighting will be directed on adjacent properties.
Drive through study
The Town is currently preparing
Town wide guidelines with respect to drive throughs. In light of the emerging guidelines, staff has
worked with the applicant to incorporate architectural elements and landscaping
to screen the cars at the drive through from view. The architectural element comprises 1.20
metre (3.93 ft) high metal picket fence accented with stone masonry pillars and
decorative corner features. The
landscaping component adjacent to the architectural element comprises of low
level planting that will buffer the vehicles in the drive through (Figure 8).
It should be noted that staff
prefer the architectural element to berming incorporated on other gas station
sites recently approved, as it provides a more urban screening solution.
In addition, the drive through will
not wrap around the building providing for:
- an enhanced building relationship to the street;
- unobstructed pedestrian access to the convenience store from the
street; and,
- landscaping associated with the built form.
At the Public Meeting a concern was
raised with respect to unnecessary idling that would occur while vehicles
waited in the queue for the drive through.
The Town is in the process of preparing an anti idling by-law similar to
the City of Toronto which restricts vehicles (emergency vehicles
exempted) from idling for a maximum limit of 3 minutes in a 60 minute period. The Town’s anti idling by-law is expected to
be brought forward prior to the summer.
The applicant has indicated that this
is not a full service Tim Horton’s (beverages and donuts only) and the queue
time for the drive through is approximately 2 minutes (as opposed to a longer
wait for their full service restaurants), thereby reducing idling times. The applicant also indicated a willingness to
explore signage to help educate patrons on the hazards of idling. A condition in the site plan agreement can be
incorporated to ensure that signage is installed.
Provision of servicing, integrated access and on site circulation
required in second phase
There is an executed subdivision
agreement registered on title of the subject lands. Among other matters, the agreement requires
the owner to provide servicing and integrated access with the adjacent property
to the north, municipally known as 9704 McCowan Road. This
condition will be incorporated into the second phase (the remaining parcel of
land).
The owners of 9704 McCowan Road have withdrawn their objection to the application
(Appendix ‘A’). Their concerns with
respect to noise and the proximity of the car wash have been satisfied by
incorporating noise attenuation measures as recommended by the noise study.
This includes a sound barrier extending out on the west side of the car wash
and a sound barrier along part of the north and west property lines. The applicant’s noise study indicates that
the resulting sound exposures are expected to comply with the MOE noise
guidelines and the potential for adverse noise impact from the proposed car
wash facility and drive-through will be negligible with the implementation of
the recommended mitigative measures.
Awaiting Region’s comments
Comments from the Region of York
with respect to access and traffic are outstanding at this time. The Region has jurisdiction over McCowan Road. The Region’s
comments will be incorporated into the final site plan, should any revisions be
required. A traffic study is being
finalized by the applicant and will be forwarded to the Region for their
review. The by-law will not be forwarded
onto Council until the Regions comments have been received.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
None at this time.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
All Town
departments and external agencies have been circulated with these applications
and all comments will be considered in the site plan agreement and zoning
by-law.
CONCLUSION:
The
organization of the various elements of the proposal minimize the visual impact
of the automobile and enhance the pedestrian oriented function of the
convenience store by providing unobstructed access from Bur Oak Avenue. The detailing of pedestrian entrances, decorative
glazing and the overall built form clearly supports a frontal expression and
massing to the street.
The architectural
element extends from the intersection of Bur Oak Avenue and McCowan Road to the proposed convenience
store. The architectural element extends
the building wall and defines the street edge while mitigating views from Bur
Oak to the drive through lanes. The
addition of the architectural element and landscaping feature has satisfied
staff concerns relative to the views of the drive through lanes and provides
architectural definition to the intersection.
The gas
station and car wash are uses provided for in the Official Plan, subject to
review and approval of a specific development proposal and zoning amendment. Staff are satisfied with the site plan and
building elevations and recommend them, and the requested zoning for 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\ZONING\04 027753 Imperial
Oil Ltd\Recommendation report April 19 2005.doc
ATTACHMENTS: Figure 1 –
Applicant/Agent and Location Map
Figure
2 – Area Context and Zoning
Figure
3 – Air Photo
Figure
4 – Site Plan
Figure 5 – Elevations – Convenience store
and drive through restaurant
Figure
6 – Elevations – Canopy
Figure
7 – Car Wash
Figure
8 – Landscape Concept
Appendix ‘A’ – Withdrawal of objection
letter
Appendix
‘B’ – Resident’s letters
Appendix
‘C’ – Draft By-law
APPLICANT/AGENT: Armstrong
Goldberg Hunter
Attn: Tae Ryuck
2171
Avenue Road
Toronto, ON
M5M
4B4
Phone
# (416)322-7548
Fax
# (416) 932-9327
