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TO: |
Mayor and Members of Council |
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FROM: |
Valerie Shuttleworth, Director of
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PREPARED BY: |
Regan Hutcheson, Manager,
Heritage |
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DATE OF MEETING: |
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SUBJECT: |
PRELIMINARY REPORT Applications for Official Plan
and Zoning By-law Amendments OP 04 028702 and ZA 04 027514 |
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RECOMMENDATION:
That a Public
Meeting be held to consider the applications submitted by 2019311 Ontario Inc. for Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments to
permit restaurant use and to permit business and professional offices on the
ground floor of the heritage building at 150 Main Street, Unionville.
PURPOSE:
BACKGROUND:
Property is located within the Unionville Heritage Conservation District
The subject property is located at
Property was used as a veteran’s hall for over 50 years
The subject property was built in
1879 by the Congregational Church. The
building was designed by E.J. Lennox who later went on to design
In 1949, the property was acquired
by the local war veterans association which used the building as a veteran’s
hall. On
Unionville Core Area study was undertaken in 2002
In 2002, the Town
of
The Study confirmed
that the increased number of restaurants was undermining the planned function
of
New Official Plan policies were approved for the
Unionville Core Area
A new Secondary
Plan (Official Plan No. 107) was adopted for the Unionville Core Area on May
27, 2003, and it includes policies related to new restaurants and the location
of business and professional offices.
The policies do permit Council to approve new restaurant use under
certain circumstances.
The
Secondary Plan for the Unionville Core Area includes the following policies
concerning restaurant use and the location of business and professional
offices:
1. The Secondary Plan does not identify
restaurant use as a permitted use for this site. However, it indicates that in addition to the
uses permitted restaurant uses may be permitted by Council subject to an
amendment to the zoning by-law. When
considering such an application, the applicant shall be required to satisfy
Council that there is sufficient parking available and that the new use will
not negatively affect the predominance of at-grade retail uses along
2. The Secondary Plan also articulates what is
meant by a “traditional shopping experience”.
It shall be the policy of the Town that Main Street Unionville provides
a traditional shopping experience in the form of a historic commercial area
where the at-grade uses are predominantly retail. Specifically, it is intended that in the Main
Street Unionville Traditional Shopping Area (which is identified in the
Secondary Plan), in excess of 50 percent of the total at-grade, gross floor
area shall be in retail use. Council
shall only approve additional restaurant floor space within the Traditional
Shopping Area when retail uses represent greater that 50% of the total
at-grade, gross floor area.
3. The Secondary Plan indicates that to maintain
animation and pedestrian activity and interest at street level, it shall be the
policy of the Town to prohibit business and professional offices on the ground
floor of commercial properties facing
Zoning By-law was amended in 2003 to reflect the Core Area
recommendations
The subject property is zoned
Heritage Main Street (HMS). This zone
permits speciality retail, personal service shops, arts and crafts workshops,
photo studios, bed and breakfast and professional office (but not on the ground
floor). Restaurants are not permitted as
of right in the Heritage Main Street (HMS) Zone.
The planned function for
Unionville’s historic commercial core is to provide a traditional shopping
experience where the at-grade uses are predominantly retail. The Secondary Plan policies indicate that the
objective is to have over 50% of the total at-grade, gross floor area in retail
use. A review of the current total,
at-grade floor space within the traditional shopping area reveals the
following:
Restaurant 27.9%
Other 26.4%
If an office use went into the building, the above percentages would not change as office is classified as “other”. If a restaurant or retail use went into the building, the overall, at-grade, gross floor space percentages would change as follows:
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Category |
Restaurant Use |
Retail Use |
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Retail |
45.7% |
48.5% |
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Restaurant |
30.5% |
27.9% |
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Other |
23.8% |
23.8% |
Owner indicates that building is unsuitable for retail use
The owner has applied
for an amendment to the Secondary Plan to permit restaurant use on the property
and to permit business and professional office use on the ground floor.
The owner has had the
building available for lease for almost two years in the hope of finding a
suitable tenant under the allowable uses.
The property was listed with J.J. Barnicke for twelve months and
although it is reported that interest was shown, no suitable retail tenant was
found. The owner then listed the
property with Monopoly Commercial Realty.
Again, the owner reported interest, but not for retail use.
The owner is of the
opinion that it is virtually impossible to rent this space as retail. The owner believes that the building’s design
limits its retail potential in the following manner:
·
The
building is set back from the
·
The
façade is not suitable for retail. The
lack of display windows and visibility at eye level from the street would make
it difficult to sustain retail activity;
·
The
entrance is narrow and restrictive;
·
Upon
entering the building, a person must walk up a series of steps to what is
considered the ground floor or down a series of steps to a basement level.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSAL:
The potential benefits
of the proposal include:
·
The
additional uses may assist the owner in securing a tenant for the building
which has been vacant for approximately eight years;
·
Given
that the existing building does not easily lend itself to retail use as it has
no display windows, a restrictive entrance, heavy doors and a complex internal
stairwell, and that future tenants may want to alter certain features of the
building to make it more suitable for retail activity, other types of uses such
as a restaurant or offices may be less intrusive on the architecture and
heritage value of the building;
·
If
the building was used for business or professional offices, no additional
parking would be required;
·
The
conversion of this building to either restaurant use or business and
professional offices would not affect the existing percentage of retail space
on Main Street given that the building was not originally in retail use. Therefore, this would not remove any retail
use from the
·
If
the new uses were supported, the zoning could have a “Hold” placed on it. The holding provision could ensure that site
plan approval is obtained and that the owner enters into a Heritage Easement
Agreement to ensure the long-term preservation of the property.
The following is a brief summary of concerns/issues raised to date:
·
The
proposal for restaurant and office (ground floor) uses must be considered in
the context of the current Official Plan and Zoning criteria for such uses,
arising from the 2003 policy study (OPA 107);
· Although each application should be evaluated on its own merits, support for the requested amendments could be viewed as contentious given that Council only recently approved the new Secondary Plan policies and zoning provisions for Main Street, Unionville after extensive study and consultation;
·
In order to support a
restaurant use, Council must be satisfied that there is sufficient
parking. The parking requirement for
restaurant use is 1 parking space per 15 sq m of net floor area. The current building is 418 sq m in
size (4,542 sq ft with main floor at 2334 sq ft and basement at 2208 sq ft) and
if all of the floor area was to be used for restaurant use, 28 parking spaces
would be required. The subject site appears to have 16 identified parking spaces which
would allow a restaurant approximately 240m2 (2583 sq ft) in
size. However, two of the parking spaces
are in a tandem arrangement at the front of the building. If Council did support restaurant use, the
zoning by-law should limit the size of the restaurant in relation to the amount
of parking available;
·
In order to support a
restaurant use, Council must be satisfied that the new use will not negatively
affect the predominance of at-grade retail along the
· If restaurant use is supported, Council may wish to prohibit certain types of restaurants such as fast food, take-out and tavern.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
None at this time.
ENGAGE 21ST
CONSIDERATIONS:
The appropriate re-use of heritage
resources helps to recognize, promote and strengthen a sense of community.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The
applications for Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments have been
circulated to internal departments and external agencies and no comments or
concerns have been expressed. As the property is located within the boundaries
of the Unionville Heritage Conservation District, Heritage Markham was also circulated
the applications. Heritage
ATTACHMENTS:
Figure 1 Applicant
Figure 2 Area
Context/ Zoning
Figure 3 Site
Plan
Appendix A Draft Official Plan
Amendment (
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Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Director of |
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Commissioner of Development Services |
FIGURE 1
File
Path: Q:\Development\Heritage\PROPERTY\MAINSTU\150\Zoning
& OPA 2004-05\DEVELOPMENT SERVICES COMMITTEE Jan 25 2005.doc
APPLICANT/
AGENT: 2019311 Ontario Inc. 905- 927-9343 TEL
Attention:
Mr. Jessie Agnew 905-927-9344 FAX
LOCATION:
