April 22, 1998

 To:Urban Environment & Development Committee

From:Virginia M. West,

ommissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services

Subject:PRELIMINARY EVALUATION REPORT ZONING AMENDMENT APPLICATION

Humber River Regional Hospital, 200 Church Street, UDZ-98-05 (York Ref. No. R98-002)

Ward 6 - North York Humber

Ward 27 - York Humber

Purpose:

This is a preliminary evaluation of the application to amend the Zoning By-law to permit an expansion to the existing hospital and to permit a new parking structure at the southeast corner of the site. This site straddles the boundary of the former municipalities of York and North York and therefore all planning reports will be directed to the Urban Environment and Development Committee for consideration.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)the Planning Department work with the community, Councillors, and applicant to establish a Community Consultation process as appropriate; and

(2)staff be directed to prepare a Recommendation Report on the application and provide Notice of the Statutory Public Meeting at the appropriate time.

Background:

Proposal:

As a result of the provincial Health Services Restructuring Commission directives, the Humber River Regional Hospital is proposing to expand their Church Street facility. The applicant has proposed a two level addition to the north end of the existing hospital, a three storey addition to the south end the existing hospital, and a new two level parking structure at the southeast corner of the site. Listed below are the pertinent statistics:

 Official Plan:

North York District:General Institutional which permits institutional uses including hospitals and uses ancillary and complementary to hospitals.

York District:Institutional which permits the hospital use.

Zoning:

North York District:R4 (One-Family Detached Dwellings Fourth Density Zone) subject to site specific by-laws 11620, 21789, 25569 and 28638 which permit the existing hospital use and built form.

York District:R1 (Residential Zone One) subject to site specific by-law section 16(249) which permits the existing hospital use and built form.

Discussion:

The Health Services Restructuring Committee directed that Humber Memorial Hospital, Northwestern Hospital and York Finch Hospital amalgamate into one corporation (Humber River Regional Hospital) and further directed that Northwestern Hospital be closed. As a result, additional facilities are proposed for the York Finch site and the Church Street site (formerly Humber Memorial) to accommodate the services needed resulting from this reorganization. A rezoning is required for the proposed expansion of Humber River Regional Hospital at their Church Street site.

The applicant held several community meetings prior to the submission of the zoning amendment application which has raised several planning issues. Upon the filing of the application, planning staff met with representatives of the Pelmo Park Ratepayers Association and the Weston Ratepayers and Residents Association to discuss an appropriate community consultation process.

As a result of that meeting, two working groups have been set up. One group will be dealing with transportation issues such as parking and traffic and the other working group will be dealing with urban design, built form, setbacks and environmental issues. These groups will meet throughout the process to help identify issues and to propose options and solutions. General community consultation meetings are also being planned by staff and the residents as part of the process.

The preliminary issues identified to date are as follows:

(1)Urban Design

The hospital has expanded incrementally over a number of years each time requiring a zoning amendment. The possibility of the implementation of the North York hospital zone (HOS) on the site which identifies a long term building envelope should be examined. Planning staff have experienced success in implementing the HOS zone at the Baycrest Hospital and Sunnybrook Hospital sites. It was found to provide the simplicity of having one zone on the site while providing certainty for both the hospital and community over the long term.

The applicant has proposed a three storey addition to the south end of the hospital which will bring the building closer to Church Street. The other addition to the north end of hospital is proposed to be two levels which is to accommodate the expansion of the ER and imaging departments. There is concern by some residents about the setback of this addition to the adjacent single family homes and the overview that may occur. The hospital site is situated in the middle of a residential community composed of primarily single detached homes. Some of these homes are on the same block as the hospital which limits the ability of the hospital to expand on their site without impacting their neighbours and therefore careful attention will need to be paid to the urban design of the submission including built form and setbacks.

(2)Traffic

The traffic impacts of the program changes in the hospital and proposed addition will need to be assessed and solutions explored to mitigate any impacts and improve traffic movement to and from the hospital. Council recently approved traffic calming measures which will be used on Wendell Avenue and Gary Drive for a six month trial basis. This is a result of community input which illustrates some solutions that could be explored.

(3)Parking

The changing nature of hospitals services from an in bed stay to an out patient orientation needs to be addressed by a parking study to ensure that the parking demands can be met for both patients and staff. Opportunities to reduce the parking demands through travel demand management measures such as car pooling and promoting transit use should be explored and may help address the issues of on street parking and the capacity of lots.

A new parking structure has been proposed to accommodate the parking demand, however, there is the issue of the built form impact of such a structure on the surrounding neighbourhood and the impact of the traffic resulting from the new structure. The increase in parking spaces to meet the hospital demand needs to be balanced with the site's ability to accommodate such an increase. Opportunities to improve the site circulation and parking on the site need to be explored.

(4)Environment

The hospital has indicated that it is working towards permanently decommissioning the incinerator which will be replaced by a garbage compactor. The resulting increase in garbage pickup will be addressed at the site plan stage. An environmental assessment of the site has been requested to ensure that the historical presence of the incinerator is not an environmental concern and if it is a problem, appropriate remediation measures be taken.

City Wide Issues:

The application straddled the boundary between the former municipalities of York and North York and therefore all reporting will be through the Urban Environment and Development Committee.

Conclusions:

The zoning amendment application for the hospital has proposed an expansion of the Humber River Regional Hospital's Church Street site. The process involved in evaluating this application has a substantial community consultation component as the hospital is an important community resource. A number of preliminary planning issues have been identified in this report which will be addressed in the Recommendation Report, along with any other planning issues that result from the process.

Contact Names:

Karen Whitney, Planner (North York District)

Phone: 395-7109Fax: 395-7155

Wendy Johncox, Senior Planner (York District)

Phone: 394-2869Fax: 394-2782

Reviewed by:

 Paul J. Bedford,Virginia M. West,

Executive Director and Chief Planner, Commissioner of Urban Planning and

City Planning DivisionDevelopment Services

 Schedules:

AOfficial Plan Map

BZoning Map

CSite Plan

D1Landscape Elevations - Uphill Avenue, East and Church Street

D2Elevations - West and North