June 30, 1998
To:Scarborough Community Council
From:Lorne Ross, MCIP, RPP
Commissioner of Planning and Buildings
Subject:Zoning By-law Amendment Application Z97058
2351 Kennedy Road Incorporated
2351 Kennedy Road
Part of Lot 28, Concession 3
Agincourt Centre Community
Scarborough Agincourt
Purpose:
This report presents recommendations to amend the Tam O'Shanter Community Zoning
By-law for the lands located on the east side of Kennedy Road, north of Sheppard Avenue
East from Highway Commercial (HC) to Residential/Employment (RE) to permit a three
storey building containing 78 residential dwelling units, 27 of which will contain a
commercial component on the ground floor (live/work units). The commercial uses will be
limited to offices, financial institutions, retail stores, personal service shops, service shops
and agencies, studios, educational uses, and day nurseries.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that Council:
(A) Zoning By-law:
amend the Tam O'Shanter Community Zoning By-law Number 12360, as amended, with
respect to 2351 Kennedy Road, being Part of Lot 28, Concession 3, by deleting the current
Highway Commercial (HC) zoning and introducing a Residential/Employment (RE) Zone in
the Tam O'Shanter Community as follows:
(1)Permitted Uses: Residential dwelling units and Residential/Employment Units;
Residential/Employment Units means a dwelling unit which may be combined with one or
more of the following non-residential uses:
(a)offices;
(b)financial institutions;
(c)retail stores (excluding food preparation and excluding food consumption on site);
(d)personal service shops;
(e)service shops and agencies (excluding auto-related service shops);
(f)studios;
(g)educational facilities;
(h)day nurseries;
occupied and operated by one or more persons residing in the dwelling unit;
(2)maximum 78 residential dwelling units including a maximum of 27 ground floor related
Residential/Employment Units;
(3)maximum of 93 m² (1000 square feet) gross floor area of non-residential uses, shall be
delineated and separated from the dwelling unit by solid partition walls and limited to the
ground floor, may be combined within each Residential/Employment Unit;
(4)maximum total gross floor area of non-residential uses 930 m² (10,000 square feet);
(5)minimum 1 m² (11 square feet) of indoor recreational floor space per dwelling unit;
(6)minimum building setback 3 metres (10 feet) from the street line, excluding decorative
entrance features which may project into the minimum required setback;
(7)maximum number of storeys, excluding parking levels, chimneys, skylights, vents,
antennae, elevator machine rooms, rooftop mechanical equipment and penthouse, and
parapet walls: 3 storeys;
8.Clause VI-Provisions for all Zones, Sub-Clause 6, Coverage, shall not apply.
9.Minimum parking requirements:
a)1.2 parking spaces per dwelling unit, of which 0.2 spaces per dwelling unit shall be
reserved for visitors.
b)The greater of :
2.4 parking spaces per Residential/Employment Unit, of which 1.4 spaces per
Residential/Employment Unit shall be reserved for visitors, or
1 parking space per Residential/Employment Unit plus 4 spaces per 100 m² (1076 square
feet) gross floor area of non-residential uses within each Residential/Employment Unit.
B.Matters Under Section 42 of The Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990.
That Council enact a By-law under the provisions of Section 42(3) of the Planning Act,
R.S.O. 1990, to require that parkland or cash in lieu be conveyed at the of rate of 1 hectare
for every 300 dwelling units.
C.That Council authorize such unsubstantive technical, stylistic or format changes to the
Zoning By-law amendment as may be required to properly carry out the intent of this
resolution.
Background:
1.Site Statistics
Site Area:0.53 ha (1.3 acres)
Frontage : 56.4 m (185 feet)
Number of dwelling units proposed:78 (including 27 live/work units)
Total gross floor area of commercial component:930 m² (10,000 square feet)
Total floor area of recreation room: 83 m² (887 square feet)
Total gross floor area of project:6315 m² (68, 000 square feet)
Proposed Residential density:150 units per hectare (60 units per acre)
Proposed intensity of development:1.2 times the site area
Proposed parking:126 spaces including 48 visitor spaces
Dwelling unit sizes: 48 m² (511 square feet) to 112 m² (1200 square feet)*
Commercial component sizes:26 m² (276 square feet) to 45 m² (482 square feet)
* Includes commercial component
2.The subject lands contain a one-storey vacant restaurant building to be demolished.
Vehicular access to Kennedy Road is provided from one mutual driveway shared with the
adjacent commercial development to the south. There are several mature trees along the
north and east property lines. Surrounding uses include a 20 storey residential apartment
building to the north, a 5 storey office/commercial development to the south, Agincourt
Mall on the west side of Kennedy Road, and multiple family residential uses to the east
beyond the channelized west branch of the Highland Creek which backs onto the subject
lands.
Kennedy Road Elevation
3.The subject lands are designated Commercial Mixed Use providing for a variety of
residential, office, commercial, hotel and community facility uses. These uses may be
developed in separate buildings or in multi-use buildings or projects. The designation on the
subject lands provides for a pre-subway density of 1.2 times the site area for all the uses
combined. This includes High Density Residential providing for a density of up to 150 units
per hectare (60 units per acre). The current Highway Commercial (HC) zoning permits only
a restaurant (exclusive of drive-in and take-out service) with a maximum gross floor area of
930 m² (10,000 square feet). The lands are subject to Site Plan Control for which an
application has been submitted in support of the Zoning By-law amendment.
4.A Preliminary Evaluation Report was before Scarborough Community Council on
January 21, 1998 at which time it endorsed the processing of the application in the normal
manner, subject to the applicant submitting a Traffic Impact Study and Planning staff
convening a Community Information Meeting.
Comments:
1.The live/work concept has many variations across the City of Toronto and generally
consists of a dwelling unit in which a small component of floor area is devoted to business
use by the occupant(s) of the dwelling unit. There are no recently built examples of
live/work developments in the former municipality of Scarborough however two planned
developments will contain live/work units. The Mondeo development at Birchmount Road
and Ellesmere Avenue will contain live/work units along Birchmount Road. The Port Union
Village is another location where live/work dwelling units will be built in the Village
Common area along Port Union Road south of Lawrence Avenue.
View of Inside Courtyard
2.The application was circulated to various technical review agencies, none of which
expressed objections to the proposal. The Toronto District School Board advises that the
student yield from the proposed development and other developments in the area will create
accommodation pressures at the junior elementary level, and have indicated that alternative
accommodation arrangements will be required for these students. It is Planning staff's
understanding that alternative accommodation arrangements may include busing students
emanating from this development to a school which as capacity available such as Pauline
Johnson Public School. The Toronto Catholic School Board advises that students could be
accommodated in permanent facilities at St. Bartholomew and Mary Ward Catholic Schools.
3.A Community Information Meeting was held the evening of June 1, 1998 at Tam
O'Shanter Public School. Notice for this meeting was provided to all properties within 120
m (400 feet) of the subject property and to the Central Agincourt Community Association. A
letter was received by the City in response to the notice from Henry Tam of H. Tam and
Associates at 2347 Kennedy Road, Suite 500, objecting to the proposal for reasons of crime,
traffic, and lack of parking and poor management at 2347 Kennedy Road.
Six residents attended the meeting as well as local Councillors Doug Mahood and Sherene
Shaw. A number of concerns were raised including traffic operations in the vicinity of the
subject lands, parking, impact on existing trees along the north lot line, and loading
facilities.
Traffic and Parking
1.A Traffic Impact and Parking Study prepared by R.V. Anderson Associates Limited
concludes that the proposal will actually reduce the number of vehicle trips generated by the
site when compared to the existing restaurant zoning. The estimated total trips generated
during the weekday p.m. peak hour by the existing zoning is 163 trips compared to a total of
110 trips for the proposal. The proposed parking supply of 126 spaces was also reviewed
and found to be sufficient to meet the parking demands of the project.
2.Planning staff concur with the Traffic Impact and Parking Study. The proposal will
maintain the mutual driveway to Kennedy Road currently shared with the office/commercial
development to the south. Although it is difficult to make a left turn onto Kennedy Road
from the site, the frequency of left turns will be reduced when compared with the current
restaurant zoning. Concern was raised at the Community Meeting regarding the lack of gaps
available at the Sheppard access for the commercial development to the south. The concern
is that with continued shared access between the two properties, more vehicles will use the
congested Sheppard access. The applicant's traffic consultant is currently reviewing this
matter to determine if the on-site vehicle circulation pattern of the adjacent commercial
property can be improved.
3.The proposed mixed use nature of the proposal has a number of benefits which help to
reduce traffic and parking demands. The 27 live/work dwelling units will provide an
opportunity for a business and residence to be combined at the same location. This means
the occupant of the dwelling will not have to drive to work. The owner of the live/work unit
will have one reserved underground residential parking space as will every dwelling unit.
This frees up one space for customer parking which would ordinarily be used by the
business operator if he/she lived elsewhere.
There will be a common pool of 32 surface parking spaces available for customers of the
live/work units. The 16 residential visitor spaces in the underground parking garage will also
be available to customers. These spaces are not frequently used by visitors to the residential
dwelling units during the business day making shared parking desirable in this instance.
The mixed use nature of the project will result in residents of the project, as well as
residents and employees of adjacent properties, being customers to the live/work units,
thereby further reducing traffic and parking demands. The subject lands are also well located
on a major arterial road well served by TTC transit and a nearby GO Station is available for
commuters.
4.The recommended parking standard has been drafted to accommodate both the residential
dwelling units and the live/work units, as follows:
a)A total of 1.2 parking spaces will be required for each residential dwelling unit, of which
0.2 spaces per dwelling unit shall be reserved for visitors.
b)The greater of 2.4 parking spaces per live/work unit (of which 1.4 spaces per dwelling
unit shall be reserved for visitors), or 1 space per live/work unit plus 4 spaces per 100 m²
(1076 square feet) of commercial gross floor area will be required.
The parking standard for the live/work units has been drafted to ensure sufficient parking is
provided for the larger commercial component sizes. Based on the recommended parking
standard, a total of 126 spaces are required.
Siting and Landscaping
1.The proposal successfully implements the objectives of the Agincourt Centre Secondary
Plan which promotes an overall compact built form that maximizes building at grade and
provides a continuous built street edge. The proposed siting of the building close to the
street line will encourage a pedestrian oriented streetscape along this portion of Kennedy
Road. The decorative entrance feature will identify the walkway between Kennedy Road and
the internal courtyard of the project as well as provide a visual interest in the building
design. Deliveries to the commercial component will be undertaken in the courtyard which
faces south toward the existing commercial development. Garbage will be stored indoors in
two garbage storage rooms located in the underground garage and picked up from a loading
space at the south east corner of the proposed building.
2.Several trees along the north and east property line will have to be removed due to
construction of the building because the low-rise nature of the proposal results in a larger
property coverage. The existing trees along the north property line provide a privacy screen
for the residential apartment to the north. Residents at the Community Meeting expressed
concern that this privacy screen will be lost with the removal of the trees. The owner has
retained a landscape architect who has prepared a landscape plan to address this concern.
New trees will be planted along the north lot line and a solid wood fence will be constructed
to provide a visual screen. The details of the landscape plan can be worked out with
interested residents prior to final Site Plan Control approval.
3.The rear portion of the subject lands falls within the Highland Creek West Branch
preliminary flood line. The Agincourt Centre Secondary Plan stipulates that development
may be permitted within the area of the preliminary flood line, subject to approval by the
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and the City. The applicant has held
discussions with City and Authority staff in order to design the building consistent with the
requirements of the TRCA for developments partially within a flood plain. The proposal has
the following features and in this regard is acceptable to TRCA and City staff:
a)There is an opportunity to undertake restoration of the stream corridor because the
existing retaining wall along the east lot line will be removed and rebuilt further back from
the watercourse.
b)Flood storage can be maintained on the property and the proposed structure can be
adequately flood proofed.
c)The flood depths and velocities on the property at the site of the proposed structure are
small.
Prior to final Site Plan Control approval and issuance of a Building Permit, the owner will
fulfil a number of conditions of the TRCA including submission of a detailed landscape plan
indicating how the corridor is to be renaturalized with native woody plants, and providing
assurances that the structure will be flood proofed to the level of the Regional Storm Flood
Plain elevation.
Residential/Employment (RE) Zone
1.A Residential/Employment (RE) Zone is proposed to be introduced into the Tam
O'Shanter Community to accommodate the proposal. The zoning stipulates that the 'work'
component of the live/work unit must be occupied and operated by one or more persons
residing in the dwelling unit. Planning staff recognize that it may be difficult to enforce such
a provision because it is possible that someone may only choose to reside in the live/work
unit and lease out the 'work' component of the unit. There is a demand for live/work units.
This project will be marketed to individuals looking for space to live and work in. The
introduction of such projects will reduce the pressures on established residential
communities where there is constantly a demand to convert residential dwellings into
live/work units. It is anticipated that the owner will be applying for draft plan of
condominium approval for this project. Each live/work unit will be sold as one entire unit
which will have a connection between the live and work components.
2.The largest commercial component of the live/work units is approximately 45 m² (482
square feet). The owner has requested flexible zoning to enable larger commercial
components of up to 93 m² (1000 square feet) associated with one live/work unit. This will
enable the owner to market the live/work units to business persons looking for more
commercial space. For example someone may choose to purchase a live /work unit which
has a commercial component of 90 m² (964 square feet) gross floor area on the ground floor
and living space above half that commercial space. This means the second half of living
space above the commercial space would be constructed as a separate dwelling unit
unassociated with the live/work unit. If this flexibility is utilized, it may result in less
live/work units but it may diminish the possibility of working space spilling over into the
living space of the live/work units.
Planning staff recognize it may be difficult to delineate between the live and work space in
each unit. The layout of the units will be designed to accommodate the work space on the
ground floor. In most instances, this space will be accessible to the public and therefore our
inspectors can determine if there is spillover after reviewing the floor plan layout. In those
instances where the public do not have regular access to a live/work unit such as one used
for a private art studio, the inspector will not be able to enter the private residence to
determine if the work component spills over into the living space of the unit. However, in
such cases there may not be an enforcement issue because if the public is not regularly using
this business, there will be little traffic or parking demands generated by the unit.
3.The Agincourt Centre Secondary Plan contains a Policy which requires the alternative
parkland contribution of 1 hectare per 300 units which can be satisfied via cash-in-lieu of
land. To utilize this Official Plan policy, I am recommending Council enact a By-law under
the provisions of Section 42(3) of the Planning Act.
Conclusions:
The proposed 3 storey, 78 unit residential development containing 27 live/work units is a
unique opportunity for a quality project that will merge with surrounding developments in a
compatible manner. The proposal implements the vision established by the Agincourt Centre
Secondary Plan to create a vibrant pedestrian environment and urban fabric for this area.
Contact Name:
Joe Nanos, Acting Senior Planner
Phone: (416) 396-7037
Fax: (416) 396-4265
E-Mail: nanos@city.scarborough.on.ca
Lorne Ross, MCIP, RPP
Commissioner of Planning and Buildings