July 10, 1998
To:East York Community Council
From:Richard Z. Tomaszewicz
Commissioner of Development Services
East York Office
Subject:Application for Official Plan and
Zoning By-law Amendments
Threegees Development Corporation
11 Curity Avenue
East York By-law No. 6752
Purpose:
This is a report to the July 22, 1998 meeting of the East York Community Council. Its
purpose is to provide Council with Staff recommendations on an Official Plan amendment
and a rezoning applications by Three gees Development Corporation for 11 Curity Avenue.
The applicants propose to develop this 0.93 hectare site with an up to 2 000.0 m2 (21,530 sq.
ft.) single storey mixed use commercial-industrial building that would incorporate a mix of
light industrial, office, and specified retail, and service commercial uses.
Source of Funds:
There are no financial implications.
Recommendation:
It is recommended that City Council:
1.Approve the applications by Bousfield, Dale-Harris, Cutler and Smith Inc., on behalf of
Threegees Development Corp., to develop the premises at 11 Curity Avenue with a mixed
commercial industrial building intended for light industrial, retail commercial, office and
restaurant businesses; and
that this approval be affected by:
1)amending the East York Official Plan to redesignate this site from "Light Industrial" to "
Industrial Special Purpose Commercial Site Specific" designation; and,
2)amending Zoning By-law 6752 to rezone the site from "High Performance Industrial" to
"Mixed Commercial-Industrial - Site Specific" zoning.
Background:
Introduction:
Information pertaining to this application is contained in Staff's preview report dated June
1, 1998, which is attached to this report as Appendix # 1. It was prepared as an information
item for the June 15, 1998 Preview Meeting for this application.
Proposal:
Threegees Development Corporation are the owners of a vacant parcel of land at 11 Curity
Avenue. They have applied for a site specific Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendment
to permit the development of this property with a maximum size of 2 000.00 m2 mixed
commercial industrial building. They want to use the building for light industrial, restaurant,
offices and service commercial businesses.
Official Plan:
The existing Official Plan designates the property "Light Industrial ". This designation
allows primarily manufacturing , warehousing and similar such uses. Uses such as retail
sales or fast food restaurants are specifically excluded, and require Council`s approval of an
Official Plan amendment.
Zoning By-law:
The East York Zoning By-law 6752 zones the property "High Performance Industrial - HPI
Zone". It does not permit either restaurant, office or retail uses.
Comments Received From the Public During the June 24, 1998, Preview Meeting :
Because this site is located directly across the street from a residential area along Northdale
Boulevard, Staff held a preview meeting to give these residents and others an opportunity to
provide their input. Approximately 10 members of the public attended that Preview
Meeting. Comments expressed by those in attendance can be summarized as follows.
- traffic infiltration into the existing residential neighbourhood and particularly Northdale
Boulevard will be increased. The municipality should prevent this by making Northdale
Boulevard into a one-way street;
- the site and building design should be strictly controlled so as to minimize noise, and
light infiltration and ensure proper screening, and landscaping;
- garbage storage facilities should be located away from any residences;
- restaurants should not be allowed in proximity to residential neighbourhoods because
their hours of operation (i.e. late night closing) will disrupt the resident`s peace;
- can the municipality control hours of operation of the building's occupants;
- the fence between the property and Northdale Boulevard should be an extension of the
existing fence build by Home Depot; and,
- any entrances to the site and parking facilities should be restricted to either Cranfield
Road or Curity Avenue.
Staff Comments:
Traffic Impact:
The concerns regarding traffic have been reviewed by the City`s engineer. He indicates that
Transportation Division staff are currently in the process of obtaining a traffic count on
Northdale Boulevard. The result of this count will determine the number and origin of cars
traversing Northdale Boulevard, and, if need be, will enable the engineers to suggest an
appropriate response. This information will be available at the public meeting. Otherwise,
the engineer has advised us that the industrial area's road network has sufficient capacity to
accommodate any traffic generated by the proposed uses.
Location and Design of Site Facilities:
As per our previous advice, information on the exact location of the various required site
facilities, like garbage storage enclosures, loading areas and light fixtures is not as yet
available. This is because the applicant has chosen not to submit a concurrent Site Plan
Approval application. It would have enabled us to ensure that the project`s design responds
to the public's concerns. Nevertheless, we have attempted to restrict these facilities and
thereby mitigate their impact via the Official Plan amendment and the implementing Zoning
B-law. Thus the draft Official Plan Amendment (see Appendix #2) is structured to
incorporate restrictions on the location and the siting of these various facilities. The Zoning
By-law, likewise, will reinforces these measures by mandating features such as fences and
restricting the location of any potentially incompatible facilities - including vehicular
entrances and parking and loading areas from the southerly area of the site adjacent to
Northdale Boulevard. Staff are confident that these various measures will enable us to
ensure that the eventual design of this development provides an appropriate level of
protection.
Prohibition on Restaurants and Restrictions on this and Other Uses Hours of Operation :
Staff do not recommend a blanket restriction on all restaurants. Instead we have restricted
drive-in and drive-through restaurants and any outdoor food consumption areas associated
with restaurants. With respect to hours of operation we do not have the ability to restrict
them through zoning.
As promised at the Preview Meeting , Planning Staff contacted the municipal By-law
Enforcement Section and the Clerk's Department to ascertain whether there are any other
municipal by-laws to regulate business closings. They both indicated that the only business
whose hours of operation are currently restricted by by-law are gas stations. We have also
reviewed the municipality's noise by-law. It does not address the types of concern identified
by the public.
Nevertheless, we are confidant that the various restrictions on the type of restaurants and on
the location of facilities like loading and parking will effectively remove the concerns about
noise expressed by various members of the public.
Conclusion:
In accordance with the provisions of the Planning Act, a copy of the proposed amendment
to the municipal Official Plan, must be available at the public meeting. A copy of this
document, demonstrating how the Official Plan would be amended and the policies included
therein to address the various public concerns is attached as Appendix #2 to this report. The
draft Zoning By-law amendment is likewise available and can be obtained from staff on
request.
Contact Name:
Jean Besz,
Senior Planner East York District Office
(416) 778-2045-tel no.
(416) 466-9877-fax
planning@borough.eastyork.on.ca
Richard Z. Tomaszewicz
Commissioner of Development Services
East York Office
JB/jb
