April 9, 1999

To: East York Community Council

From:Ted Tyndorf

Director Community Planning - East District

Subject:Application for Zoning By-law Amendment File No. E.ZBA.4/98

by Peter Pitino on Behalf of 1314661 Ontario Limited

401 Dawes Road

Purpose:

To review an application for a zoning by-law amendment that will facilitate the development of the north-east corner of Dawes Road and Gower Street with 11 street-front multiple-attached (townhouse) dwellings.

Financial Implications:

Costs associated with this developmentwill be assumed by the developer.

Recommendations:

1.It is recommended that City Council:

i)Approve the application by 1314661 Ontario Limited, to amend Zoning By-law 6752, by rezoning the lands at 401 Dawes Road from Residential R1B to Residential R2A - Site Specific, which would permit the development of 11 street-front townhouse units; and,

ii)Enact the Zoning By-law substantially in the form attached.

Background:

Proposal:

This application, submitted by Peter Pitino, on behalf of 1314661 Ontario Limited, requests Council's permission for a site specific re-zoning. It is intended to facilitate the development of this property with 11, street-front townhouse units (see Exhibits 1 to 3 inclusive). The 1,529.2 m² (16,460.2 sq. ft.) site is currently vacant and is located on the north-east corner of Dawes Road and Gower Street.

Comments:

Official Plan Policies and Zoning By-law:

East York's Official Plan designates this property for low density ground related residences including townhomes such as those proposed by the developer and requires Council to:

-encourage housing intensification, including development, redevelopment and infill at suitable locations provided it has no adverse impacts on the character of the adjoining residential areas;

-promote the provision of additional housing units in order to maintain adequate supply and range of quality housing types;

-encourage the development of a compact urban form which minimizes energy consumption.

Staff are satisfied that this development advances these policies and is appropriate for this location.

The present zoning is residential R1B which permits detached dwellings on 12 m wide lots with 370 m of lot area. If approved this application would require a site specific zoning amendment.

Building Height and Site Design:

The recommended site and building design shown on Exhibits 1 to 3 inclusive, show a project which orients six and five townhouses along the respective frontages of Gower Street and DawesRoad. The siting of the houses respond to the corner location by accenting its relative prominence, by improving the local pedestrian environment and facilitating safety. It also has an added advantage of minimizing the problem of direct overlook by locating all but two of the newly proposed houses away from the adjoining properties.

The proposed single access point to Gower Street is preferable to multiple access points to the street from the individual dwellings and has been endorsed by the City's design and traffic divisions.

The location of the parking area at the north-east corner of the site is dictated by the siting of the houses along the frontages of Gower Street and Dawes Road and by the desire to minimize the number of access points to these streets. The parking area will be screened via a solid fence which will extend along the length of the site's eastern property line and along a major portion of the northern boundary and which will be secured through the Site Plan approval process.

The proposed height of the buildings at 9.75 m (32 ft.) although higher than the surrounding residences, can be supported on basis that it does not introduce extensive overshadowing and that it represents the generally accepted height for townhouse developments throughout East York. The shadowing diagrams submitted with the application indicate that there is some overshadowing of the properties to the north and east of the proposal during the winter months. These properties were similarly impacted by the previous gas station which although lower than the townhouse dwellings, was located closer to these properties boundaries.

The design of the site and the built form will be scrutinized in a separate Site Plan report which will be approved by the Director of Community Planning for the East District. The Site Plan approval will require the development to be constructed in accordance with the drawings attached to this report and will ensure that all functional elements such as landscaping, or snow storage are included in the project's design.

Staff believe that, on balance, the design of proposed development is acceptable and should result in a built form that represents an attractive addition to this neighbourhood.

Access and Parking:

The parking spaces for the units fronting onto Dawes Road are located directly behind each unit and the parking spaces for the Gower Street units are located within a common parking area in the north east corner of the site. Entrance to all these parking spaces is at the east end of the property and consists of a two way, 5.75 m (18.9 ft.) wide private driveway leading to Gower Street. The proposed eleven parking spaces meet East York's Zoning By-law standard which requires that parking be provided at one parking space per unit and that it be located behind the main front wall.

The City's Transportation Division comments indicate that they found both the proposed access and parking provisions to be acceptable.

Shared Elements:

The design of this project requires shared use of facilities such as the laneway accessing the rear parking area as well as laneway lighting and fencing. The presence of such shared facilities generally entails a condominium form of ownership. In this case, the applicant wishes to sell the project as freehold housing. This means that the future owners of the project will have to enter into private agreement(s) to secure the continuing maintenance of these elements.

City's policy generally discourages freehold housing involving shared elements and suggests that such developments, particularly if they involve a large number of ownerships, should proceed by way of a condominium. Condominium ownership is preferable because it tends to provide greater certainty regarding the legal and financial ability of householders to resolve future problems. However, the policy also recognizes that in instances where the risks are minimized by the size of the project or the type and number of shared elements, freehold ownership may be an option. From the applicants perspective, freehold ownership is supported by current market preferences and by the fact that it will save him considerable costs associated with the imposition of a condominium set up.

Staff believe that due to the relatively small size, and the type and number of the shared elements, freehold ownership can be supported on this site.

Parkland Dedication:

As per East York By-law 85-92, the applicant will be required to make a 5 percent cash-in-lieu of parkland dedication payment.

Site Servicing:

The site servicing plan for this project proposes: individual storm, sanitary and water services connected to local services on Gower Street and Dawes Road, drainage for the common driveway to a catchbasin and a storm sewer connecting to Gower Street.

The City engineer notes that the provision of servicing to the site will require the construction of approximately 30 metres of new storm and sanitary sewer on Gower Street. This work will be done at the owner's expense.

Site Clean-up:

The proposed development will be located on a site formerly used for a gas station owned by Petro Canada. Petro Canada has extensive experience with such site's decommissioning. The developer provided confirmation (contained in the Offer of Purchase and Sale), that the land will be fully decommissioned, the clean-up done according to MOE's Guidelines, and that Petro Canada will assume full responsibility for all the matters related to the site's condition.

Agency Circulation:

The application was circulated for input to all appropriate agencies and City departments. Responses received from the circulation, have been used to modify the project's design and to formulate appropriate by-law standards.

Public Input:

Notice of the application was sent to all residents within 120.0 metres (400.0 ft.) of the site and a community information meeting to obtain public input was held on March 22, 1999. The notice and the meeting engendered criticisms of: the inadequate time (notice) given to the community to prepare for the March 22, 1999, community meeting; the project's height and density; the proximity of the proposed parking areas to adjoining back yards; overshadowing; loss of privacy; building residential units on a site formerly occupied by a gas station; and the potentially adverse effect of the development on property values of the adjoining area.

Other comments consisted of inquiries about the projects tenure and expressions of support on the basis that the proposed development was bound to be an improvement over the existing situation.

Conclusion:

The proposed development is appropriate because it conforms to, and advances East York's Official Plan's policies, provides for adequate access, establishes a strong pedestrian relationship to the street, facilitates pedestrian safety, and features an attractive building design and landscaping treatment.

Contact Name:

Jean Besz

Senior Planner, EastYork District Office

(416) 387-4647 -tel. no.

(416) 397-4582 -fax no.

Planning@borough.eastyork.on.ca

Ted Tyndorf, MCIP, RPP

Director of Community Planning, East District

JB/jb

Authority: East York Community Council Report No, XX, ( ), 1999

Intended for first presentation to Council: , 1999

Adopted by Council:

CITY OF TORONTO

BILL NO.

BY-LAW No. -99

to amend Restricted Area Zoning By-law No. 6752,as amended, of the former Township of East York

WHEREAS authority is given to Council by Section 34 of the Planning Act, RSO 1990, c.P. 13, as amended, to pass this by-law, and whereas Council of the City of Toronto has provided adequate information to the public and has held at least one public meeting in accordance with the Planning Act;

The Council of the City of Toronto HEREBY ENACTS as follows:

1. The lands subject to this By-law are those lands outlined by a heavy black line and identified as "Area Subject to Amendment" as shown on Schedule "1" attached hereto.

2.Schedule "A" to By-law No. 6752, as amended, is hereby further amended by changing the zoning category for the lands identified as "Area Subject to Amendment" 1" on Schedule "1" of this By-law from "Residential R1B Zone" to " Residential R2A - Site Specific (R2A.36 ) Zone".

3.Zoning By-law No. 6752, as amended, is hereby further amended by adding a new Section 7.5.4.36 immediately after Section 7.5.4.35 of the By-law as follows:

7.5.4.36401 Dawes Road R2A.36 Zone

7.5.4.36.1Area Restricted

The provisions of this Section shall only apply to those lands being Lots 24, 25, 26 and Part of Lot 27 on Registered Plan M - 395, City of Toronto (formerly Borough of East York) designated R2A.36 on Schedule "A".

7.5.4.36.2General Provisions

On those lands referred to in Section 7.5.4.36.1 of this By-law, no person shall use, occupy, Erect, alter, cause to be used, occupied, Erected or altered any

Building, Structure or land or part thereof except in accordance with the following provisions:

1) Permitted Uses:

a)Residential - Multiple Attached Dwellings; and,

1. Buildings and Structures Accessory to the foregoing.

2)Development Requirements:

1. minimum Lot Area

i)for the Dawes Road facing Lots99.0 m²

ii)for the Gower Street facing Lots74.0 m²

b)maximum number of Dwellings

per Lot1 Dwelling

c)maximum number of Dwellings for all the lands Referred to in Section

7.5.4.36.111 Dwellings

d)minimum Lot Frontage per Lot for all the lands referred to in Section

7.5.4.36.14.2 m

e)siting of any Dwelling or Structure or portion thereof Wholly within the Building envelope shown on Schedule "1" to By-law No. 99, except that the provisions of Section 5.6 of this By-law shall apply to any projections or encroachments into Yards

f)the Front Yard, exclusive of the Buildings and Structures permitted by Section 7.5.4.36.2.1) a) and b) shall be used exclusively for landscaping purposes

g)maximum Floor Space Index

i)for Dwellings facing Dawes Road0.9 x the Lot Area

ii)for Dwellings facing Gower Street1.1 x the Lot Area

h)maximum Lot Coverage

i)for Dwellings facing Dawes Road45%

ii)for Dwellings facing Gower Street 60%

i)maximum Building Length10.4 m

j)maximum Building Height 9.75 m

k)minimum width of the 'Private

-Right-of-Way' as shown on

Schedule "1" to By-law No. - 995.75 m

l)minimum number of Parking Spaces 11 Parking Spaces which shall be sized to meet the requirements of Section 4.23 of the By-law

m) notwithstanding the requirement in Section 4.23 of the By-law, that all Parking Spaces be located on the same Lot as the Building for which they are provided and that they have an adequate and uninterrupted vehicular access to the public Street or Lane, the Parking Spaces shown on Schedule "1" hereto may be :

i) accessed via a private 'Lane' shown as 'Private Right- of- Way' on Schedule "1"hereto; and,

ii) in the case of Parking Spaces 1 to 6, located outside Lots 6 to 11 for which they are provided, and in the area shown as 'Parking Area for Dwellings on Lots 6 to 11' on Schedule "1" hereto.

3) Other Provisions of the By-law:

a)none of the provisions of this By-law shall apply to prevent the use, occupation, Erection or alteration of any Building, Structure, land or part thereof on any land referred to in Section 7.5.4.36.1 in accordance with the provisions of Section 7.5.4.36.2. In all other respects, all the other provisions of By-law 6752 with the exception of Sections 5.6 g) and 7.5.1 to 7.5.3 inclusive, shall apply to the lands referred to in Section 7.5.4.36.1.

5)The following additional uses shall be permitted on the lands described in Section 7.5.4.36.1:

a) temporary sales trailer which shall:

i)only be used to sell the Buildings located within the limits of the area identified on Schedule "1" to this By-law;

ii)provide at least 1 temporary parking stall; and,

iii)be removed within sixty (60) days after the completion of the last Building.

ENACTED AND PASSED this day of ,A.D.

Mel LastmanNovina Wong

MayorCity Clerk