(Report May 5, 1998, addressed to North York Community Council, from the Acting Commissioner of Planning.)
Subject:PRELIMINARY REPORT OFFICIAL PLAN AND ZONING AMENDMENT APPLICATION, Michael
A. Cohen, 619 Lawrence Avenue West, Part of Lot 215, Plan 2049, Ward 8 - North York Spadina, UDOZ-98-07
Purpose:
The purpose of this report is to evaluate an application to amend the official plan and zoning by-law to permit
professional medical offices and a basement apartment within the existing one storey single family dwelling.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1)this application be refused.
Background:
Proposal:
The applicant is requesting amendments to the Official Plan and Zoning By-law to recognize both the existing
medical offices on the main level and the basement apartment within the existing dwelling. There is no new
construction associated with this proposal (refer to schedule AC@).
The pertinent site statistics of the current proposal are as follows:
| Lot Area |
448m5 |
| Gross Floor Area (GFA)
- proposed offices
- basement apartment
Total GFA |
100m5
97m5
197m5 |
| Proposed Parking |
5 |
Official Plan
The site is designated Residential Density One (RD1) which primarily permits single family and semi-detached
dwellings. The Official Plan policies would support a redesignation to commercial uses where the lot is within a
Residential Community, located on a major arterial road and grouped with existing commercial designations;
where development meets the Compatibility Criteria set out in Part C.5, Section 2.6.0 of the Official Plan and
where the use does not jeopardize the stability of nearby residentially designated lands.
Zoning By-law
The property is zoned R4 which permits single family dwellings. A zoning by-law amendment is required for this
proposal (refer to schedule AB@).
Discussion:
The proposal does not meet the Official Plan=s criteria for the creation of new commercially designated lands.
Although the site is included within the Englemount Neighbourhood and is located on an arterial road, the property
is not grouped with other commercial uses. In addition, the redesignation of this site would jeopardize the stability
of the nearby residentially designated lands along the south side of Lawrence Avenue. The introduction of
commercial uses will set a precedent for further changes to the remaining stable single family homes along
Lawrence Avenue.
The south side of Lawrence Avenue consists of well maintained single family residential homes for three City
blocks between the Bathurst Street Sub-Centre and the Allen Road Arterial Corridor Area designations. There is no
evidence of decline in the area and there are no recent applications in the nearby vicinity requesting any
redevelopment. On the north side of Lawrence Avenue, there are Arterial Corridor Area designations which permit
mixed use development generally at a density of 2.0 FSI. However, a major portion of these lands are occupied
with Bathurst Heights Secondary School which is not likely to redevelop in the near future.
It is not appropriate at this time to consider a change in the single family nature of the south side of Lawrence
Avenue. There are many opportunities for the commercial uses to be located in Commercially or Arterial Corridor
designated areas.
There are no City Wide Issues associated with this application.
Conclusions:
The introduction of commercial offices on the south side of Lawrence Avenue, between Allen Road and Bathurst
Street, by way of redesignation of the lands to Commercial is inconsistent with surrounding land uses. This area is
characterized as a stable residential area. Given the single family dwellings are well kept and there is no evidence
of decline in the area, applications for mixed use developments are inappropriate at this time.
Contact Name:
Anthony Rossi, Planner
Phone: 395-7114Facsimile: 395-7155
Bryan Tuckey
Acting Commissioner of Planning
(Copies of Schedules A: Official Plan designations, B: Zoning By-law categories and C: Site Plan, are on file in
the office of the City Clerk.)
