January 31, 1999

To:North York Community Council

From:Bryan W. Tuckey

Director, Community Planning, North District

Subject:PRELIMINARY EVALUATION REPORT

ZONING AMENDMENT APPLICATION

Monarch Construction Limited

17 and 25 Hillcrest Avenue & 10, 18, 20 and 22 Elmwood Avenue

Ward 10 - North York Centre

UDZ-98-33

Purpose:

This is a preliminary evaluation of an application to amend the Zoning By-law to permit a 32 storey residential condominium apartment building containing 240 units on a site occupying the middle portion of the block bound by Yonge Street, Hillcrest Avenue, Elmwood Avenue and Doris Avenue.

Recommendation(s):

It is recommended that:

(1)staff consult with the local Councillors and schedule an appropriate Community Consultation process; and

(2)the zoning application be evaluated within the context of a conceptual plan for the Block bounded by Yonge Street, Hillcrest Avenue, Doris Avenue and Elmwood Avenue; and

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

Background:

Proposal:

The applicant has proposed to replace the 6 existing single family dwellings with a 32 storey, 240 unit condominium apartment building. The building is proposed to front onto Hillcrest Avenue with a private open space located on the Elmwood frontage. The proposed density is 4.5 FSI. Listed below are the pertinent statistics:

Official Plan:

The entire site is located within the North York Centre Secondary Plan (Part D.1) area. The majority of the site is designated DMU-3 (Downtown Mixed Use-3) which permits commercial, institutional, parks, recreational and residential uses and allows for 100 percent residential. A portion of the site on the east is designated DR-1 (Downtown Residential-1) which permits 100 percent residential and recreation uses as well. A density of 4.5 FSI is permitted with up to an additional one-third density through incentives and transfers. The proposed recreational space incentive conforms to this policy. The permitted height for this site is a transition from 65 m maximum to 100 m maximum. The proposal needs to be evaluated against the built form and height principles set out in the secondary plan in order to determine conformity with the Official Plan.

Zoning:

The site is zoned R4 (One-Family Detached Dwelling Fourth Density Zone) which generally permits single family dwellings.

Discussion:

The preliminary planning interests identified to date are as follows:

Block Concept: Density Distribution and Height

The block bounded by Yonge, Hillcrest, Elmwood and Doris is a strategic site within the context of the Downtown for the North York Centre. It is across the street from Mel Lastman Square, the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts and due south of the major commercial and residential development under construction by Menkes Developments Inc. The development of the overall block should be able to achieve the full intent of the Downtown Plan. At present, there are two major landowners for the block: De Boer's and Monarch Construction. It is appropriate that they work with the city in a way which ensures appropriate built form and design at this important site. The first phase of construction along the Doris Avenue frontage is imminent and the plans for the balance of the area can be reasonably anticipated at this time. (See attached Schedule "E")

A comprehensive concept plan is required. Among other matters it should:

• evaluate the potential distribution of density on the two remaining development sites which are now proposed;

• evaluate the achievement of maximum height and Yonge Street presence for the De Boer's site with the intervening Monarch Construction property effectively establishing a transition in height and massing;

• evaluate the edge conditions which can be created for the block through conceptual massing and design alternatives; and

• to the extent possible, achieve a compatible integration of the three development areas through appropriate site plan considerations; and

• include conceptual servicing ideas for both sites that minimize the number of curb cuts and impact on the streets, open space and adjacent properties.

The Yonge Street frontage adjacent to this site currently contains the DeBoer's furniture store and a Dairy Queen store at 1-2 storeys. OPA 447 designates these lands as prime frontage areas with a density of 4.5 FSI and maximum height of 100m. While the de Boer's site may not be developed in the immediate future, a block analysis should demonstrate a development potential which can achieve a significant presence in terms of height and density and predominance over the Monarch Construction lands to the east.

The building height is proposed at 97 metres or 32 storeys. The height maps in OPA 447 show this site potentially affected by the 100 m height and 65 m height areas shown on Map D.1.6. (Schedule A1). This site should be reasonably treated as a transition site from the 23 storey building to the east and the potential 100 m (33 storey) building(s) on Yonge Street. The built form needs to be evaluated within the context and intent of the Downtown polices and take into account the building parcel configurations and transition in built form from Yonge Street to neighbouring residential areas through its treatment of height and building mass.

Urban Design

The policies in OPA 447 set out urban design principles for built form, height and general urban design objectives to be achieved. The key urban design objectives for this site include:

• provision of appropriate scale and massing of buildings in relation to the edge condition of the development;
• building facades should relate to and aid in defining the street;
• provide for appropriate transitions in height between the highest intensity areas along Yonge Street and the residential community outside the Centre;
• entrances to loading, service , garbage pickup areas, parking and other similar use should be hidden to the greatest degree possible from the view of the street;
• pedestrian areas designed to ensure that acceptable wind and thermal comfort conditions are maintained or enhanced; and
• encourage public art as part of development project.

With regard to the height of the building, a more compact footprint with increased height as proposed has the advantage of presenting a more slender building and more open space on the site. A lower building would result in a larger footprint and slab form of building. Attached in Appendix A are the general Environment and Urban Design policies of the North York Centre Secondary Plan which will be used to evaluate the proposal.

Open Space

The application contains approximately 1,700 mē of private open space over the proposed underground parking garage. This exceeds the outdoor recreational space requirements in the Official Plan. The parkland dedication requirements for this site have not been determined at this time, however the Official Plan sets out various options for residential developments in the North York Centre. These policies include provisions for the consideration of off-site parkland dedications within 0.8 km of the site when the adjacent community is deficient in parkland, on-site parkland dedications or cash-in-lieu of parkland. Any opportunities to preserve existing mature, healthy trees on the site should also be explored.

Conclusions:

This application conforms with the density limits and permitted uses set out in the Official Plan. Further refinement of the application is, however, required in order to ensure appropriate built form is achieved which maintains the opportunity for a predominant Yonge Street development on the remaining parcel of land on this block.

Contact Name:

Karen Whitney

Telephone: (416) 395-7109

Bryan W. Tuckey

Director, Community Planning, North District

Schedules:

AOfficial Plan Map

A1Official Plan Map (Maximum Height Limits)

BZoning Map

CSite Plan

D1Elevations - North & East

D2Elevations - South & West

EContext Plan

Appendix A - Environment and Urban Design

SECTION 5ENVIRONMENT AND URBAN DESIGN

5.1General Urban Design Objectives

(a)Within the North York Centre, height, massing and intensity of buildings will generally be focused along Yonge Street and in the immediate vicinity of subway stations. In the Downtown, the highest building heights will be along Yonge Street, generally north of Sheppard Avenue and at 401 on the east side of Yonge Street.

(b)As the spine of the North York Centre, Yonge Street will have the primary promenades of the City. Public and private initiatives should ensure that pedestrians are provided with adequate safety to cross the street and have space for movement and recreation.

(c)A fine urban street grid pattern is encouraged with small City blocks. Council may, as a condition of development approval, secure the provision of new east-west public or private streets or pedestrian routes in order to increase amenity, orientation and public access to and from Yonge Street.

(d)On all streets in the North York Centre,

(i)street trees should be planted;

(ii)continuous building frontages will be encouraged; and

(iii)height limits adjacent to the streets should establish a comfortable human scale and create a sense of spatial containment.

(e)Building heights, setbacks and build-to requirements as set out elsewhere in this Secondary Plan provide appropriate scale and massing of buildings in relation to the specific context and edge condition of each development or redevelopment site.

(f)Heritage buildings and public amenities will be encouraged to be retained through the use of density incentives and transfers.

(g)Buildings shall be designed to be accessed directly from the streets or publicly accessible outdoor space. "Gated" developments will be discouraged.

(h)Public art is encouraged to be provided on City owned lands as well as on privately owned lands as part of redevelopment projects.