RECOMMENDATION:
That a Public Meeting be held to consider the
applications submitted by EL-En Realty Limited and Haremar Realty Limited for
Zoning By-law Amendment and Draft Plan of Subdivision Approval for Draft Plan
19TM-98020 in the Berczy Village Community, once the valley land has been
delineated and incorporated into the draft plan, to the satisfaction of the
TRCA and the Town.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report
is to provide preliminary information regarding applications by El-En Realty
Limited and Haremar Realty Limited for Zoning By-law Amendment and Draft Plan
of Subdivision approval to permit 23 single detached lots and 3 residential
part blocks on the southwest corner of Major Mackenzie Drive and McCowan Road in the Berczy Community. The draft plan as submitted does not
satisfactorily address the portion of the site east of Street 1 shown as “Block
27 – valley land and future development.”
The report recommends that a Public Meeting be held once the valley land
has been delineated and incorporated into the draft plan as a block to be
conveyed into public ownership to the satisfaction of the TRCA and the Town.
BACKGROUND:
Property and Area Context
The
22.76 hectare (56.25 ac.) vacant property is located at the southwest corner of
Major Mackenzie Drive and McCowan Road (Figure 1) in the Berczy
Village Community.
Adjoining
the property are:
·
Single detached dwellings to the west;
·
Vacant Medium density residential blocks and valley lands to the south;
·
Vacant lands designated Community Amenity, Low Density Residential and
Institutional within the Wismer Commons Secondary Plan to the east, across McCowan Road; and,
·
Vacant lands designated Agriculture and Hazard Lands in the Official Plan to
the north.
The
subject site is generally flat and a minor tributary of the Rouge River traverses through the
property, creating a wide, shallow floodplain.
Official Plan designation and existing zoning
The
subject lands are designated Urban Residential – Low Density, Urban Residential
– Medium Density and Hazard Lands in the Berczy Village
Secondary Plan. The proposed single
detached lots comply with the uses and density (17 to 37 uph or 6.9 to 14.9
upa) in the Urban Residential – Low Density designation (see Table A).
The
Official Plan indicates that the Hazard Land portion of the subject
property is identified as an Environmental Protection Area (valley land). The policies do not permit new development
adjacent to or encroaching upon lands identified as Environmental Protection
Areas that would have a detrimental impact on the ecological integrity of the
natural feature(s). The Official Plan
policies also require a minimum 10 metre environmental buffer adjacent to
valley lands (from the stable top of bank, predicted stable top of bank or from
the Regulatory Flood line, whichever is greater).
The
lands are zoned Agriculture One (A1) by By-law 304-87, as amended.
Applications previously submitted for
singles, semis and townhouses
An
application for Zoning By-law Amendment and Draft Plan of Subdivision approval
was submitted in December 1998. A large
portion of the property is valley land, generally as shown on Figure 5. The developable portion of the site includes
Low Density Residential lands adjacent to the west side of the proposed
extension of Stonebridge Drive, and Medium Density lands
adjacent to McCowan Road . The 1998 proposal was for 123 single detached
lots, 37 semi detached lots (74 units), 8 townhouse blocks (25 units), a storm
water management block, an open space buffer and valley lands.
The
applicant in 1998 proposed to fill a portion of the Regional Storm Flood
Plain. In support of the proposal, the
applicant submitted a report indicating the McCowan Road culvert was contributing
to the flood plain condition on the site and that the expansion of this culvert
would provide some relief. The TRCA
noted that the expansion of the culvert would have limited effect on changing
the area of flooding on the property and that the majority of the site would
still be flood susceptible. In addition,
the TRCA staff could only support minor changes to the flood fringe and could
not support the filling within the flood plain as proposed by the
applicant. The applicant was unable to
comply with the TRCA’s requirements and the 1998 applications did not proceed
to a report to Development Services or to a Public Meeting.
Revised proposal for single detached lots on
the west side of the proposed extension of Stonebridge Drive
The
applicant has revised the original 1998 applications and is requesting a Zoning
By-law Amendment and approval of a Draft Plan of Subdivision to permit 23
single detached lots and 3 residential part blocks located on the west side of
the proposed extension of Stonebridge Drive.
Due to the concerns from the TRCA, related to the associated valley
lands, the applicant is proposing to develop the Medium Density Residential
block adjacent to McCowan Road in a future phase.
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TABLE A
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RESIDENTIAL UNITS
|
HECTARES
|
ACRES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Single
Detached (min frontage – 13.7 m)
|
14
|
0.50
|
1.25
|
|
Single
Detached (min frontage – 12.2 m)
|
9
|
0.31
|
0.77
|
|
Residential
Part Blocks
|
3
|
0.12
|
0.30
|
|
Valley Lands and Future Development*
|
|
20.69
|
51.13
|
|
Gross
Site Area
|
|
22.76
|
56.25
|
|
Net
Site Area
|
|
0.943
ha
|
2.33
ac
|
|
Net
Site Density (Low Density lands only)
|
|
27.5
uph
|
11.1
upa
|
* Valley
land to be conveyed into public ownership has yet to be defined to the
satisfaction of the TRCA and the Town.
See Issues Section.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF APPROVAL OF THE
PROPOSAL:
Some of the anticipated benefits of the proposal, should the applicant
resolve the issues outlined in this report include:
·
Provision of valley lands and conveyance into
public ownership
·
Lotting and road pattern shown to date is in
keeping with the Berczy Village Secondary Plan
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
Proposed plan does not have
water allocation
The proposed plan of subdivision
currently does not have a water allocation and draft approval will not be
recommended until there is an assignment of water allocation for this plan from
the Trustee for the Berczy Village Developers Group.
Public Meeting should not be scheduled until valley land is delineated
on the draft plan
The definition of the valley lands
and environmental buffer of the minor tributary of the Rouge River has not yet been resolved. The applicant’s previous 1998 applications
involved proposed filling within the flood plain on the east side of the Rouge
River Valley Lands in order to accommodate the residential development adjacent
to McCowan Road, which was not approved by the TRCA. The TRCA has an interest in conserving,
maintaining and enhancing lands within valley and stream corridors (the
Regional Storm Flood Plain or stable top of bank, plus 10 metres inland) and is
of the opinion that the restoration of these lands is most efficiently
facilitated when they are in public ownership.
It is standard Town practice to
ensure, through conditions of draft approval, conveyance of valley land into
public ownership at the earliest possible date.
The applicant is not proposing to
go forward with the Medium Density Residential lands adjacent to McCowan Road at this time and has requested that the east limit of
the valley land be delineated when those lands are developed at a later date.
While staff have
no concerns related to the proposed residential lots adjacent to the extension
of Stonebridge
Drive, we are
concerned that conveyance of the valley land into public ownership may be
delayed indefinitely. A Public Meeting
should not be scheduled until the valley land has been delineated on the draft
plan to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Development Services. Town staff would welcome further discussions
with the applicant and the TRCA in regard to securing the valley lands at the
earliest possible date.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
There are no financial matters to
be considered at this time.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The
applications have been circulated to the Toronto and
Region Conservation Authority. Their
concerns are noted in this report and should these applications be approved,
their conditions will be incorporated into the Zoning By-law Amendment and
conditions of draft approval.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The applications have been
circulated to the Town Departments and agencies for review and comment. All conditions and requirements received will
be addressed and incorporated in the recommendation report.
CONCLUSION:
In light of the concern noted in
this report by the TRCA, Planning staff recommends that the applications by
El-En Realty Limited be scheduled for a Public Meeting once the valley is
delineated and incorporated into the draft plan. As a condition of any draft approval, the
valley land should be secured and conveyed to the Town.
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|
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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
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DOCUMENT #:Q:\Development\Planning\APPL\ZONING\98 229081 El En Realty Ltd Phase
1\dsc0323 preliminary report.doc
ATTACHMENTS: Figure 1 –
Applicant/Agent and Location Map
Figure
2 – Area Context and Zoning
Figure
3 – Air Photo
Figure
4 – Proposed Draft Plan
Figure
5 – Official Plan
APPLICANT/AGENT: KLM Planning
Partners Inc.
Attn: James Kennedy
64 Jardin Drive, Unit 1B
Concord, ON
L4K
3P3
Tel: (905) 669-4055
Fax: (905) 669-0097
