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TO: |
Mayor and Members of Council |
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FROM: |
Jim Baird, Commissioner of Development Services |
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PREPARED BY: |
Dave Miller,
Senior Planner |
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DATE OF
MEETING: |
December
7, 2004 |
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SUBJECT: |
RECOMENDATION REPORT By-law 177-96 - Housekeeping and Zoning By-law Amendment (File number ZA 04-013653) |
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RECOMMENDATION
That
the report entitled “Recommendation Report, By-law
177-96 - Housekeeping and Zoning By-law Amendment, the New Urban Area By-law”
be received (File number ZA 04-013653);
And that the by-law be enacted.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is
to recommend that a Town initiated zoning by-law amendment to By-law 177-96, as amended be enacted. The amendment clarifies a number of the
provisions and restructures By-law 177-96, as amended to make it more user
friendly for the public and staff. The
amendment also introduces a number of new provisions that reflect the current
development standards.
BACKGROUND
Location and Area
Approximately
1,495 hectares (3,695 acres) of the Town is zoned under By-law 177-96, as
amended. Included are the communities of
Woodbine North, Cathedral, Angus Glen, Berczy, Wismer, Box Grove and Greensborough,
which are north of 16th Avenue, between Highway 404 and 9th
Line. East of 9th Line the
community of Cornell is zoned by By-law 177-96, as amended. Along the Highway 7/407 corridor By-law
177-96, as amended zones the communities of Leitchcroft, Markham Centre, and
South Unionville. Legacy, which is west
of 9th Line between Highway 407 and 14th Avenue is also
zoned under By-law 177-96, as amended.
(See Figure 1)
History of By-law 177-96
In the early 1990’s the
Provincial Government (the then owners of the Cornell lands) proposed to
develop a new type of community, based on “new urbanism” standards, in the east
end of Markham. When a new Provincial
Government was elected in 1995, the property was put up for sale. Council and Senior Management were concerned
that any new landowner might not adopt the original “New Urbanism” planning
philosophy. Consequently, an innovative
and fairly prescriptive ‘urban-design based’ By-law was prepared in 1995/1996 and
passed by Council in 1996 to ensure the Town’s goals for the new urbanist
community were achieved. The
prescriptive nature of By-law 177-96 made interpretation more complex than the
Town’s other zoning By-laws.
Since By-law 177-96 was enacted,
a number of substantive amendments have been proposed and considered by
Council. For example, By-law 177-96 did
not contain provisions for wide shallow lots and in 1999 a number of amendments
to the By-law were approved to regulate how these types of lots are to be
developed. A number of amendments to
By-law 177-96 have also been approved in response to general and site specific
requests to accommodate imaginative and innovative new building forms. These amendments have added to the complexity
of the By-law.
A Public Meeting to consider the proposed changes to
By-law 177-96, as amended was held on June 28, 2004. There were no comments from the public with
respect to the proposal, at the Public Meeting.
There are minor and major
changes to the By-law
There
are approximately 232 changes to the By-law, not including the changes to the
Exception Section. Many of the changes
proposed are minor and simply clarify the original provisions to remove
ambiguities, to ensure they are interpreted as originally intended. Appendix ‘A’ itemizes the
changes to the By-law in detail. Some
of the major changes to the
by-law are summarized below.
Some changes will make the By-law less restrictive
A
number of provisions in the by-law will be changed to make them less
restrictive. They include the following:
1.
A number of uses will be added as permitted uses to
some zones, for example:
·
private home day-care uses, with a maximum of three
children will be permitted in all residential zones;
·
vet clinics will be permitted in CA1, CA2 and BC
zones;
·
art galleries and multiple dwellings will be
permitted in the NC1 and NC2 zones; and
·
non-profit fitness centres will be permitted in
NC1, NC2, CA1, CA2,
2.
Residential driveway widths will be increased by
0.6 metres (i.e. the driveway may be 0.6 metres wider than the garage).
3.
Building line provisions will be replaced with
maximum setback provisions. This distance will, in most cases, be equal
to the minimum front yard setback plus 1.5 metres.
4.
All floors of parking structures will be exempt
from Floor Space Index calculations.
5.
Parking pads will be permitted, subject to
restrictions.
6.
Decks with a height of less than 1.0 metre will be permitted
in the setback area between a detached private garage and dwelling.
7.
Porches will not be permitted in the setback area
between a detached private garage and dwelling , but will be permitted to
encroach to within 1.0 metre of front or exterior side lot line. Stairs that access a porch will be permitted
to encroach to within 0.6 metres of front or exterior side lot line.
8.
Detached accessory buildings (other than detached private
garages) will be permitted in a rear yard, to within 0.5 metres of any lot
line, except the exterior side lot line. The size of these
structures will also be restricted to 10 square metres.
9.
Parking structures and public transit facilities will
be permitted in every zone, subject to restrictions.
10.
The
term ‘Convenience Retail’ use will be replaced with the broader ‘Retail Store’ use.
Some changes will make the By-law more restrictive
A
number of provisions in the by-law will be changed to be more restrictive. They include the following:
1.
In the R2 zone, the garage projection towards the
street, beyond the main entry feature or main front entrance of the dwelling
unit will be reduced from 3.0 metres to 1.5 metres.
2.
Detached garages on lanes will be set back no more
than 1.2 metres from the rear lot line.
On odd-shaped lots, the setback will be increased to 1.75 metres. (The minimum setback for detached garage from
rear lot line will be 0.6 metres.)
3.
The height of enclosed walkways, between a detached
garage and a dwelling will be limited to a maximum of 2.75 metres.
4.
The
maximum permitted window bay encroachment into a rear yard will be reduced from
2.0 metres to 1.0 metre. The encroaching
window bay will be restricted to maximum width of 3.0 metres. Window bays in the required rear yard will be
cantilevered.
5.
Window
bays, amongst other architectural features, will be allowed to encroach up to
3.0 metres into a front yard and 50 percent of the required side yard.
6.
The maximum height of roofed porches will be
reduced from 4.5 metres to 3.0 metres and the minimum depth of a porch will be
1.5 metres.
7.
The maximum percentage of a dwelling’s floor area
that a home occupation could occupy will be reduced from 50% to 25%. (This is consistent with home occupation
permissions in the rest of the Town.)
8.
A minimum size for loading bays will be added.
9.
The
setback from a detached garage to an interior side lot line will increase from
0.3 metres to 0.5 metres.
10.
Wide
shallow lots will have a minimum depth of no less than 26 metres (currently no
minimum lot depth is required).
Two new zone categories, Special Policy Area
provisions and regulations for parking structures will be added to the By-law
Two new zones will be added
to the By-law. They will be implemented
on a site specific basis. They are:
1.
A new Neighbourhood Commercial zone (NC3). This zone will allow retail stores/restaurants,
with restrictions on the maximum gross floor area and restaurant seating.
2.
A new Community Amenity Area zone (CA4). It will allow commercial, retail and service
uses.
The Group Home provisions will
be deleted, to be consistent with the rest of the Town. Development standards for parking structures will
be added to the By-law. The Exception Section
will be deleted and replaced with a new exception section that is reformatted
and re-written to ensure that terminology and phrasing is consistent throughout. The changes will not
affect the original purpose of the exception.
The
easiest way to reduce the complexity of some sections will be to replace them
Some Sections of the by-law will
be changed to reduce their complexity. For
example the section that deals
with the detached accessory buildings and enclosed/roofed walkways on lots accessed
by lanes will be replaced with a new section to provide clarity. The changes that are proposed, are as
summarized below:
1.
all detached
garages will have to be set back a minimum of 6 metres from the main building
on the lot;
2.
walkways,
between a detached garage and dwelling, will include now include both enclosed
walkways and unenclosed roofed walkways as well;
3.
a
maximum height limit of 2.75 metres for walkways will be added; and
4.
the interior
side yard setback to walkways will be reduced from 0.6 metres to 0.5 metres.
New schedules will be added
to the By-law
The new schedules will only include zoning information
for lands covered by By-law 177-96. The detailed Special Policy Area
provisions will be re-introduced into the By-law and the By-law schedules will reflect
the Special Policy Area mapping in the Official Plan.
CONCLUSION
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
None
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
The
Special Policy Area provisions in the By-law will be amended to reflect the
Town’s current Official Plan policies. To make the Special Policy Area provisions
easier to work with a Special Policy Area section will be added to the
By-law. The schedules to the By-law will
also be adjusted to reflect the Special Policy Area mapping in the Official
Plan.
ENGAGE 21st CONSIDERATIONS
This project will help create a quality community with
neighborhoods that are designed to be pedestrian friendly with centers which
serve as focal points where residents can choose to gather to shop, socialize,
learn or be entertained.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED
ATTACHMENTS
Figure
1 – Map of Areas Covered by By-law
177-96, as amended
Appendix ‘A’ –
Consultants Change Memo
Appendix
‘B’ – Draft Zoning By-law } Not attached. Available for viewing
Appendix
‘C’ – Draft Office Consolidation } in the Clerk’s Department.
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Director of |
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Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Commissioner of
Development Services |
FILE PATH: Q:\Development\Planning\Teams\WEST\dave's zoning
folder\177-96\report to DSC December 7 2004 (draft 2).doc
Figure 1
