April 8, 1999

To:North York Community Council

From:Rob Dolan

Acting Director, Community Planning, North District

Subject:FINAL REPORT

OFFICIAL PLAN AND ZONING AMENDMENT APPLICATION

505000 N.B. INC.

2800 Bathurst Street

(West side of Bathurst Street between Glen Park and Glencairn Avenue)

Ward 8 - North York Spadina

UDOZ-97-45

Purpose:

This report recommends approval to permit the construction of a 6 and 7 storey, 52 unit apartment hotel with ground floor commercial uses at the south west corner of Bathurst Street and Glen Park Avenue.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)The site's Commercial (COM) Official Plan designation be amended to a Commercial Specific (COM Specific) designation with the following site specific C.9 policy:

(a)Density

The maximum density permitted is 3.5 floor space index.

(2)The site's C1 zoning be amended to a C1 exception zone with the following exceptions:

PERMITTED USES

(a)Apartment hotel, apartment house dwelling, retail store, personal service shop shall only be permitted.

(b)For the purpose of this exception an "apartment hotel" shall mean a building or portion of a building used mainly for the purpose of furnishing living quarters with full cooking facilities for families on a daily basis and having at least six suites of rooms for rent, with no restaurant or dining room, but shall not include a hotel or ordinary lodging house.

(c)The maximum permitted gross floor area is 6780m².

(d)The minimum yard setback requirements are as shown on Schedule "C".

(e)There shall be a minimum of 90 parking spaces provided on site with the minimum parking standard of 1.5 parking spaces for each dwelling.

(f)The maximum number of dwelling units or suites shall be 52.

(g)The maximum height of the building shall be as shown on Schedule "E".

(3)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:

(a)The conditions of the Technical Services Division of the Works and Emergency Services attached as Schedule "F".

(b)The conditions of the Works and Emergency Services, Transportation Services attached as Schedule "G".

(c)The conditions of the Economic Development, Culture and Tourism, Policy and Development attached as Schedule "H".

(4)Prior to enactment of the zoning by-law, the Acting Director of Community Planning, North District, shall have granted site plan approval which addresses, public art contribution, location of roof top terraces, landscaping, building elevations, location of garbage pickup and ingress and egress.

(5)Prior to the adoption of the Official Plan amendment the applicant shall have submitted the necessary studies required under the Ministry of the Environment Guidelines for contaminated sites which in turn, have been subject to a peer review and commented on by the Medical Officer of Health. In addition, prior to the issuance of a building permit the applicant will be required to submit a Record of Site Condition that has been acknowledged by the Ministry of the Environment.

Background:

Proposal:

The revised application proposes an official plan and zoning amendment to permit a new 6 and 7 storey, 52 unit apartment hotel with ground floor commercial uses. The applicant has indicated that the tenure of the units is to be condominium which allows the building in the future to be used as a condominium apartment house dwelling with grade related commercial if the apartment hotel concept is abandoned. In the event the building is used in the future as a apartment house dwelling with grade related commercial the more restricted parking standard for apartment house dwelling units of 1.5 spaces for each unit has been applied instead of the apartment hotel standard. There is no restaurant or dining room associated with the proposal. The applicant has indicated that the meals for guests will be catered.

A statistical breakdown of the original proposal and revised proposal is set out below.

Official Plan:The site is designated Commercial (COM) which permits a variety of retail and office uses as well as upper floor residential uses with a maximum density of 1.5 fsi.

Zoning:General Commercial (C1) permitting a variety of retail, office and residential uses at a maximum density of 1.0.

Location and Existing Use:

The triangular shaped site is located at the south west corner of Glen Park Avenue and Bathurst Street. The site is located next to an existing 5 storey residential condominium building with ground floor commercial uses to the south and an existing place of worship to the west which fronts on Glen Park Avenue. To the north of the site along Bathurst Street there is a one storey commercial building followed by a 6 storey office building. Diagonally to the site on the north side of Glen Park Avenue and Hollaman Road there are single family dwellings. To the east of the site along Bathurst Street there are existing one and two storey commercial buildings followed by an existing place of worship. The site is currently vacant but was previously used as a service station and as a portion of Hollaman Road prior to its closure. The closed road has been conveyed to this landowner.

Comments:

Other Departments:

Works and Emergency Services, Development Services advises that the location of the garbage pickup area requires further discussion (Refer to Schedule "F"). Interim capacity exists within the Black Creek Trunk Sewer to accommodate the proposed development.

Works and Emergency Services, Transportation Services advises that they concur with the traffic impact study submitted by Grant A. Bacchus Limited (Dated March 18, 1998) which supported the original proposal which was larger. With the reduction in the number of units, the removal of the two proposed restaurants in the revised proposal, the traffic generated would have a less impact on adjacent roadways. The applicant will be required to contact the Toronto Parking Authority to determine if any parking meters on Glen Park Avenue are affected and if financial compensation is required. Works and Emergency Services also advise that there are a number of site plan issues relating to signage for the driveway, loading and drop-off areas, width of right out access on to Bathurst Street, underground parking layout and boulevard work (Refer to Schedule "G").

Economic Development, Culture and Tourism, Policy and Development advises that the applicant is subject to the City's 5% for the residential units and 2% for the commercial component cash in lieu parkland dedication requirement (Refer to Schedule "H").

Community Consultation:

The applicant's November 7, 1997 proposal was presented to the community at a meeting held in March of 1998 at Glen Park Elementary School. At this meeting the community expressed its opposition to the proposed development. The community's issues related to the density and height, not enough parking being provided, the increased traffic infiltration through the adjacent neighbourhood and ingress and egress to and from the site (Refer to Schedule "I").

Subsequent to this first community meeting, a working group was set up which consisted of members of the condominium board at 500 Glencairn, residents living on Glen Park Avenue and Hollaman Road, local councillors and Planning staff. The working group identified issues relating to density, height, massing, number of units, egress and ingress, overview, traffic and parking and use and provided options to resolve them. Subsequently all parties agreed on a revised proposal which is before Council.

A second community consultation meeting was held on February 15, 1999, to present the revised plan that was based on the working group's recommendations. There were approximately 70 people in attendance. The applicant's presentation of the revised proposal was followed by a question and answer period. The majority of the people in attendance showed support for the revised proposal. In general, the matters raised by the community focussed on:

Traffic:Some residents were concerned that people will use Glen Park Avenue as a drop off area. Also, some residents requested that a traffic study be prepared for the proposed use.

Roof top

Terraces:Residents do not want rooftop terraces facing west or north to avoid possible overview into the yards of the single family dwellings yards along Glen Park Avenue. They prefer that all roof top terraces face Bathurst Street.

Number of

Units:Residents wanted assurances that the owner is limited to the proposed 52 units (Refer to Schedule "J").

The residents' issues have been addressed in the Discussion Section of the report. To capsulize, the proposed apartment hotel will have a drop off area on site which should discourage people from using Glen Park Avenue as a drop off area. The location of the roof top terraces will be addressed during the site plan approval process. The number of units will be restricted under the zoning by-law.

Discussion:

Official Plan:

Land Use:

The site's existing Commercial (COM) designation is to be amended to permit the proposed apartment hotel with grade related commercial.

The proposed apartment hotel will be one of the few apartment hotels that exist in the City that provides daily, weekly or monthly accommodations for out of town guests or relatives of residents in the area visiting or attending a function at one of the local synagogues in the area. The close proximity to the synagogues in the area allows the guests to have a short walk when required on religious occasions.

The location takes advantage of physical infrastructure, existing community services and transportation facilities. It is located on an arterial road, well served by public transit and close to local area parks.

The community has stated that this portion of Bathurst Street needs to be revitalized. The community is hopeful that the proposed development will encourage future development along this stretch of Bathurst Street.

Density

The current proposal has a density of 3.5 fsi (floor space index). This is a significant reduction from the applicant's original proposed density of 5.64 fsi. The proposed density is in context within the range of densities that exist with existing development along this section of Bathurst Street between Lawrence Avenue West and Glencairn Avenue. These densities range between less than 1 fsi to 3.9 fsi at the corner of Lawrence Avenue West and Bathurst Street (Refer to Appendix "A").

Under Part C.5 of the Official Plan Council may approve rezoning of lands within the Commercial (COM) district to permit increase density if the development proposal meets a number of compatibility criteria that are set out on Appendix B.

The proposal meets the Official Plan's compatibility criteria as set on the next page.

-The proposed development is adequately served by transportation facilities as it is located on Bathurst Street which is an arterial road and is served by the TTC;

-The traffic study submitted by the applicant's traffic consultant and supported by Transportation Services of the Works and Emergency Services Department states that the traffic generated from the proposed development will not significantly affect the level of arterial road service;

-Traffic on Glen Park Avenue will not be increased as vehicular traffic will be restricted to only left hand turns off Glen Park Avenue into the site as the driveway entrance will be designed to prevent right hand turns into the site. All traffic leaving the site will exit onto Bathurst Street and not Glen Park Avenue. Also, the applicant no longer has a restaurant component as part of the proposal in addition to a large reduction in the number of units which reduces the amount of vehicular and pedestrian traffic that would frequent the site. The level of pedestrian safety is improved by the provision of an enclosed pedestrian walkway through the building from the south east corner of the building on Bathurst Street to the north west corner building fronting on Glen Park Avenue. There is also a drop off area on site for guests of the apartment hotel;

-The proposed one way driveway system with a drop off area and loading area provides satisfactory movement of employees and visiting automobiles and commercial vehicles, thus preventing any disruption to adjacent bordering streets or properties.

Built Form:

The current proposal is for a building that is six and seven storeys in height with the seven storey portion of the building being located towards Bathurst Street and the six storey portion being located towards the existing residential area to the west. The proposed height of the building is comparable to existing buildings that are located along this section of Bathurst Street between Glencairn Avenue and Lawrence Avenue West which range in height from one storey to 14 storeys (Refer to Appendix A).

The siting of the proposed building being located closer to Bathurst Street than what was originally proposed minimizes any impact on the owners of the single family dwellings on Glen Park Avenue and Hollaman Road and the residents living in the condominium building next door. Also, Glen Park Avenue rises as you go west from Bathurst Street which gives the perception that the building is lower when looking east along Glen Park Avenue.

The general massing of this proposal implements the city's urban design policy. The new building will clearly define the street's public open space. It will also add character and increased activity along its edges, both at Bathurst Street and Glen Park Avenue. At the site plan stage, detailed consideration should be given to the integration of the open stairwell, the canopied walkway and the completion of the street edge on Bathurst Street at the southern end of the building.

The existing place of worship to the west provides a buffer to the single family dwellings to the west along Glen Park Avenue. The existing residential area to the east is buffered from this development by the existing commercial strip and a place of worship.

Zoning By-law:

Amendments to the City's zoning standards are required for density, lot coverage and building height.

Site Plan:

A comprehensive landscape plan and details should be submitted, which illustrate how the site is to be landscaped, with particular care for screening and landscaping along the property line and the boulevards along Glen Park Avenue and Bathurst Street. Additional landscaping should be provided adjacent to the parking area along Glen Park Avenue. The landscape plan should also indicate where the air intake/exhaust are for the underground garage. The location of these should minimize their impact on the pedestrian realm.

Detailed elevations should be provided to show the architectural resolution of the building, both at grade and at the roof terrace level. Elevation drawings should also include elevations of adjacent buildings to show the integration of the new development.

The roof terrace facing Bathurst Street should be handicapped accessible. It should be landscaped and promote a safe and comfortable activity area.

The location of the garbage pick-up area should be finalized with the Technical Services, Works and Emergency Services. Minimize all curb cuts and driveway widths to provide a maximum area for landscaping.

Public Art:

The applicant has agreed to provide a public art contribution that is equal to one percent of the total cost of construction. The art work shall be publicly accessible on the site. The site plan agreement shall address matters including, but not limited to, the timing of the contribution, location, selection of art and if there is any maintenance.

Site Conditions:

The site has been identified as a potential soil contaminated property because of its prior use as a gas station. The applicant has been advised that this application will be required to be supported by any necessary studies required under the Ministry of the Environment Guidelines for contaminated sites. These studies will be subject to a peer review and commented on by the Medical Officer of Health as part of the site plan approval prior to the adoption of the Official Plan amendment. Prior to the issuance of a building permit a Record of Site Condition acknowledged by Ministry of the Environment is required to be submitted by the applicant. Appropriate remediation of the site and indemnification for the city will be secured through the site plan agreement as may be required.

Conclusions:

The proposed apartment hotel with ground floor commercial is an appropriate use for this site. The community and applicant have worked diligently with the local Councillors and staff to achieve a proposal that addresses the concerns of introducing an apartment hotel into the neighbourhood. It is seen by the community that this will be a positive development for the community and should encourage similar high quality buildings in the future for this area.

Contact Name:

Randy Jones, Planner

Telephone: (416) 395-7137

Rob Dolan

Acting Director, Community Planning, North District