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TO: |
Mayor and Members of Council |
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FROM: |
Jim Baird, Commissioner of
Development Services Valerie Shuttleworth, Director Of
Planning & Urban Design |
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PREPARED BY: |
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DATE OF MEETING: |
2004-04-20 |
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SUBJECT: |
Comments on Draft Regional
Official Plan Amendment (ROPA) No. 43 - Centres and Corridors |
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RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the staff report entitled “Comments on Draft
Regional Official Plan Amendment (ROPA) No. 43 – Centres and Corridors”, dated
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a long-term density target of 2.5 FSI for Regional Centres and Regional Corridors
over time.
THAT Council request the Region of York to incorporate further revisions to the scope of the Draft ROPA No. 43 – Centres and Corridors to:
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articulate and emphasize the Region’s desired urban structure within
the context of the Region’s approach to Regional Structure and Growth
Management;
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clarify that the long-term density target 2.5 FSI applies to Regional
Centres and Key Development Areas in Regional Corridors, as determined by the
local municipality and identified in local Official Plans, and to recognize
that achievement of the target may occur incrementally in phases over time,
based on the life cycle of existing development and improvements to transit and
transportation capacity; and
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concurrently address changes required to Chapter 6 of the Regional
Official Plan (Regional Infrastructure), to ensure integration and consistency
of transit supportive land use and urban
design policies with infrastructure and transportation policies, in support of
the Region’s desired urban structure.
AND FURTHER THAT Council endorse this Staff report and submit it to the
Region of York as the Town of
PURPOSE:
The
purpose of this report is to:
1.
Outline the scope and
content of draft Regional Official Plan Amendment No. 43 Centres and Corridors
- a ROPA to advance the Region’s desired urban structure of Regional Centres
and Corridors served by rapid transit;
and
2.
Provide a response from the
Town to the Region on the policy components contained therein.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Growth provides opportunities. If it is well managed, and the resulting development is well designed, it can enhance the quality of life for those who come to live, work, play and learn in York Region. The concept of an urban structure directing growth to well-planned, concentrated built up areas and compact greenfield development within the identified urban area has been the key growth management approach of the Region of York and the Town of Markham for the last decade.
Recognizing the need to more aggressively encourage and promote higher density transit supportive growth in the Region’s Centres and Corridors, Regional Council has taken the following steps:
· adopted a draft Centres and Corridors Strategy identifying four key action areas: policy, programs, financial tools, and infrastructure investment to guide the development of an urban structure based on a hierarchy of Centres and Corridors, served by rapid transit;
· approved a Transportation Master Plan and a related York Rapid Transit Plan (YRTP) initiative dependent upon transit supportive land use policies and related initiatives such as partnerships and programs; and
· directed staff to prepare a detailed policy framework (draft Regional Official Plan Amendment – ROPA) to advance the Region’s desired urban structure incorporating a hierarchy of Centres and Corridors, served by rapid transit.
The draft ROPA contemplates adding new and refined policies to Chapter 5 of the Regional Official Plan (Regional Structure and Growth Management). The policies are intended to enhance the Regional Structure and detail the role of Centres and Corridors and rapid transit services, such as the YRTP initiative, in advancing key components of the urban structure.
Overall, the draft ROPA provides more clarity and direction for Centres and Corridor and transit supportive development, in support of the Region’s desired urban structure. However, the scope of the ROPA should also address the emerging growth management context and the urgent need to further advance the Region’s desired urban structure of Centres and Corridors, linked by public transit.
It is also recommended that the ROPA concurrently address changes required to Chapter 6 of the Regional Official Plan (Regional Infrastructure), to ensure integration and consistency of transit supportive land use and urban design policies with infrastructure and transportation policies in support of the Region’s desired urban structure.
BACKGROUND:On Dec. 15th, Provincial
Government introduced Bill 26, to strengthen the Planning Act
It is important to understand the context of growth management in York Region. A recent update of the GTA and Hamilton population and employment forecasts has identified York Region as the fastest growing municipality in the Greater Toronto – Hamilton Area.
Growth presents challenges. Unchecked and poorly managed it can lead, among other things, to urban sprawl, loss of green space, traffic gridlock and increased costs associated with physical and social infrastructure. In York Region, the continued expansion of the urban area into greenfield areas for low density suburban-style residential development is not sustainable over time. Not only is there not enough greenfield land available in the urban area to accommodate all of the projected new growth for the Region, but continued expansion of the urban area without appropriate objectives and development control would result in significant increases in traffic congestion, travel to work time, infrastructure costs, and possible environmental impacts.
Growth also provides opportunities. If it is well managed, and the resulting development is well designed, it can enhance the quality of life for those who come to live, work, play and learn in York Region. The concept of an urban structure directing growth to well planned, concentrated built up areas and compact greenfield development within the urban area of York Region has been the key growth management approach for the last decade. In line with the provincial government’s Smart Growth vision, the Region of York’s Official Plan (ROP) vision for growth management is based on three principles: healthy communities, economic viability and a sustainable natural environment. In articulating this vision, the current ROP outlines:
Since November 2001, the Region has been engaged in a comprehensive review of its growth management vision and, in particular, a review of its performance in delivering the Regional Structure and implementing the Community Building policies outlined in the ROP. Despite a policy regime that promotes a mixed-use, higher density built form within the Region’s urban communities, a significant concentration of new growth within the defined Centres and Corridors across the Region has yet to materialize. Current planning and development in Markham Centre represents a notable exception.
Recognizing the need to more aggressively encourage and promote higher density transit supportive growth in the Region’s Centres and Corridors, Regional Council has taken the following steps:
· adopted a draft Centres and Corridors Strategy identifying four key action areas: policy, programs, financial tools, and infrastructure investment to guide the development of an urban structure based on a hierarchy of Centres and Corridors, served by rapid transit;
· approved a Transportation Master Plan and a related York Rapid Transit Plan (YRTP) initiative dependent upon transit supportive land use policies and related initiatives such as partnerships and programs; and
· directed staff to prepare a detailed policy framework (draft Regional Official Plan Amendment – ROPA) to advance the Region’s desired urban structure of a hierarchy of Centres and Corridors, served by rapid transit.
Centres
and Corridors Strategy
In February 2003, a set of ten policy principles were endorsed by Regional Council to guide the development of the ROPA for the Centres and Corridors Strategy. A copy of the policy principles is included in the Region’s report, attached as Appendix A. These principles are consistent with the principles of “New Urbanism” the Town applies to the planning of all new communities. They include, among others, compact urban form, mixed land uses, higher development densities, pedestrian and transit-oriented development form and quality urban design.
Over the past year, Regional staff have held on-going discussions with Markham staff and made two presentations to the Development Services Committee, to gain feedback on the Centres and Corridors Strategy and the emerging content of the ROPA. The structure of the ROPA is intended to provide policy support to municipalities implementing higher density transit supportive development in Centres and Corridors. For Markham, this includes support for the creation of a sustainable new urban downtown core – Markham Centre – and to transform Highway 7 into an urban transit corridor. The benefits of higher density development in these strategic locations include:
· More efficient use of land and infrastructure.
· Increase activity levels that are supportive of a shift in the modal split to rapid transit.
· An increase and wider range of housing and employment opportunities.
· Diversifying choices in the Region’s economy.
· A more vibrant public realm.
Draft
Regional Official Plan Amendment Circulated for Comment
The Region has now circulated draft ROPA No. 43 – Centres and Corridors for comment (draft ROPA attached as Appendix B). The draft ROPA will be tabled at the May 5, 2004 Regional Planning Committee and a statutory public meeting will be held the same day. There will be an an opportunity for local Councils to provide their comments/recommendations on the draft ROPA and to address any additional issues that arise from the Statutory Public Meetings over the summer. It is anticipated that a final report and recommendation for adoption of ROPA No. 43 – Centres and Corridors will be submitted to Regional Planning Committee in Nov. 2004. The draft ROPA contemplates adding new and refined policies to Chapter 5 of the ROP (Regional Structure and Growth Management). These policies are intended to enhance the Regional Structure and detail the role that Centres and Corridors and rapid transit services, such as the YRTP initiative, have in advancing the planned urban structure.
Proposed changes to Chapter 5 (Regional Structure and Growth Management) include:
· clarification of the Region’s desired urban structure, including a connected hierarchy of Centres and Corridors;
· recognition that the four Regional Centres are the major focal points for intensive urban development;
· clarification that local municipalities will determine Key Development Areas where infill and intensification will occur in the Regional Corridors;
· introduction of transit supportive land use and built form criteria in support of local municipal Secondary Plans to implement Centres and Corridors;
· establishment of a long-term density target of 2.5 FSI (Floor Space Index) for Regional Centres and Corridors;
· increasing the minimum ROP target to direct the Region’s forecasted population increase to existing built-up portions of urban areas, towns and villages from 20% to 30%; and
· improved coordination of development and infrastructure investment.
DISCUSSION:
Regional
Structure and Growth Management
A key component of the ROPA – Centres and Corridors is to clarify the Region’s desired urban structure which includes a connected hierarchy of Centres and Corridors. The ROPA is intended to enhance the Region’s planning policies through the introduction of wording and to further define and reinforce the key elements of a sustainable urban structure.
Overall, the draft ROPA provides more clarity and direction in the Community Building section of the Plan for Centres and Corridors and transit supportive development policies in support of the Region’s desired urban structure. However, the ROPA should also more specifically articulate the basis for the policies within the Region’s emerging growth management context and the urgent need to further advance the Region’s desired urban structure of centres and corridors linked by public transit. A preamble is required at the beginning of Chapter 5 (Regional Structure and Growth Management) to provide a more current account of the growth management context and the rationale for detailing and clarifying the Centres and Corridors policies.
Staff are recommending that the scope of the ROPA – Centres and Corridors be augmented to more specifically articulate and emphasize the Region’s desired urban structure within the context of the Region’s approach to Regional Structure and Growth Management.
Community
Building and a Hierarchy of Centres and Corridors
The ROPA refines the community building policies of the ROP to introduce new policy sections detailing a hierarchy of Regional Centres, Local Centres, Regional Corridors and Local Corridors. The ROPA identifies the strategic location of four Regional Centres: Markham Centre in the east, Vaughan Corporate Centre in the west, Richmond Hill Centre in the south and Newmarket Centre in the north as the major focal points for urban development. These Regional Centres will have the highest concentration and variety of land uses in the Region.
The ROPA also identifies Yonge Street, Highway 7 and the proposed Markham North/South and Vaughan North/South rapid transit corridors as Regional Corridors that connect the Regional Centres and support their vitality. These Regional corridors are considered the main transit arteries of the Region’s urban structure and have great potential for higher density mixed use development, served by public transit.
It is recognized that in Markham, the Yonge Street and Highway 7 Corridors are at different stages of development and that each contains areas where the existing conditions are unlikely to change in the short term (ie. natural environment or existing, ground-oriented, freehold residential development). The ROPA provides clarity that local municipalities will determine Key Development Areas where infill and intensification will occur in Regional Corridors over time. This will require local municipalities to identify in the Official Plan areas where vacant and under utilized lands and existing areas in transition have the greatest opportunity for mixed use and higher density development. It will also provide some degree of stability to the areas that have not been identified for change. Staff are in the process of identifying potential Key Development Areas within the Highway 7 Corridor, as part of the Highway 7 Corridor Study initiated by Council in 2003. In 2002, Council endorsed 12 Rapid Transit Corridor planning principles that can be applied to the Highway 7 Corridor which are consistent with the provisions of the ROPA.
The ROPA also provides transit supportive land use and built form criteria in support of local municipal Official Plan amendments and secondary plans to implement Centres and Corridors. One of the principal concerns with intensification is the impact on adjacent existing development and the need for an appropriate provision of transition between existing residential communities and new development. The recent success of Markham’s growth management initiatives respecting intensification and compact communities has a direct relationship to quality urban design. In particular, the Town has been able to achieve intensification within the context of local community values using effective community design principles (ie. Markham Centre). Transit supportive development relies heavily on development, built form and parking standards and pedestrian friendly access conditions that support non-automotive modes of travel. In this regard, the ROPA promotes the creation of urban design guidelines and transit supportive development standards in secondary plans established for Regional Centres and Key Development Areas in the Regional Corridors.
Staff support the increased clarity and direction provided in the ROPA respecting Centres and Corridors and, in particular, the provision that local municipalities will determine Key Development Areas in the Regional Corridors where infill and intensification will occur over time.
The draft
ROPA introduces a long-term density target of 2.5 FSI (Floor Space Index =
gross floor area of the building divided by the site area) for Key Development
Areas in Regional Centres and Regional Corridors over time. The purpose of the target is to promote
development at transit supportive densities in Regional Centres and Regional
Corridors. In order to achieve the
benefits of higher density transit supportive development, it is important that
the density target be accompanied with the appropriate development, built form
and parking standards described above. The new provision of a long-term density target is supportable provided
that the 2.5 FSI applies to Key Development Areas in Regional Corridors as
determined by the local municipality, with public input and proper public
process. The ROPA should also recognize that achievement of this target may
occur incrementally in phases over time, based on the life cycle of existing
development and improvements to transit and transportation capacity.
The
ROPA increases the minimum target to direct the Region’s forecasted population
increase to existing built-up portions of urban areas, towns and villages from
20% to 30%. Staff support this increase
on the understanding that this target is applied to the individual forecasted
population for each municipality. This
degree of intensification within the urban area appears consistent with current
and emerging Town policy.
There are limited policy components in the draft ROPA that address regional infrastructure investment. The ROPA makes reference to infrastructure investments in Regional Centres and Regional Corridors as follows:
· The delivery of transit services shall support the development objectives of the Plan.
· Priority shall be given to capital infrastructure improvements in Regional Centres and Corridors.
The scope of the ROPA currently does not address all of the recommended transportation and infrastructure policy changes to the ROP in support of the Region’s Transportation Master Plan. It is unclear how transportation and infrastructure policies respecting modal shift, integration with land use and community design, transportation demand management and parking will be addressed in support of the desired urban structure.
There is a direct relationship between provision of infrastructure and land use intensification. The ability to achieve the Region’s desired urban structure relies not only on the provision of transit supportive development but also on the provision of transportation and infrastructure investment to support such development. The ROPA does not directly address this relationship in that there are no transportation and infrastructure policies in support of a modal shift to rapid transit or a higher density transit supportive form of development.
Staff recommend that the ROPA concurrently address changes required to
Chapter 6 of the ROP (Regional
Infrastructure), to ensure integration and consistency of transit supportive
land use and urban design policies with infrastructure and transportation
policies in support of the Region’s desired urban structure.
The draft ROPA encourages municipalities to work with the Region to
develop implementation strategies for Secondary Plans implementing Centres and
Corridors. The challenge will be to link
strategic planning and policy regulation to strategic investment and financial
management.
Some of the implementation strategies identified are:
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Encouraging
public investment from all levels of government;
· Using a wide range of innovative financial tools to encourage development consistent with the Plan including Tax Increment Financing and site specific Development Charges;
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Providing opportunities for joint development between the transit
agency and developers to encourage and facilitate transit supportive development
and the transit infrastructure itself;
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Promoting transit ridership through controlled parking standards within
the Regional Centres including maximum parking standards, parking authorities
and cash-in-lieu of parking under the
Planning Act;
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Developing a suite of Transportation Demand Management measures,
including the establishment of Transportation Management Associations;
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Designating Regional Centres as Community Improvement Plan areas under Section 28 of the Planning Act to assist in the implementation of the ROP;
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Establishing a development permit framework or pre-zoning based on the
principles of streamlining and promoting development in a cost-effective
manner;
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Establishing phasing plans for the build-out of the regional centres,
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Recognizing that the build-out may occur beyond the life of this Plan;
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The use of Section 37 of the Planning Act to achieve net community
benefits which are supportive of a compact community form; and
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Innovative polices and programs to provide schools, parks and open
space to serve the Regional Centres, including bonusing and alternative
parkland provisions.
It
is recognized that the Regional Official Plan as amended by the draft ROPA will
require municipal implementation in the form of municipal policies, procedures
and development standards.
The Town of Markham is already engaged in planning for a sustainable
urban structure. To achieve a 20-year
vision, the Town has established a number of strategic initiatives and projects
intended, among other things, to promote the efficient and effective management
of growth, to support a diverse choice of housing and employment opportunities,
to preserve the natural and built environment, to promote rapid transit, and to
optimize the use of current infrastructure and the allocation of Development
Charges to facilitate investment in new infrastructure.
Many of the growth management policies and implementation strategies
identified in the ROPA are currently in place and in practice, particularly with
the adoption of OPA No. 21 and the on-going planning of Markham Centre. Council has directed staff to develop a
comprehensive strategy for guiding and managing the evolution of the future
urban structure and transit services within the Highway 7 Corridor. The strategy will be transit-oriented and
identify specific policies and integrated actions to provide for transit
supportive development opportunities in Key Development Areas identified by the
Town along the Corridor. Secondary
Plans for new mixed use redevelopment opportunities are being developed for
Milliken Mills Main Street and the Markham Road Corridor consistent with the
draft ROPA policies respecting Centres and Corridors. Council has also authorized staff to bring
forward Terms of Reference for a review of opportunities throughout the Town
where intensification by either infill or redevelopment can be achieved within
the existing urban area of the Town.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
There are no financial considerations at this time resulting from the
proposed Regional Official Plan Amendment.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:
It
is anticipated that implementation of the ROPA – Centres and Corridors will
contribute to the protection of
Markham’s natural features and green spaces by directing growth to existing
built up areas in Centres and Corridors.
ENGAGE 21ST CONSIDERATIONS:
It
is anticipated that the new regional policy will assist Markham in achieving
its 20-year vision with a concerted focus on strategic plan initiatives and
projects. It is also anticipated that
the new ROPA will assist Council in guiding growth management, sustainable
development and Official Plan policy.
ATTACHMENTS:
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Valerie
Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P Director
of Planning and Urban Design |
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Jim
Baird, M.C.I.P.,R.P.P Commissioner
of Development Services |
