Zoning Amendment and Site Plan Application

UDZ-97-12 and UDSP-97-042 -

Edilcan Development Corporation -

16, 18, 20, 26 and 30 Byng Avenue - North York Centre

The North York Community Council, after considering the deputations and based on the findings of fact, conclusions and recommendations contained in the following reports (July 8, 1998) from the Acting Commissioner of Planning, North York Civic Centre, and Supplementary Report No. 1 (September 22, 1998) from the Director, Community Planning, North District, and for the reasons that the proposal is an appropriate use of the lands, recommends that the application submitted by Edilcan Development Corporation regarding Zoning Amendment and Site Plan Application for 16, 18, 20, 26 and 30 Byng Avenue, be approved, as set out in the referenced supplementary report:

The North York Community Council reports for the information of Council having requested the applicant, Edilcan Development Corporation, to continue to work with City staff on the acquisition of parkland to satisfy the parkland dedication requirement up to the time of the issuance of the building permit.

The North York Community Council reports having held a statutory public meeting on October 14, 1998, with appropriate notice of this meeting, in accordance with the Planning Act.

The North York Community Council submits the following Supplementary Report No. 1 (September 22, 1998) from the Director, Community Planning, North District:

Purpose:

The purpose of this report is to table a revised draft by-law for the Public Meeting on the Edilcan application and to report on revised recommendations from the Economic Development, Culture and Tourism Department with respect to park requirements. Edilcan Development Corporation is seeking zoning on their property, located at 16, 18, 20, 26 and 30 Byng Avenue, which would allow for redevelopment of the site. A report on this proposal was received by the North York Community Council on July 22, 1998. The public meeting is scheduled for the October 14, 1998 North York Community Council meeting.

Financial Implications:

Not applicable.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the application be approved with the revised conditions attached as Appendix 1 to this report.

Background:

Technical modifications have been made to the draft by-law consistent with the intent of the report considered at the July 22, 1998 meeting of North York Community Council. A revised by-law has been prepared which ensures consistency in the use of certain words, corrects the maximum parking requirements for this development, and now includes the minimum lot area required for development of the properties.

Revised comments have been received from the Economic Development Culture and Tourism Department (see Schedule "B") which recommend the acceptance of cash in lieu of parkland.

Discussion:

The draft by-law which was appended to the staff report which was received by Community Council on July 22, 1998, has been revised by making a minor change to the definition of "private recreational amenity space" and by standardizing its use throughout the by-law. In addition, "residential units" have been changed to "dwelling units" [Subsection (f)] and the word "regulations" has been changed to "provisions" [Subsection (n)].

The parking requirements have been corrected so that the maximum parking space per dwelling unit is 1.3 plus the visitors requirement.

The maximum building height permitted has been revised to 48.0 metres to reflect the height of the proposed building.

City staff requested that the applicant purchase 30 Byng Avenue, a portion of which will be used for the Uptown Service Road and the widening of Byng Avenue. The sale of this property to Edilcan is conditional upon approval of the rezoning application. The conditions of approval direct that the City Solicitor be satisfied that the conveyance of 30 Byng Avenue to the City has been adequately secured prior to the enactment of the zoning.

Conclusions:

The revised by-law attached as Schedule "A" to this report reflects minor revisions to the by-law for this application. This by-law, along with the report received by Community Council on July 22, 1998, should be considered at the statutory public meeting for this application on October 14, 1998.

Contact Name:

Gwen Manderson, Senior Planner

North York Civic Centre

Telephone: (416)395-7117

The North York Community Council also submits the following report (July 8, 1998) from the Acting Commissioner of Planning, North York Civic Centre:

Purpose:

The purpose of this report is to recommend approval of a proposed development of the properties at 16, 18, 20, 26 and 30 Byng Avenue, located east of Yonge Street and south of Finch Avenue East. The applicant, Edilcan Development Corporation, is seeking to amend the Zoning By-law to permit one 14 storey residential apartment building with 136 units, having frontage on Byng Avenue.

Source of Funds:

Not applicable.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that the application be approved subject to the following:

(1)staff be directed to do all things necessary to ensure that at the time of the enactment of any zoning by-law the following conditions have been satisfied:

Zoning By-law

(a)an implementing zoning by-law which generally complies with the draft by-law attached as Schedule "O" to this report has been perfected;

(b)the Owner has paid to the City in cash or certified cheque, the Yonge Centre Development Charges in accordance with Council policy as amended from time to time;

(c)a 2.933 metre widening along the Byng Avenue frontage has been conveyed to the City free and clear of all encumbrances; and

(d)the relevant portion of a lot identified on a Plan of Survey prepared by Paul Kidd Surveyors Ltd., dated and signed by the Surveyor on January 16, 1998, as Lot 51, R.P. 2282, be conveyed to the City free and clear of all encumbrances for the Service Road;

General

(e)the Owner has made arrangements satisfactory to the Acting Commissioner of Planning and to the Parks and Recreation Division to fulfill the conditions set out in Schedule "K"; and

(f)the Owner has acknowledged and agreed that prior to the issuance of any Building Permit, the following condition will be required to have been met:

(i)that they shall pay to the City in cash or certified cheque, on or before Building Permit issuance, the City-wide and Hydro Development Charges, the Sewer and Water Services Development Charge, and the Sheppard Subway Development Charge, in accordance with Council policy as amended from time to time; and

(2)prior to enactment of the zoning by-law, the Acting Commissioner of Planning shall have granted site plan approval with the conditions generally described in Appendix "B".

Background:

The subject property is located in the Uptown of the North York Centre and is subject to the policies of Part D.1 and D.3 of the Official Plan. Council has adopted an amendment to this Secondary Plan, the North York Centre Secondary Plan (OPA 447), which is now before the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for approval.

In March 1997, Edilcan Development Corporation submitted applications for a zoning amendment to increase the permitted residential density on their site and for site plan approval. At that time, the site consisted of 16, 18, 20 and 26 Byng Avenue. The proposed development of these lands relied upon the use of the municipal laneway for site access for service vehicles. This would limit future options for the laneway, however, when there is redevelopment of the Yonge Street properties adjacent to the lane.

The property at 30 Byng Avenue is identified in the Environmental Study Report for the Uptown Service Road and Associated Road Network as required to implement the service road. Given the site's location relative to this section of the Uptown Service Road, and the expectation that development will contribute to the road infrastructure, a revised site plan (dated February 27, 1998) was submitted on March 10, 1998 (and subsequently on June 19, 1998) which now includes 30 Byng Avenue. The property at 30 Byng Avenue was acquired by the applicant in order to provide additional land to resolve its site access and servicing concerns, and contribute to the infrastructure for the Uptown Service Road.

1.0Proposal

The application proposes a zoning by-law amendment in order to permit a change in the zoning to permit a residential apartment house dwelling.

The applicant's proposed zoning will allow a maximum gross floor area of 12,151.1 m² (130,797.63 sq.ft.) on the site representing a density of 3.75 FSI. Table 1 below describes the proposal statistics.

*Includes lands to be conveyed for the Service Road and the widening of Byng Avenue.

Two site plans have been submitted for this site which shows an interim scenario (Schedule "D") and an ultimate scenario (Schedule "C") for site access. This development site abuts a section of the Uptown Service Road. The site can be developed before the adjacent section of the service road is constructed. The ultimate point of access for the development will be onto the service road. Until it is constructed however, interim access from the site will be onto Byng Avenue.

2.0Location and Existing Site

The site is located on the north side of Byng Avenue, east of Yonge Street and south of Finch Avenue East. At present, the site is occupied by five single family detached dwellings. A mix of residential and commercial uses surround the site. A condominium townhouse complex with approximately 17 units is located to the north, single family detached dwellings and a vacant lot are to the south forming a future phase of the Tridel Northtown site, single family detached dwellings are to the east, and a municipally owned laneway and commercial uses fronting onto Yonge Street are located to the west.

To the east of the site, on lands occupied by single family detached dwellings, several properties are identified in the Environmental Study Report for the Uptown Service Road as required for the construction of the Uptown Service Road.

3.0Planning Controls

The application has been submitted under the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990.

3.1Official Plan

The Uptown Residential-One (UR-1) designation in the Official Plan allows commercial, residential, institutional, recreation, public parks. The total of all commercial uses on a site or portion of a site in this district shall not exceed 20 percent of the gross floor area attributable to the site or portion of the site. The density permitted is 3.75 FSI.

The lands are affected by an amendment to the Official Plan adopted by Council to repeal and adopt a new North York Centre Secondary Plan (OPA 447). OPA 447 does not change the designation of the site. An official plan amendment is not required for this site.

3.2 Zoning By-law

The site is zoned One Family Detached Dwelling Fourth Density Zone R4 which permits one family detached dwellings and incidental accessory buildings, certain home occupations, recreational, institutional and accessory uses. The zoning for the site is shown on Schedule "B".

3.3Site Plan

The Site Plan approval process is required by Council to proceed concurrently with the rezoning process for the City Centre development applications. The applicant submitted a Site Plan application which has been processed with the rezoning application and has provided detailed drawings to enable evaluation of the application in the context of the environment and urban design objectives of OPA 447. The Acting Commissioner of Planning is delegated authority to approve site plan drawings and conditions of approval and is prepared to do so with Community Council consideration of this report. Urban design considerations are outlined in Appendix "A" and the recommended conditions of Site Plan approval are listed in Appendix "B".

Discussion:

4.0Other Department Comments

The application was circulated to departments and agencies in August 1997. In March 1998, a revised application was circulated to a limited number of departments and agencies. The following is a description of the most recent and pertinent comments received from circulated agencies and departments.

The Planning Department, Central Office, have no objections to the application. The applicant is to apply noise attenuation measures in the construction of the building and prospective purchasers and lessees are to be notified of the potential of noise and vibration intrusion. All conditions of approval are being fulfilled through conditions of site plan approval. (Schedule "H")

The Toronto Catholic School Board objects to the development proposal due to the lack of permanent facilities and overcrowding at its schools. (Schedule "I")

The Toronto District School Board, North York Office, advises that students emanating from the proposed development can not be accommodated at McKee Public School, Cummer Middle School or at Earl Haig Secondary School and that alternative accommodation arrangements will be required. (Schedule "J").

The Economic Development, Culture and Tourism Department, Parks and Recreation Division advises that the applicant shall make an on-site parkland dedication or at the discretion of the Commissioner of Parks and Recreation the applicant can provide an off-site parkland dedication (within 0.8 km of the development site). (Schedule "K")

The Works and Emergency Services Department (Transportation) advises that the Department concurs with the findings and conclusions of the Traffic Impact Study prepared by the applicant's traffic consultant. Since the timing for the section of the Service Road, north of Byng Avenue to Finch Avenue East is not known, the applicant has prepared an Interim and Ultimate access scenario. All conditions of approval are bing fulfilled through the draft by-law and conditions of approval for site plan. (Schedule "L")

The Works and Emergency Services Department (Public Works) advises that interim trunk capacities are available for future development. The allocation of Interim Sanitary Trunk capacity for this development is subject to Council approval of this application. Available municipal services for this development include water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer. Land is to be conveyed to the City for the widening of Byng Avenue (2.933 metres) and for the Service Road. An addendum to these comments advises that the solid waste arrangement for both the interim and ultimate alternatives is satisfactory. The conditions are fulfilled through conditions of site plan approval. (Schedule "M")

5.0Community Consultation

A community meeting was held on May 12, 1998. The minutes for this meeting are attached as Schedule "N". The residents who attended the meeting raised questions related to comprehensive block development, and implementation and timing of the Uptown Service Road. A discussion of these issues follows in Section 6.0 Planning Issues. Correspondence has also been received from 3 residents/landowners in the area regarding this application (Schedule "P").

6.0Planning Analysis

The application proposes a residential land use which is permitted in the Official Plan . The site abuts the Uptown Service Road between Byng Avenue and Holmes Avenue. The following is a discussion on the development of these lands, including land use, the service road, traffic certification, comprehensive block development,, urban design and affordable housing.

6.1Land Use and Density

The residential land use and gfa proposed by the applicant conforms with the Official Plan, and can be accommodated under the Long Range Development Levels set out in the Official Plan.

Should Council enact the zoning for this property, there is interim sanitary trunk capacity available which will be allocated to this development.

6.2Transportation Planning

6.2.1Uptown Service Road

At the community meeting, there was concern from residents regarding the timing of the construction of the Service Road and the traffic in the area. This question was raised at the June24,1998 Community Council meeting during consideration of the UDZ-96-30 (Harry Snoek). At that meeting, Community Council directed that staff bring forward a plan for the Service Road. The report is scheduled for the Community Council meeting of July 22, 1998.

The Uptown Service Road is planned to accommodate the ultimate levels of development permitted by the Uptown Plan. Any new development must demonstrate that the traffic generated by the development can be accommodated in the existing road network. If the traffic cannot be accommodated, a functional section of the Service Road is required. The Traffic Impact Study submitted by the applicant has been reviewed by the Transportation Department. It shows that the proposed development can be accommodated within the existing road network.

A portion of the Edilcan site will be conveyed to the City for the Service Road.

6.2.2Jog elimination

Both the existing Official Plan and OPA 447 include site specific policies (Part D.3, Section 6.5 and Uptown Site Specific Policy 13.4) which identify that a jog elimination will be implemented at the intersection of Yonge Street/Kempford Avenue /Byng Avenue. This requirement has the effect of widening Byng Avenue in front of the Edilcan site. A 2.933 metre widening is required along the Byng Avenue frontage.

6.2.3Traffic Certification

It is the policy of Council not to approve a rezoning for a development having more than 5,000 m² of total floor space (including transfers and incentives) unless a traffic certification is completed and acceptable to Council and in accordance with the policies of the Official Plan.

Traffic certification has been provided by the applicant and is attached as Schedule "L". The Transportation Department has reviewed the Traffic Impact Study which accompanies this certification and concurs with its results.

6.2.4Municipal Laneway

Immediately west of the site is a municipally owned laneway, which is part of a laneway system in the North York Centre. Its purpose is to provide truck access for loading and unloading of goods and merchandise for commercial uses fronting onto Yonge Street. The proposed development will not affect the functioning of the existing lane.

6.3Comprehensive Block Development

In order to determine whether development of the Edilcan site would preclude development of the remainder of the block (Yonge Street, Holmes Avenue, Kenneth Avenue and Byng Avenue) it was analysed in relation to the development potential allowed on it by OPA 447.

Concept plans with viable options have been developed for illustrative purposes which test the potential for the block to develop, assuming the application is approved. These plans demonstrate that the application does not preclude development in the remainder of the block.

Residents at the community meeting questioned the need for comprehensive block development. Specifically, there were concerns regarding 19, 21 and 23 Holmes Avenue, located north of the proposed development, adjacent and west of the Service Road and east of the existing condominium townhouses. A portion of each of these lots is to be conveyed to the City for the Service Road or the realignment of Holmes Avenue to intersect with the Service Road. These lots may not realize their full development potential because of the existing condominium block which is expected to remain for the foreseeable future.

6.4Urban Design

The applicant has provided detailed drawings to enable evaluation of the application in the context of the environment and urban design objectives of OPA 447. The proposal generally conforms to the urban design policies of the Official Plan. The proposed residential building has a stepped roofline treatment and defined building podium which provide a positive streetscape and built form treatment.

6.5Community Services and Facilities

Parkland

The Economic Development, Culture and Tourism Department, Parks and Recreation Division, has calculated the parkland dedication requirement using the OPA 447 standard of .6 hectares per 560 dwelling units which results in 1,457 m². Given that the site is less that 1 hectare in size, a 10 percent cap was applied, limiting the requirement to 324 m². The applicant is looking for an off site parkland dedication to satisfy this requirement. In the absence of an off site dedication, the City retains the right to require a 5 percent cash-in-lieu parkland dedication.

Schools

The Toronto District School Board has advised that students emanating from this development can not be accommodated and that alternative accommodation arrangements will be required.

The Toronto Catholic School Board objects to the development proposal due to the lack of permanent facilities and overcrowding at its schools which would normally serve this area.

Council has adopted a report which recommends that the City and the School Boards work together to develop a new protocol to address new residential development applications in the future in a way which recognizes that schools are an important element of the neighbourhood.

On-site Amenity Space

It is appropriate that residential development of 100 dwelling units or greater be required to provide a minimum of 1.5 m² per dwelling unit of private indoor and outdoor recreational space. Council has implemented this performance standard in recent approvals within the North York Centre and has proposed this standard as a matter of policy within the Official Plan.

The applicant has provided both private indoor and outdoor recreational space and has exceeded the amounts normally required in both cases. The private indoor recreational space required, based on the 1.5 m² standard, is 204.0 m². The applicant is proposing 230.0 m². The private outdoor recreational space required, based on the 1.5 m² standard, is 204.0 m². The applicant is proposing 800 m².

6.6Affordable Housing

A minimum of 25 percent of the dwelling units are to be constructed in accordance with Council policy regarding affordable housing. The amending zoning by-law will contain a clause to implement this policy.

Conclusions:

The Edilcan proposal to develop the properties on Byng Avenue with one 14 storey residential building is appropriate development which is consistent with the policies of the Uptown Plan and the policies in Official Plan Amendment 447. The applicant is contributing land for the future Service Road. This will assist the City in achieving the infrastructure objectives of the Secondary Plan.

In accordance with Council policy, a Site Plan application has been processed concurrently with the rezoning application. The applicant has provided detailed plans and drawings that demonstrate the proposal satisfied the urban design objectives of the Uptown Plan.

Contact Name:

Gwen Manderson, Senior Planner

Telephone No.:395-7117

Fax No.:395-7155

(A copy of the Schedules and Appendices referred to in the foregoing reports is on file in the office of the City Clerk, North York Civic Centre.)

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The North York Community Council also reports having had before it the following communications:

(i)(September 30, 1998) from Ms. Shirley Gordon, advising of her opposition to the application; and

(ii)(undated) from Mr. Bert Yu Hsiang, expressing his concerns.

The following persons appeared before the North York Community Council in connection with the foregoing matter:

-Ms. Shirley Gordon who spoke in opposition to the application. Her primary objections with respect to the service road and increased noise and traffic. She was also concerned about her property being isolated and undevelopable given the location of the proposed service road.

-Mr. Jim Morwood who spoke in opposition to the application. His primary concerns were with respect to the lack of comprehensive development and the fact that no attempts were made to include his property and others on Holmes Avenue. He was also concerned about the City not encouraging the developer to incorporate additional properties. The extension of the ring road was also of concern to him and he was of the opinion that no development should occur until such time as the ring road is in place.

-Mr. Sal Vitiello, architect, on behalf of the applicant, who commented on the merits of the application. During his submission he indicated that the applicant concurred with the recommendations contained in the staff reports. He also stated that in March of 1997, planning staff requested the applicant to consider comprehensive development. In doing so, the applicant proceeded to acquire the property municipally known as 30 Byng Avenue, a portion of which would be used for the Uptown Service Road and the widening of Byng Avenue. Insofar as the concerns raised by the property owners on Holmes Avenue were concerned, he explained that the reasons for not incorporating them was because the blocks are too small.

-Mr. Barry Horosko, Bratty and Partners, Solicitor on behalf of the applicant, who indicated that the applicant has attempted on three separate occasions to acquire property in the vicinity of their development in order to fulfill their parkland dedication requirement. However to date no agreement has been reached with any of the property owners. The Parks and Recreation Division has now recommended that the applicant be subject to a 5 percent residential cash-in-lieu of parkland dedication payment and the applicant would be amenable to that. In light of the request to search for properties in the area that can be used for parkland he suggested that a condition could be imposed by the Community Council that the applicant continue to work with City staff on the acquisition of parkland to satisfy the parkland dedication up to the date of the issuance of the building permit.