June 30, 1999
To:Scarborough Community Council
From:Ted Tyndorf
Director of Community Planning, East District
Subject:PRELIMINARY EVALUATION REPORT
Official Plan Amendment Application SP1999014
Zoning By-law Amendment Application SZ1999021
Canada Lands Corporation
North side of McLevin Avenue, east and west of Tapscott Road
Malvern Community
Scarborough Malvern
Purpose:
This report provides a preliminary evaluation of applications by Canada Lands Company to amend the Official Plan and
Zoning By-law for the Malvern Community to provide for the development of their 16 hectares (40 acres) holding in the
centre of Malvern for low and medium density residential uses. The concept plan submitted with the application provides
for 592 units, of which 28% are semi-detached and street townhouses and the balance are block townhouses.
Financial Implications:
None.
Recommendations:
(1)Hold a Community Information Meeting, with the notice circulation to be determined in
consultation with the Ward Councillors, to include residents, property owners and local businesses.
(2)Meet with representatives of the two school boards to develop a strategy to address the future school capacity needs
resulting from this and other development proposals on the Malvern area.
(3)Meet with the Ward Councillors and community leaders to identify other community needs which may potentially be
addressed through this project.
Continue to process the applications in the normal manner.
Target a Public Meeting for late 1999.
Background:
Canada Lands Corporation (CLC) is proposing development of 80 townhouse units on the westerly parcel and 512 units on
the easterly parcel of which 70 would be semi-detached units, 118 would be street townhouse units and 324 would be
townhouses in two blocks.
The principal natural features are woodlots, the largest west of Tapscott Road and two of lesser size to the east. There are
several hedgerows. The site is generally flat, sloping gradually towards McLevin Avenue.
A vacant hydro easement traverses the two blocks from southwest to northeast. The only structure on the site is a
Consumers Gas regulating station, which is soon to be removed. Although not presently owned by CLC, this property is
included in the application. Both Tapscott and Neilson Roads are elevated over the CPR line.
To the south of McLevin Avenue is the Malvern Town Centre shopping mall with a City owned woodlot near Neilson
Road. To the north of the CPR line is residential Neighbourhood No. 1 of the Malvern Community. The CPR alignment is
fenced, but air photos clearly show informal pedestrian pathways converging on a point across the track on the north
boundary.
To the east of Neilson Road are high rise apartments. To the west is Scott Westney House and the playing fields of the
McLevin Community Park.
The proposal is a radical change from the Ontario Realty Corporation proposal for these lands dealt with by Scarborough
Council in February, 1995. At that time ORC was proposing 1900 residential units, 16,000 square metres (170,000 square
feet) of offices and 4,000 square metres (43,000 square feet) of commercial uses and a school.
In 1995, Scarborough Council directed staff to negotiate with ORC to achieve a residential component closer to the 600
residential units and 3000 employment opportunities provided for in the Official Plan. No public information meeting was
directed. Negotiations achieved some reduction in the unit count, but were broken off in November of 1996 without any
resolution of the issues.
The Burnac project, 259 apartment units, 12 townhouses and retail uses at the north-west corner of McLevin Avenue and
Neilson road has been approved by the Ontario Municipal Board.
The Official Plan designations of the CLC properties are as follows:
High Density Residential, providing for apartments at a density of 125 units/ha (50 units per acre).
Office Uses, providing for professional, business, administrative and government office uses, for a total of 2,000 office
employees. District Commercial Uses, providing for a shopping centre offering both shopping and convenience goods,
with a department store as the leading tenant, serving a population of between 50,000 and 125,000 people within a 4 km
(0.6 mile) radius.
Transportation Uses, providing for public transportation facilities including commuter rail and/or bus depot and off-street
parking.
District and Community Park, providing for major active recreational facilities and specialized recreation or passive park
purposes and Neighbourhood Park, providing for a local park within a neighbourhood.
The central Malvern area, focussed on the shopping centre block to the south, is one of the City's four Intermediate
Centres.
The easterly property is zoned "Agricultural-Residential". Most of the westerly parcel is zoned "Major Open Space -
District Park".
Comments:
The present Official Plan designations were premised firstly on the extension of the Scarborough Rapid Transit line to
Malvern and secondly on the ability of this location to compete successfully with other suburban locations for office
development.
Scarborough Council effectively deleted the possibility of the SRT service to central Malvern when it amended the Official
Plan to realign the future SRT to the Markham Road corridor. Staff have also been advised by GO Transit that a GO station
here is not feasible. Lacking proximity to Highway 401 access, future office and retail development is likely to be limited
to that which serves the local community. The basis for the Transportation and Office Use designations no longer exists.
It is therefore timely for Council to consider an alternative scenario for development of these key properties.
Prior to submission, CLC has consulted extensively with City staff and with interested environmental groups. In response
to concerns expressed, the original concept has been revised to provide for the preservation of 3.6 hectares (9 acres) of the
west woodlot and .6 hectares (1.4 acres) of the smaller, but high quality, east woodlot.
Potential Benefits:
(1)The proposal would result in the development of the last remaining large parcels of vacant land in central Malvern,
thereby completing the community's core. It would create an attractive residential streetscape along the north side of
McLevin Avenue.
(2)The scale of the project would have minimal visual impact on the residential neighbourhood to the north.
The plan provides for preservation of most of the two largest woodlots on the property.
(4)The proposed development would have much less traffic impact than the uses which could occur under the existing
Official Plan designations and is within the capacity of existing services.
Potential Concerns:
(1)The CLC plan does not propose a school site. There is an existing shortfall in public elementary school
accommodation in central Malvern which is projected to increase over the next few years even in the absence of the CLC
development.
The CLC plan does not address the grade separated pedestrian crossings indicated in the Secondary Plan. These run north
from the east block across the CPR line and south across McLevin Avenue, and are links in comprehensive pedestrian
sytem linking residential areas, parks and schools in Central Malvern.
Conclusions:
The Canada Lands Company proposal presents an opportunity to complete the development of the Malvern core with an
attractive low-rise residential project which would retain the most significant upland woodlot features of the site. Although
it is a significant departure from the original plan for the area, it reflects the changed transportation access potential of the
site and its reduced potential for employment uses.
The absence of a school site in the plan raises concerns about the ability of the school system to accommodate the student
enrolment which will be generated by this and other residential projects to be built in central Malvern in the near future.
Contact Name:
David Beasley, MCIP, RPP
Scarborough Civic Centre
Telephone: (416) 396-7026
Fax: (416) 396-4265
E-mail: beasley@city.scarborough.on.ca
Ted Tyndorf, MCIP, RPP
Director of Community Planning, East District
DWB/nk
