August 25, 1999
To:North York Community Council
From:Rob Dolan
Director, Community Planning, North District
Subject:PRELIMINARY EVALUATION REPORT
Zoning By-law Amendment Application UDZ-99-17
DUCA Community Credit Union Limited, c/o Hendrik Op't Root
5270 and 5290 Yonge Street
Ward 10 - North York Centre
Purpose:
The purpose of this report is to provide a preliminary evaluation of an application to amend the North York Zoning By-law
to permit a 21-storey mixed-use building.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1)the applicant be required to submit a Site Plan Approval application and fee, pursuant to North York Community
Council policy for all amendment applications in North York Centre, prior to the scheduling of a community consultation
meeting;
(2)the proposal be revised to address the planning issues as outlined in this report; and
(3)subject to the submission of a Site Plan Approval application and revised plans, pursuant to Recommendations (1) and
(2) 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:
Proposal:
No. 5290 Yonge Street currently contains a two-storey commercial-office building built in 1960, which is used by DUCA
Community Credit Union Limited as their head office. A smaller commercial building, containing a fast-food restaurant, is
situated at the south-east corner of the site at 5270 Yonge Street.
The applicant seeks amendments to North York Zoning By-law 7625 to permit a mixed-use building, containing: at-grade
retail uses, including a DUCA Community Credit Union branch and a vehicular drive-through to an outdoor Automatic
Banking Machine (ABM); Social Facility/non-profit community centre use; office uses; and eighteen floors of
condominium residential units.
The pertinent statistics of the proposal are shown below:
| Site area: |
3,490 m2, which includes 154 m2 of area dedicated in 1980 as a
road widening for Yonge Street. |
| Gross Floor
Area: |
9,822 m2 (2.8 FSI) for residential and related uses; and
3,265 m2 (0.9 FSI) for retail and commercial uses, which is 20% of the GFA
(16,325 m2) attributable to the site;
13,087 m2 Sub-Total, which represents 3.75 FSI ;
729 m2 (0.2 FSI) for a Social Facility use, which is exempted from the
calculation of Gross Floor Area;
2,187 m2 (0.6 FSI) for additional residential and related uses, achieved through a
density incentive for the Provision of a Social Facility use;
112 m2 (<0.1 FSI) for Bicycle Storage area, which is exempted from the
calculation of Gross Floor Area;
209 m2 (0.1 FSI) for Private Recreational Use Accessory to Residential Use
which is exempted from the calculation of Gross Floor Area;
3,238 m2 Sub-Total, which represents GFA achieved through the application of
the density incentive policies;
16,325 m2 Total, which represents 4.7 FSI. |
| Density: |
4.7 FSI (See Gross Floor Area statistics.) |
| Number of
dwelling units: |
140 |
| Building height: |
87 m (21 storeys) |
| Parking spaces: |
Minimum of 176 to a maximum of 252 |
Official Plan:
The site is located in the Uptown area of the North York Centre and is designated Uptown Residential-One (UR-1), which
allows 20% of the permissible GFA to be allocated for commercial uses. The applicant proposes to utilise 20% of the
permissible GFA, including density incentives, for retail and commercial uses.
The Uptown Residential-One designation permits a maximum density of 3.75 times the area of the lot. The North York
Centre Secondary Plan also allows for density incentives. For example, the GFA of a Social Facility use is exempted from
density calculations. A development proposal cannot, however, exceed the maximum permitted GFA (3.75 times coverage)
by more than 33% through density incentives and transfers. For this application, the proposed density exemptions and
incentive exceed the maximum permitted 3.75 times GFA by 25%.
The North York Centre Secondary Plan establishes an 87 metre maximum height limit for the site.
Zoning By-law:
The site is zoned General Commercial (C1). (See attached Schedule "B".) While the C1 zoning permits retail-commercial
uses and an apartment building, the application exceeds certain zoning regulations including height and density limits.
Comments:
Planning considerations:
Site Plan Approval application:
The applicant filed the subject Zoning By-law amendment application, and included conceptual drawings of their proposal
with the application. The applicant, however, did not submit a Site Plan Approval application. Council policy requires that
a concurrent Site Plan Approval application and fee be submitted for all amendment applications in North York Centre.
The City requires that the necessary application for Site Plan Approval and fee be received in order to report and initiate
the public review process. Accordingly, it is recommended that the applicant be required to submit a Site Plan Approval
application and fee, prior to the scheduling of a community consultation meeting.
Social Facility/Non-profit community centre use:
The applicant proposes to allocate a portion of the 2nd floor for Social Facility uses. Pursuant to Section 3.3 of the North
York Centre Secondary Plan, the GFA of a Social Facility use is exempted from the calculation of GFA and up to four
times the GFA of the Social Facility use is available as an incentive. The applicant has applied the density exemption
policy to the proposed Social Facility/non-profit community centre use and proposes to utilise the density incentive
provided by the same policy to increase the GFA used for residential purposes. A Social Facility may be used for, but is not
limited to, a day-care, drop-in counselling or crisis centre. The applicant advises that the proposed Social Facility is
intended to be made available to interested community groups for their use on a without charge basis. However, it is not
fully clear how the use will operate. Prior to the submission of a Final Report, it will be necessary to confirm the public
nature of the Social Facility use and who will operate the proposed Social Facility use, and whether the use meets the
criteria to qualify for the density incentive policy in the Secondary Plan.
Urban design and landscaping:
Based on the conceptual site plan and elevations provided with the Zoning By-law amendment application, the proposed
building is a high-rise residential tower situated on a three-storey podium. The main entrance to the commercial, retail and
Social Facility uses is on Yonge Street. The proposed retail uses are located on the ground floor as an indoor galleria. The
entrance to the residential condominium use is on Canterbury Place.
With the submission of the required Site Plan Approval application, revisions to the proposal will be required to:
_Improve the at-grade relationship between the building face and the adjacent public sidewalks and streets. In particular,
a revised proposal should show street-related retail uses on Yonge Street; improved street-wall animation along the
Ellerslie Avenue frontage; and landscaping on Canterbury Place which reflects the character of the street.
_Increase the amount of landscaped open space, in particular, at grade.
_Provide a view terminus or architectural element on the building on axis with Norton Avenue.
Submission of revised plans, including a Landscape Plan, are requested.
Parking and access:
The site has frontages on three streets: Canterbury Place, Ellerslie Avenue and Yonge Street.
The proposal shows a two curb-cut entrance/exit driveway off Canterbury Place and a separate vehicular entrance off
Ellerslie Avenue to access an outdoor ABM. The proposal should be revised to reduce the number of curb-cuts and
consolidate ABM, parking and loading access. Options to minimize the impacts of several curb-cuts and driveways,
including possible elimination of the ABM drive-through, will be examined with a review of a submitted Site Plan
Approval application.
In the North York Centre, all applications to amend the Zoning By-law to permit development having more than 5,000 m2
of total floor area require a qualified professional to attest, in the form of a Traffic Certification acceptable to Council, that
the vehicular traffic generated can be accommodated. The subject application will require Traffic Certification.
The applicant proposes to provide between a minimum of 176 parking spaces and a maximum of 252 parking spaces.
The application has been circulated to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services for his comments.
Calculation of density:
As it is currently understood, the applicant has utilised the lot area (154.4 m2) of a road widening dedication for Yonge
Street achieved in 1980 (By-law 114-80). The lot area of a dedication cannot normally be utilised to calculate as-of-right
density for the larger site. Accordingly, the as-of-right gross floor area calculations submitted by the applicant are
approximately 4% greater than can be achieved within the limits of Official Plan policy. The maximum permitted GFA,
including density incentives, is 15,746 m2, compared to the applicant's proposal which is 16,325 m2. The maximum
permitted GFA for retail and commercial uses is 3,149 m2, compared to the applicant's proposal which is 3,265 m2. The
proposal should be revised to meet the Secondary Plan density limits for this site.
Conclusions:
A Final Report will be completed which examines the planning issues, subsequent to the submission of a Site Plan
Approval application and plan revisions which address the described planning concerns.
Contact Name:
Michael Mizzi
Senior Planner
Community Planning, North District
Telephone: (416) 395-7106
E-mail: mmizzi@toronto.ca
Rob Dolan
Director
Community Planning, North District
Schedules:
AOfficial Plan map
BZoning map
CSite Plan
DSouth and East Elevations
ENorth and West Elevations
FPerspective
Location: [G:\Users\Mmizzi\Wpfiles\Reports\Z9917] and [G:\Cpd\P17\Forms\Z9917]
