RECOMMENDATION:
That a Public
Meeting be held to consider the zoning by-law amendment application 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.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report
is to provide preliminary information regarding applications by Imperial Oil
Limited for zoning by-law amenment 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, and to recommend that a
Public Meeting be held to consider the zoning application.
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 south and 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.
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).
POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSAL:
The
potential benefits of the proposed development are as follows:
- The convenience store will help meet the
shopping needs of the residents of the surrounding neighbourhood and the
gas station and car wash will meet the needs of the travelling public.
CONCERNS/ISSUES TO BE RESOLVED:
The following is a brief summary of
concerns/issues raised to date. These matters, and any others identified
through the circulation and detailed review of the proposal, will be addressed
in a final staff report to be presented to Committee at a later date.
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, no specific proposal
or application has been submitted.
There
are implications with respect to the remaining portion of the property that
will not be developed at this time. The
interface will be mitigated through landscaping along the common property
boundary and through the placement of any future apartment buildings. Further discussion is required to resolve the
future development of the remaining lands.
Site design, including appropriate design of
the drive through restaurant
The
applicant is working with staff to incorporate the following revisions:
- Establish a stronger building
relationship to Bur Oak Avenue;
- Relate the building massing to the
commercial plaza to the south, across Bur Oak Avenue;
- Introduce an architectural element 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;
- Provide sufficient landscape areas to
anchor the building and to screen the drive through.
Drive through study
The Town is currently preparing
Town wide guidelines with respect to drive throughs. In light of the proposed guidelines, staff
have been working with the applicant to mitigate the negative impacts of the
drive through.
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.
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 a final report.
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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\Preliminary report.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
APPLICANT/AGENT: Armstrong
Goldberg Hunter
Attn: Jude Tersigni
2171
Avenue Road
Toronto, ON
M5M
4B4
Phone
# (416)322-4927
Fax
# (416) 932-9327
