June 8, 1999
To:North York Community Council
From:Rob Dolan
Acting Director, Community Planning, North District
Subject:PRELIMINARY EVALUATION REPORT
Zoning By-law Amendment Application UDZ-99-10
Site Plan Approval Application UDSP-99-029
Terraventure Group
76 Spring Garden Avenue
Ward 10 - North York Centre
Purpose:
The purpose of this report is to provide a preliminary evaluation of an application to amend the Zoning By-law and a
related Site Plan Approval application to permit three three-storey freehold townhouses at 76 Spring Garden Avenue.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1) the proposal be revised to address the issues as outlined in Section 4 of this report; and
(2) subject to the submission of revised plans pursuant to Recommendation (1) above, that:
(a) staff, in consultation with the local Councillors, schedule a community consultation meeting with area residents; and
(b) staff prepare a Final Report evaluating the proposal and provide Notice of the statutory public meeting at the
appropriate time.
Background:
1. Proposal:
No. 76 Spring Garden Avenue is a 574 m2 lot located on the northeast corner of Spring Garden Avenue and Doris Avenue.
Currently, 76 Spring Garden Avenue contains a 1.5-storey single-family house and a garage.
An application to amend the Zoning By-law and a related Site Plan Approval application has been submitted by
Terraventure Group to redevelop the lot with three three-storey freehold townhouses, with rear integral garages and two
visitor parking spaces. Vehicular access to the site is proposed off Doris Avenue.
The pertinent statistics of the proposal are shown below:
| Lot area: |
574.3 m2 |
| Gross Floor Area: |
711.6 m2 |
| Density: |
1.2 FSI |
| Number of dwelling units: |
3 |
| Building height: |
9.5 m (3 storeys) |
| Parking spaces: |
5, including 2 visitor |
2. Official Plan:
The lot is located in the Downtown of the North York Centre and is designated Downtown Residential - 1 (DR-1), which
permits residential uses up to a maximum density of 1.5 times the area of the lot. (See attached Schedule "A".) The lands
are also subject to Section 12.6 of Official Plan Amendment 447 (North York Centre Secondary Plan) which permits a
maximum building height of 3 storeys or 11 metres, whichever is less.
3. Zoning By-law:
The site is zoned R4 (One-Family Detached Dwelling Fourth Density), which does not permit townhouses. (See attached
Schedule "B".)
Comments:
4. Planning considerations:
4.1Urban design and landscaping:
The applicant's proposal shows three relatively narrow townhouses facing Spring Garden Avenue, with a side wall
condition along Doris Avenue. Townhouses as a use may be acceptable on this site. However, both street elevations are
important and the proposal can be reconfigured to better animate the longer frontage on Doris Avenue, including a primary
residential entrance or entrances along Doris Avenue. An important and related planning objective is an appropriately
landscaped public boulevard and setback area along the Doris Avenue frontage, as a linear landscaped connection to
Hollywood Park to the north. The current proposal will require redesign, and with relocation of vehicular access (as
discussed in Section 4.2 below), possibly result in a lesser number of dwelling units.
Submission of revised plans, including an acceptable Landscape Plan, are requested.
4.2Parking and access:
The applicant proposes access to the proposed three integral garages and two tandem visitor parking spaces from Doris
Avenue.
Transportation Services staff of Works and Emergency Services advise that the proposed access arrangement is
unacceptable. Vehicular access should be achieved from Spring Garden Avenue, where a curb cut currently exists. Access
to Doris Avenue, which forms part of the Downtown Service Road should only be allowed for development sites which
only have frontage on the Downtown Service Road. Transportation Services staff also comment that the proposed 8-metre
wide driveway is unnecessarily wide. Further, the layout of the two visitor parking spaces does not allow for sufficient
manoeuvring area. Only one visitor parking space is required and recommended.
The existing cul-de-sac at the west end of Spring Garden Avenue at Doris Avenue, in front of the subject property, will
eventually be opened to Doris Avenue and a new cul-de-sac will be constructed at the east end of Spring Garden Avenue at
Kenneth Avenue. The new cul-de-sac is intended to help reduce traffic in the downtown from entering the neighbourhoods
to the east. The 'relocation' of the cul-de-sac is expected to occur concurrent with the redevelopment of the south side of
Spring Garden Avenue.
The comments of the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services have been forwarded to the applicant.
4.3Lot boundaries:
The application identifies the proposed townhouse project as freehold in tenure. However, the submitted plans do not
indicate the layout of the proposed lots. Revised plans should also show proposed lot dimensions, including associated
gross floor area and density figures.
Conclusions:
The issues raised in this report have been discussed with the project architect. The architect is exploring redesign options.
A Final Report will be completed which examines the planning issues, subsequent to the submission of plan revisions
which address the described planning concerns.
Contact Name:
Michael Mizzi
Senior Planner, Community Planning, North District
North York Civic Centre
Telephone: (416) 395-7106
E-mail: mmizzi@toronto.ca
______________________________
Rob Dolan
Acting Director, Community Planning, North District
Schedules:
AOfficial Plan map
BZoning By-law map
CSite Plan
D1North & South Elevations
D2East & West Elevations
G:\users\mmizzi\wpfiles\reports\z9910-pr.wpd
