DEVELOPMENT SERVICES COMMITTEE

 

 

 

 

 

TO:

Mayor and Members of Council

 

 

 

 

FROM:

Jim Baird, Commissioner of Development Services

Valerie Shuttleworth, Director of Planning & Urban Design

 

 

 

 

PREPARED BY:

Tim Williams, Planner West District Team

 

 

 

 

DATE OF MEETING:

2004-Nov-09

 

 

 

 

SUBJECT:

PRELIMINARY REPORT

Rodeo Fine Homes

Application for Zoning By-law Amendment to permit the construction of 4 new single detached dwellings

378 John Street, Thornhill

ZA 04-021828

 

 

 

 

RECOMMENDATION:

 

That a Public Meeting be held to consider the applications submitted by Rodeo Fine Homes for a Zoning By-law amendment at 378 John Street Thornhill, once the concerns noted in this report have been addressed to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Development Services.

 

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to provide preliminary information regarding an application for Zoning By-law Amendment to permit four single detached dwelling units on the property.  It is recommended that a statutory public meeting be held to consider this application once concerns noted in this report have been addressed to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Development Services.

 

BACKGROUND:

Property and Area Context

The 0.22 ha (0.55 ac) site currently supports one single detached dwelling.  The property is a through lot with access to John Street and McKelvey Drive and is located within the Thornhill Community (See figure 1).

 

Adjoining the subject lands are:

·        Low Density Residential (Single and Semi detached) subdivision to the north, east, and west; and

·        Industrial Plaza on the south side of John Street

 

The lands are adjacent to a residential subdivision developed in the 1980’s consisting of single and semi-detached units with lot frontages ranging between 8.4 metres (27.56 ft) to13.29 metres (43.6 ft). (See figure 2)

 

Proposal is for 4 single detached dwelling units

The applicant is proposing to develop 4 single detached units through severance.  The severance process will take place once the zoning amendment process has been completed.  The proposal would have floor areas ranging in size from 199.55m2 (2148 ft2) to 226.86m2 (2442 ft2).  Each of the individual lot frontages would be 8.92m (29.26ft).  Lot depth would range from 51 m to 57.3 m, and lot area would be a minimum of some 460 m2.  The following Table “A” shows the sites statistics including the coverage of the buildings and density of the development.

 

Table A

Residential Units

M2

Ft2

 

 

 

 

Single Detached (total building coverage)

4

537.89

5790

Gross Site Area (includes road widening and half of McKelvey Drive)

 

2559

27545.748

Gross Site Density

 

15.63 uph

6.33 upa

Net Site Area

 

1922.2

20691

Net Site Density

 

20.8 uph

8.42 upa

 

Official Plan and Thornhill Secondary Plan

The Official Plan designates the property “Urban Residential”.  This designation is further refined by the Thornhill Secondary Plan to “Low Density Housing”.  Low Density housing shall generally not exceed a gross residential density of 14.8 units per hectare; this proposal has a density of 15.63 uph.  While this density exceeds the unit per hectare value of the policy it is generally within the density expected in the low density housing designation.  The development is compatible with the surrounding development, which is the context for establishing the density value.  The proposed development conforms to the Official Plan in all other aspects.

 

An Amendment to Zoning By-law is also required

The subject lands are currently zoned RD- Residential Development.  This zone category permits only 1 single detached dwelling on the property.  The current application is to change the zoning category to single detached residential, with urban development standards similar to those of the underground linked dwellings immediately west and north of the site.

 

POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSAL:

·              This property currently contains one dwelling unit which has access and faces on to John Street.   The proposed development will complete the Mc Kelvey Crescent streetscape with houses which front onto the Crescent.

·              Proposed development will utilize land which would otherwise be underdeveloped;

·              Proposal will have access to the site from a internal street rather than a minor arterial;

·              Proposal is in keeping with Town’s initiatives regarding compact urban development form.

 

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:

 

·        The application proposes four dwellings with double car garages.  The proposed lots are narrow and the garages and driveways will dominate the front yards.  The houses should be redesigned with single car garages and narrow driveways to encourage lawn space in front of the houses.  The curb cut by-law does not permit the proposed driveway width on lot frontages of this size.  A requirement that the proposed lots be subject to site plan control will be recommended as a condition of severance of the proposed lots;

·        Some of the side yard setbacks proposed are 0.3 metres from the property line.  Elements such as foundations, and roof overhangs including gutters will not be permitted to encroach into the adjoining property;

·        This land is not currently part of a plan of subdivision.  Public works were installed during the development of the subdivision to the north, west and east with the anticipation that the property would eventually be redeveloped with the lots fronting on to Mc Kelvey Crescent.  The proposed lots will trigger cost recoveries to the original developer of the subdivision, as prescribed within the subdivision agreement for the adjacent residential lands.  This issue will be addressed as a condition of severance to create the proposed lots;

·        Measures to mitigate the impact of noise generated by John Street will have to be addressed;

·        Water/sanitary sewer allocation for the proposed 4 units will be required as part of the approval of the proposal, and the Town is currently facing constrained supply of allocation from the Region of York.

 

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

There are no financial matters to be considered in this report.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:

As a condition of severance staff will be requesting a tree preservation plan and tree inventory plan. 

 

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

The application has been circulated to various Town departments and external agencies and is currently under review.  Requirements of the Town and external agencies will be reflected in the preparation of the Zoning By-law amendment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.

Director of Planning & Urban Design

 

Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.

Commissioner of Development Services

Figure 1

 

Q:\Development\Planning\APPL\ZONING\04 024598  Rodeo Fine Homes\Priliminary Report DSC-378 John Street.doc

 

ATTACHMENTS:

Figure 1:           Location

Figure 2:           Area Context

Figure 3:           Air Photo

Figure 4:           Proposed Lot Fabric

 

Agent:              Bousfields Inc                                       Phone:  (416) 947-9744

                        Attn: Maria Gatzios                               Fax:      (416) 947-0781

                        3 Church Street

                        Toronto ON  M5E 1M2