June 8, 1999

To:North York Community Council

From:Rob Dolan

Acting Director, Community Planning, North District

Subject:PRELIMINARY EVALUATION REPORT

ZONING AMENDMENT APPLICATION

Anne Judson

187 Finch Avenue West

Ward 10 - North York Centre

File #:UDZ-99-12

Purpose:

This is a preliminary evaluation of an application to amend the Zoning By-law to permit an existing 1 1/2 storey single family dwelling to be converted to a real estate office on the south side of Finch Avenue West, just west of Senlac Road.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

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

(2)the applicant be required to submit a complete set of application drawings in accordance with City policy; and

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

Background:

Proposal:

The applicant has proposed to convert an existing 1 1/2 storey single family dwelling fronting on Finch Avenue West to a real estate office, and to accommodate 9 parking spaces at the rear of the building. Proposed gross floor area of the office is 200 m². The overall lot area is 662 m².

Abutting uses include single family dwellings to the east and west along Finch Avenue West, and to the south along Bevdale Road.

Official Plan:

The site is subject to the Central Finch Area Secondary Plan, and is designated CFMU-1 (Central Finch Mixed Use - One), which permits single, detached and multiple-unit residential uses, offices, places of worship, public parks and recreational facilities, and institutional use. The proposed real estate office use conforms to the list of permitted uses. Under the Secondary Plan, for a solely commercial building on a lot with a frontage of less than 30 metres, a maximum commercial density of 0.75 FSI is permitted, and a height limit of 2 storeys or 8 m is permitted (whichever is the lesser). The proposed density is 0.3 FSI (commercial use only) and proposed building height (i.e. the height of the existing house form) is 1 1/2 storeys.

The proposal conforms to the Secondary Plan in terms of use, height and density.

Zoning:

The site is currently zoned R4 (one-family detached dwelling fourth density zone) which generally permits single detached dwellings.

This application is to permit the existing house-form building to be used as a real estate office, at a density of 0.3 FSI. The proposal (200 m² of real estate office) carries a zoning requirement for 4 parking spaces. Nine are proposed as part of the application.

Discussion:

A preliminary staff review of the application has identified a number of planning issues which will require resolution:

1. Edge conditions of the site

The Secondary Plan states that:

"it is the objective of Council to minimize the potential for adverse impact on the land use characteristics of low density residential lands which do not abut Finch Avenue by ensuring that redevelopment in the Central Finch Area takes place in a manner that protects and enhances the residential neighbourhoods."

The application should address and effectively mitigate against the potential impact of surface parking at the rear of the lot on all the abutting properties, which are single family dwellings. Improved landscaping and the preservation of trees should be provided.

2. Parking

As noted above, 4 parking spaces are required to serve the proposed development, while the application drawing shows 9 spaces. This number should be reduced to accommodate the proposed office use while allowing for improved landscaping and the preservation of existing trees.

3. Completeness of information submitted

A diagrammatic site plan showing the location of the existing building, proposed driveway and proposed parking area in the rear has been submitted. For planning evaluation purposes, the applicant should be requested to submit the standard set of drawings that the City requires as part of rezoning applications. Concurrent with this rezoning, the applicant is also seeking Site Plan Approval; the drawings could serve both sets of approvals.

Once the required drawings are submitted, I will be able to assess the proposal as to its compliance with Section 4 of the Secondary Plan ("Design and Layout").

Conclusions:

This application conforms with the density limits and permitted uses set out in the Official Plan. However, the application requires refinement to address the issues described above and, in summary, include:

1. improvements to the edge conditions of the site;

2. the appropriate number of on-site parking spaces; and

3. the submission of a complete set of application drawings so that full compliance with the Secondary Plan can be determined.

Contact Name:

Anne Milchberg

North York Civic Centre

Telephone: (416) 395-7129

Fax: (416) 395-7155

E-mail: amilchbe@toronto.ca

ROB DOLAN

Acting Director, Community Planning

North District