RECOMMENDATION:
THAT
the report entitled “Application by Hydro One Networks Inc. for site
plan aproval for a new transformer statation
to be located on the north side of 14th Avenue, west of Warden Avenue
and South of Highway 407”, be received;
THAT the site plan application
to construct the Parkway Transformer Station in two phases, including two
relay buildings with gross floor areas of 506 m2 and
646 m2 in Phase 1 and
two transformers in each phase, be approved subject to the following conditions:
1. The Owner shall enter into a site plan agreement with the Town
containing standard provisions and all requirements of Town Departments and
external agencies, including any relevant requirements noted below;
2. Prior to the execution of site plan agreement, the Owner shall submit:
a. final drawings, and comply with all requirements of the Town and
authorized public agencies, to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of
Development Services;
b.
a detailed Landscape Plan, prepared by a Landscape Architect having
O.A.L.A membership, to the satisfaction and approval of the Director of Planning and Urban Design;
c.
an updated tree inventory and preservation plan to the satisfaction of
the Director of Planning and Urban Design; and
d. site servicing drawings, grading
drawings, municipal connections design, a stormwater management design brief,
and detailed chamber plans for the gravelled yard and containment area. Drawings are to be prepared by a Professional
Engineer with a Certificate of Authorization from P.O.E to the satisfaction of
the Director of Engineering;
4.3. The Owner shall ensure the Town’s trunk sanitary sewer currently
crossing the site is adequately protected and accessible during all phases of
the construction. The Owner shall be
responsible for all associated costs in the event that the existing manholes
need to be raised. The design of the site
grading and servicing shall also ensure that long-term maintenance access to
the sewer manholes is provided to the satisfaction of the Director of Engineering;
5.4. The Owner shall convey to the Town, free of
costs and encumbrances, new easements for access and maintenance of the new
stormwater management ponds and drainage channels. Prior to the existing Town easements within the area to be
gravelled and fenced to accommodate the transformers being released, the
replacement and new easements shall be in place to the satisfaction of the
Director of Engineering;
5. Prior to the release of the existing Town easements within the
area to be gravelled and fenced to accommodate the transformers, the Owner
shall enter into an agreement with the Town to provide for any appropriate
public park/open space arrangements compatible with the electrical facilities
on the lands, and to construct public pathways therein, all at no cost to the
Town, to the satisfaction of the Director of Planning and Urban Design;
6. The Owner shall
convey to the Town, free of costs and encumbrances, the land required for the
right-of-way of future Miller Avenue extension in the location
determined by the Class Environmental Assessment. Hydro One further agrees that this
conveyance will be completed within 6 months of receipt of written notice from
the Town that the Environmental Assessment has been completed and that land
conveyance is required;
7. The Owner shall obtain all necessary
permits from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the Ministry of
Natural Resources;
8. The Owner shall obtain comments from and satisfy any requirements of the Canadian
National Railway with regard to drainage, grading and setback requirements;
9. The Owner shall
make arrangements with the Town to install any service connections within the
Town’s right-of-way or easement as determined by the Director of Engineering. The Owner shall use a Town approved
contractor prior to commencement of such work;
10. The Owner shall
route the transmission lines from the Parkway Transformer Station to the
Richmond Hill Transformer Station along the north side of the existing Hydro
Corridor;
7.11. The proposed site entrance
from Rodick Road shall be aligned with the existing Miller Avenue to form a 90 degree four
leg intersection and the entrance must be constructed to Town standards within
the municipal road allowance.
THAT the Owner
shall obtain any necessary approvals and permits from the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans, Ministry of Natural Resources, Toronto and Region
Conservation Authority and any other relevant agencies, as applicable to each
phase of this development.
THAT the Director of Planning and Urban Design be authorized to request the Region of York to modify OPA No. 112 to
reflect the proposed uses of the Hydro One lands;
AND THAT the Council resolution of 26 June 2003, which requested the Ministry of Municipal Affairs
and Housing to amend the Parkway Belt West Plan and the Minister’s Zoning Order
(O.Reg. 473/73) to delete lands within OPA No. 112, be modified to exclude the Hydro lands as appropriate.
PURPOSE:
This report provides background information and recommends site plan
approval, subject to conditions, for a proposed transformer station (Parkway
TS) located on the north side of 14th Avenue, west of Warden Avenue and south of Highway 407. The
report also addresses communication with the Region of York and the Ministry of
Municipal Affairs with regard to the Hydro One lands as it relates to OPA No.
112.
BACKGROUND:
Hydro One is a business corporation owned by the province of Ontario
Hydro One is a business corporation which is fully owned by the province of Ontario. Hydro One
representatives have agreed to comply with municipal
requirements arising from the site plan approval process, and to enter into any
necessary agreements. They have also
indicated that they intend to file all appropriate building permit applications
related to the facility.
Subject Property
This
69 ha (170.5 acres) site is located on the north side of 14th Avenue, west of Warden Avenue and south of Highway 407 (See Figure 1 and Figure 3). An existing east-west hydro corridor
traverses the north portion of the property and a north-south hydro corridor
crosses the northwest corner of the property.
The site consists predominantly of open meadow and is currently vacant,
with the exception of hydro transmission lines and associated towers within the
existing hydro corridors on the lands and a 1.6 ha. fenced
dog leash free area at the northwest corner of the
site which is leased and operated by the Town.
There
are two main watercourses, the west and east tributaries, flowing from south to
north through the site, converging to become the South Beaver Creek Tributary,
which crosses Highway 407 and enters Beaver Creek, a tributary of the Rouge
River. Both these tributaries exist for
the most part as man-made channels with little or no meander. The west tributary has been designed with
in-stream stormwater retention capabilities to serve certain industrial lands
on the south side of 14th
Avenue. There is also a third minor tributary
branching off the west tributary and flowing west which is to be designed to
accommodate certain stormwater management
functions. All of these water courses
are identified as valleylands on Schedule ‘I’,
‘Environmental Protection Areas’ as modified by OPA No.112.
The
site also features a number of tree covered areas and hedgerows which are also
identified on Schedule ‘I’, as modified by OPA No.112., as ‘Woodlots and other
significant vegetation communities’ and ‘Hedgerows’.
Adjacent Land Uses
To the north of the subject property is Highway 407. Along the south side of Highway 407 lands
are protected for the proposed 407 transitway and the associated Warden Avenue transitway station as well as the future Miller Avenue extension as discussed later in this report. Immediately east is Warden Avenue and CN Railway track, beyond which are
industrial/commercial buildings. South,
across 14th
Avenue, are
commercial/industrial buildings. To the
west is an existing north/south hydro corridor which crosses the northwest
corner of the property. Located further
west are a concrete manufacturing plant and other industrial buildings (See
Figures 2 & 3).
Proposal is to construct a new transformer station and
transmission lines
The proposed transmission facilities are comprised of a new transformer
station (“Parkway TS”), including two transformers, and a new transmission
line. The transformer station will
accommodate extensive gravelled yards (approximately 24 ha.) as well as two
relay buildings with gross floor areas of 506 m2 and 646 m2, respectively (See Figure 4 & 5). The new 6.5 km transmission line will
connect Parkway TS to the existing Richmond Hill TS, located northwest of
Highway 7 and Bayview Avenue, and is to be routed along the north side of the existing hydro
corridor.
To accommodate the footprint for the new transformer station, the
existing tributaries that traverse the site will be realigned in two
stages. The first stage includes
relocating the west tributary further west. This relocated tributary will be
designed to serve stormwater management functions. The east tributary will also be temporally
diverted around the northeast corner of the station footprint. It is Hydro One’s intent to complete the
relocation of both of these tributaries by March 31, 2004, subject to satisfying the requirements of the TRCA,
M.N.R and the Federal Department of Fisheries (DFO).
Hydro One has agreed to construct a new stormwater management pond by
September 2004, on the east side of the property between the gravelled yard and
the CN Railway tracks. This pond will
serve a large portion of the industrial area on the south side of 14th Avenue. Also by
September 2004, the east tributary is to be permanently relocated, and designed
as a meandering creek, out flowing from the new stormwater management pond to
the west creek. The proposed natural / meandering design of this watercourse is
a requirement of the D.F.O., the M.N.R. and the TRCA, to compensate for the
potential loss of fish habitat in the west and east tributaries resulting from
the channel works. The alignment of this
watercourse, as shown in Figure 6, will have to be modified to accommodate the
future transitway and Miller Avenue extensions.
There
will be two vehicular access points into this site. The primary access will be off of 14th Avenue and a second access will be constructed off the Rodick Road / Miller Avenue intersection (to be used for emergency
purposes). During construction, the 14th Avenue access will be used by construction workers, while
the Rodick Road access will be use to bring in heavy equipment. In addition, some of the heavy equipment such
as the transformers are intended to be brought to the
site directly from the CN Railway track along the east side of the property.
Hydro
One will provide 4 parking spaces along the south side of the 230 kV relay
building for Hydro operations personnel.
First phase of the Parkway TS is proposed at this time.
There are two phases proposed for the
new transformation station site. The
first phase includes two transformers, the first of which will be energized by
April 2005 and the second will be functional by 2006. Also, part of the first phase will be the
construction of two relay buildings. The second phase will consist of two
additional transformers and is expected to be installed by 2012. No new buildings are proposed as part of the
second phase. The transformers in the
second phase will be located within the currently proposed gravelled area and
in close proximity to the transformers in the first phase.
Need for a new Transformer Station
The 10-year Outlook Report by the Independent Electricity Market
Operator identified emerging constraints that will affect the reliability of
electricity supply to portions of the GTA.
Hydro One has determined that the proposed transformer station is
required to meet the rapid growth in electricity demand in the area. The new line is required to provided adequate supply capacity as the existing circuits
are reaching their limits. The proposed
location for Parkway TS represents a “natural hub”, as the 230 kV transmission
lines running north/south and east/west in the area intersect at this
site. In addition, the schedule to
construct the proposed Parkway TS was advanced to accommodate the planned
shutdown of the Lakeview Generating Station which uses coal to generate
electricity and which is scheduled to cease operation at the end of April
2005. To ensure the reliability of long
term electricity supply in the GTA area and to urgently address supply
requirements in 2005 resulting from the retirement of Lakeview Generating
Station the construction of the new transformer station at this time is
considered essential by Hydro One.
Hydro One Networks Inc. has received approval from the OEB
to construct Parkway TS
On December 23, 2003,
Ontario Energy Board (OEB) approved an application by Hydro One Networks Inc.
requesting exemption from the requirements of Section 92 of the Ontario
Energy Board Act, for the construction of the Parkway Transformer
Station. Section 92 of Ontario Energy
Board Act, would have required Hydro One to go through a more extensive
public process to obtain the necessary permission to construct the proposed
facilities. Given the urgency to
construct the proposed Transformer Station, as a result of the closing of the Lakeview Generation Station, the OEB exercised
its powers under the Act to grant Hydro One the said exemption.
The exemption
granted by the OEB is subject to a number of conditions including that the
exemption authorized by the Board shall expire by March 31, 2004, unless construction
of the project has commenced prior to then, and that Hydro One shall obtain all
necessary easement rights prior to commencement of construction.
OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:
Official Plan
The
Official Plan designates the site as “Parkway Belt West”. The development of lands within this
designation is governed by The Parkway Belt West Plan (PBWP), which supersedes
the Town’s Official Plan policies.
Section 2.2.2.5 ii) of the Official Plan states that “A future transformer
station is proposed by Ontario Hydro on its lands north of 14th
Avenue and west of Warden Avenue. The
Town supports opportunities for naturalized planting and will work with Ontario
Hydro to ensure natural areas and communities are incorporated upon
construction of the future station.” As
part of their development, Hydro One is proposing an extensive landscaping
treatment on surplus lands. As discussed
later in this report, these lands could be made available for use as public
open space.
More
recently, the subject lands were included in OPA No. 112, adopted by Council in
June 2003. The Amendment proposed a redesignation of the lands in the Official
Plan from Parkway Belt West to Industrial, in support of an earlier request to
the Province to delete the lands from the designated area of the PBWP and the
Minister’s Zoning Order to permit its development for business park purposes.
This proposal was intended to increase the limited supply of land within the
Town available to accommodate growth in business park employment in the short term.
Hydro
One has now made it clear that it does not support the
removal of the lands from the PBWP and that none of the lands will be available
for business park use. On January 20, 2004, staff advised the
Development Services Committee that in view of the Hydro One position it would
be appropriate to request the Region to modify OPA No. 112, to not amend the
Parkway Belt West designation as originally proposed in the Amendment. It would be appropriate to also request the Ministry of Municipal Affairs
to exclude the Hydro One lands from the earlier request to amend the Parkway Belt West Plan and the Minister’s Zoning
Order. Resolutions to this effect are
included in the recommendation section.
Zoning
The
southerly half of the site is zoned Rural Industrial (M4) under Zoning By-law
2402, as amended. The northerly half of
the site is zoned Open Space One (O1) and Agriculture One (A1) under by-law
304-87, as amended. However, the entire
site is subject to the Minister’s Zoning Order (Parkway Belt), which supersedes
the Town’s Zoning By-laws.
Public Open House held in
November 2003
On November 25, 2003, Hydro One hosted a public open house to provide information about the
project and to collect feedback from local residents and other interested
stakeholders. The public open house was
held at St. Robert Catholic High School.
Ads where placed in the Markham Economist, Toronto Star and Richmond
Hill/Thornhill Liberal. A total of 5340
notices were delivered to residents and owners of commercial properties located
along the Hydro One right of way between Warden Avenue and Richmond Hill. Approximately 35 local residents attended
the public open house and 17 comment forms were filled in. Hydro One also received a number of comments
following the open house. The following
are the key issues/comments raised by the public regarding the transformer
station and transmission lines:
- The residents favoured the northern route
option for the new transmission line.
- Residents were in favour of steel pole
towers, instead of lattice pole towers.
- Concerns regarding potential impact on
property values and quality of life were raised.
With
respect to the first two bullet points above, Hydro One has indicated that
their decision to route the transmission line along the north side of the hydro
corridor, as far away from the residential properties as possible, was in
response to public comments and that they will be using the more aesthetically
pleasing steel pole towers favoured by the residents wherever possible. Lattice pole towers will be necessary
wherever a turn in the transmission line is required. Attached in Appendix ‘A’ is a table prepared
by Hydro One summarizing all the issues raised by the public and other
stakeholders, including the concerns regarding property values and quality of
life, and Hydro One’s responses to the public concerns / comments.
Lands required for the Miller Road
extension will be conveyed to the Town following E.A.
The Town’s long term infrastructure plans include a new minor collector
roadway extending easterly from Rodick Road, across the Hydro One
Networks lands, to cross under Warden Avenue and connect to the future Birchmount Road extension. The final
alignment of this road will be determined through a Municipal Class
Environmental Assessment tentatively scheduled to be undertaken by the Town in
2006. However, it is envisioned that the
road will form an easterly extension of Miller Avenue and will generally lie
along the south side of the proposed Highway 407 transitway
corridor across the Hydro One property.
As part of this site plan approval Hydro One has agreed to convey to the
Town the land required for the right-of-way of Miller Avenue extension. Hydro One is to complete such conveyance
within six (6) months of receipt of written notice from the Town that the
Environmental Assessment has been completed and that the road right-of-way
conveyance is required. A provision to
this effect will be included in the site plan control agreement.
Rodick Road Site
Entrance to be aligned with Miller
Avenue
Hydro One has indicated that an access to the site
will be provided from Rodick Road in the vicinity of the
existing Miller Avenue intersection. The Town is
currently undertaking the construction of the Rodick Road extension across Highway
407, which will significantly increase traffic volumes in the area of this
entrance. To ensure the safe and efficient
movement of traffic through this area, the proposed Hydro One entrance will be
required to align with the existing Miller Avenue to form a 90 degree four
leg intersection.
As noted above
the existing east and west tributaries require relocation to accommodate the
gravelled area for the transformer station.
The Town has existing easements over these tributaries for maintenance
and access purposes related to stormwater management facilities. These easements must be relocated in
consultation with the Town, and allow for ongoing access by municipal
maintenance vehicles. As a condition of
site plan approval, Hydro One will be required to replace the existing
easements with new easements to the satisfaction of the Director of Engineering. It should be noted that new easements for
maintenance and access purposes will also be required over the new east stormwater
management pond as well as east-west tributary at the northwest corner of the
site which, as noted above, also serves certain stormwater
management functions.
Extensive
landscaping is proposed
To accommodate the Transformer Station and the necessary realignment of
the tributaries, a significant amount of existing vegetation will be
removed. Hydro One is proposing an
extensive landscaping treatment to replace the lost vegetation and to mitigate the visual impacts
of the transformer station and the hydro poles.
The following landscaping measures are proposed:
- 25 meter wide streetscape buffer including a minimum 2 metre high berm along 14th
Avenue with a mix of deciduous shrubs and trees and
evergreen trees.
- Upgraded fencing along the 14th
Avenue frontage may be provided should the
streetscape buffer be insufficient to screen the operation area form the
street. The need to have upgraded
fencing will be determined prior to finalization of the landscape plans.
- To the east of the gravel yard a woodland succession regeneration
area or an ‘ecological park’ is proposed. The woodland succession is
to offset loss in tree cover due to the installation of the Hydro One facility and assist in
naturalization of the new man-made stormwater management pond
system. Native seedlings mixed with larger caliper material will be
used to create the woodland succession planting areas and for fisheries
habitat enhancement. This area will
also function as a wild life habitat.
- Along the Warden Avenue frontage a linear
screen is proposed consisting of larger caliper salt tolerant trees along
the middle and bottom of the Warden Avenue side slopes.
Planting in this area will be subject to York Region approval.
- A mix of continuous large caliper deciduous and
evergreen trees are expected to be utilized to provide some screening of the Hydro
facilities from Highway 407. The
location of such screening will be determined having regard for the
proposed transitway and Miller Avenue extension
right-of-ways.
- In the northwest area of the site an orchard and prairie landscape
is proposed consisting of mainly small to medium sized deciduous trees.
- The existing pine plantation will be retained wherever possible
around the relocated stormwater management pond. As well, the relocated stormwater
management pond will be restored and regenerated to previous and/or better
conditions with riparian planting.
- Preserve the existing mature vegetation wherever feasible.
As stated above, two relay buildings are to be constructed within the
gravelled yard. The proposed buildings
are single storey in height and will have masonry (brick) exterior with metal
doors. The closest building to a public
road right-of-way will be approximately 125 m (410 ft.) away. Due to the distance and landscape buffering
around the site the buildings are not expected to have high visibility from any
public roads/highways and are considered
acceptable.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
No
financial implications at this time.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The Toronto and Region
Conservation Authority (TRCA) has reviewed the site plan application and
advised that the project could achieve environmental and stormwater
management gains to the Rouge River if conducted properly.
Therefore, the TRCA has indicated that they have no objection to site
plan approval, subject to the applicant receiving all necessary permits from
the TRCA. The TRCA has advised that they
will work with the applicant to review the necessary drawings during the
various stages of construction to provide permits as appropriate. The TRCA has
further advised that they will also coordinate with the DFO to facilitate the
provision of a letter of authorization for the project.
TRCA has
verbally advised that the applicant is proceeding to deal directly with the MNR
to satisfy their requirements.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
This
application was circulated to all Town departments and external agencies, and
their conditions and comments have been included into the report. Further discussions will occur with the Parks
Operations unit of the Community Services Commission in regard to the proposed
‘park licence’ arrangements.
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Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Director of Planning & Urban Design
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Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Commissioner of Development Services
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ATTACHMENTS: Figure 1 – Location Map
Figure
2 – Area Context and Zoning
Figure
3 – Aerial Photo
Figure
4 – Site Plan
Figure
5 – Elevation
Figure
6 – Landscape Plan
Appendix
‘A’ – Issues Identified by Hydro One
Appendix
‘B’ – Consultant’s Letter and Hydro One’s Response
OWNER: Lake Singh
Hydro
One Networks Inc.
483 Bay Street, South Tower, 8th Floor
Toronto ON M5G 2P5
Tel: 416-345-6252
Cell: 647-224-6252
Fax: 416-345-5424
Figure 1
