August 30, 1999

To:Scarborough Community Council

From:Ted Tyndorf

Director of Community Planning, East District

Subject:PRELIMINARY EVALUATION REPORT

Official Plan Amendment Application SC-P1999011

Zoning By-law Amendment Applications SC-Z1999019 and

SC-Z1999027 to SC-Z19990031 inclusive

Draft Plan of Subdivision Applications SC-T1999003 &

SC-T1999006 to SC-T1999010 inclusive

Village Securities

554056 Ontario Limited

Silvercore Properties Inc.

M & R Holdings

Neilson Development Corporation

Staines Development Corporation

Steeles Avenue; Rouge River;

CPR Havelock, Belleville and Connector Lines

Morningside Heights Community (formerly Tapscott Employment District) and Upper Rouge Community

Scarborough Malvern

Purpose:

This report provides a preliminary evaluation of one official plan amendment application and six applications for amendment to the Zoning By-law and draft plans of subdivision. These applications follow from the Ontario Municipal Board approval of the Official Plan Amendment for the Morningside Heights Community. This new community covers approximately 300 hectares (750 acres) of land formerly within the Tapscott Employment District. The secondary plan provides for approximately 2500 low and medium density housing units, community facilities, commercial uses and a business park.

The official plan amendment application is for the 10 hectare (25 acres) Village Securities property located in the eastern part of the community, north and south of the Hydro corridor. The OMB decision did not amend the existing Open Space designation applying to these lands.

Financial Implications:

The applicants may request a rebate of development charges for part of the cost of oversizing and extending the sanitary sewer trunk from its present terminus on Staines Road at the Ontario Hydro corridor westward through the landowners' properties.

It is the intention of the landowners to construct only part of the Morningside Avenue extension necessary to provide access to the residential development; the City would be expected to construct the balance of this arterial road.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that Scarborough Community Council direct the Director of Community Planning, East District, to continue to process the applications in the normal manner and to target a Public Meeting for the first quarter of 2000.

Background:

Official Plan

After an extended hearing commencing in late 1998 the OMB, in February 1999, approved the landowners' Official Plan amendment application for the Morningside Heights area. This application proposed a new residential community of approximately 2500 detached, semi-detached, street townhouse and multiple dwellings, with schools, parks, neighbourhood and community shopping facilities and a 26 hectare (65 acres) business park. The Board decision also approved a 100 metre (330 feet) greenspace corridor centred on the Morningside Tributary, widening in the north to include the wooded areas and adjacent to the corridor, as well as other greenspace links and buffers.

The secondary plan approved by the OMB is shown on Figure 2. This plan incorporates several changes to the original proposal by the applicants as a result of the OMB decision. The first change is a 30 metre (100 feet) buffer along the top of bank of Rouge River Valley, wider than that originally proposed by the landowners. Except where this lies within the Cedarbrae Golf Course, this buffer is shown on the draft subdivision plans as land to be dedicated to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority or as parkland to be dedicated to the City.

The second change applies to the two Village Securities properties. This company is not a member of the Morningside Heights landowners' group. In response to requests by the environmental interest groups attending the hearing, the Board agreed to the retention of the existing Open Space designation on these two properties "on the understanding that it would entertain a refinement at a later date, if cogent reasons are furnished." Village Securities was not represented at the hearing and consequently did not object.

The Board reserved issuing its final order pending the resolution of concerns raised by the City with respect to policies for the business park.

Lands below a line 10 metre (33 feet) above the top of bank of the Rouge River Valley fall within the Upper Rouge Secondary Plan proposed by Official Plan Amendment 721. Although approved by both Scarborough Council and the OMB, final approval of OPA 721 is awaiting Cabinet approval. The Province has declared the amendment to be a matter of Provincial interest. The valley lands are proposed to be designated Regional Natural Environment, providing primarily for conservation, agricultural and limited recreational uses.

Both the Morningside Tributary corridor and the Rouge Valley and its top of bank buffer fall within the boundary of the Rouge Park.

Zoning

The majority of lands within Morningside Heights are zoned "Agricultural Zone (AG)," in the Employment Districts Zoning By-law - Tapscott Employment District, permitting a variety of agricultural uses (Figure 3).

Properties west of Neilson Road and south of the Ontario Hydro corridor are zoned "Industrial Zone (M)" and "General Industrial Zone (MG)".

The remainder of the lands west of Staines Road, including most of the Brookside Golf Course and part of the Cedar Brae Golf Course, are zoned "Agricultural - Institutional Uses (I)" in the Agricultural Holding By-law, permitting private and public recreational uses. East of Staines Road, the lands are zoned "Agricultural Uses (AG)" in the same by-law, permitting a range of agricultural uses, private home day care and group homes.

In 1997, Scarborough Council passed the Upper Rouge - Hillside Community Zoning By-law covering lands east of a line running 10 metres (33 feet) above the top of bank of the Rouge River Valley. Most of the lands affected by the by-law are proposed to be zoned "Golf Course Zone (G)" or "Natural Environment Zone (NE)", permitting recreational uses and limited ancillary uses in existing dwellings. This by-law remains under appeal.

Site Description

Existing uses include the Brookside Golf Course, a portion of the Cedar Brae Golf and Country Club, land in agricultural production, several single family homes and a parking lot for construction equipment. The area contains the road allowances of Neilson Avenue, Passmore Avenue and Staines Road as well as a hydro corridor which traverses the central portion of the area from west to east.

The Morningside Tributary flows in a relatively natural channel through the north part of the community. Woodlots abut the stream corridor in this area. North of the Hydro line a diversion invert built in the 1980's redirects storm flows through a pipe to a diversion pond in to the Rouge Valley. The diversion facility was never fully completed and has the effect of reducing base flow. The stream channel is reduced to a roadside ditch below the Hydro corridor and to a shallow, ill-defined channel north of the CPR line. Subtributaries, the Neilson and Pitchfork, join the Morningside from the west. There is another woodlot in the south abutting the CPR connector line.

West of the CPR Havelock line and south of the connector line are industrial uses within the Tapscott Employment District and industrially designated lands which have remained vacant because of lack of services. South of Passmore Avenue is the provincial facility for storage of low-level radioactive soil South of the CPR Belleville line is residential development within the Malvern community.

Proposal

Rezoning and draft plan of subdivision applications have been made covering 203.6 hectares (503 acres) within the Morningside Heights area (Figures 4 and 5). A total of 2457 units are proposed on these six land ownerships, of which approximately 75 percent are single detached units of between 18.3 and 9.75 metres frontage (60 and 32 feet), 8 percent are semi-detached units and the balance are street and condominium townhouses.

SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS

The applicant's planning consultant estimates that approximately 300 additional units could be generated on other lands within Morningside Heights such as the Cedarbrae, High Glen and Kaposi-Raponi lands. (This estimate may be low as no estimate is given for the Maduri-Pittelli property.)

The Village Securities proposal also seeks an official plan redesignation from Open Space for most of its tableland area.

Comments:

Potential Benefits

(1)The plans of subdivision will secure public dedication of the most significant environmental features of the properties, including:

-a 100 metre (330 foot) corridor centered on the Morningside Tributary;

-the woodlots adjoining the Tributary channel;

-30 metre (100 foot) top-of-bank buffer along much of the Rouge River valley, in addition to lands within the valley;

-20 metre (66 foot) corridors along the Neilson and Pitchfork sub-tributaries;

-trail and hedgerow dedications.

The dedications to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and to the City will significantly protect environmentally significant lands identified in the Rouge Park Management Plan and the Morningside Tributary Subwatershed Study.

(2)A fund of $1 million, contributed by the landowners and jointly administered with Save the Rouge Valley System Inc., will further implement environmental objectives within this area.

(3)Development will expedite and provide necessary easements to extend the sanitary trunk sewer, which now terminates on Staines Road at the Hydro corridor, to service over 150 hectares (400 acres) of future employment lands south of Steeles Avenue between Middlefield Road and the CPR line.

(4)The subdivision plan will limit the number of road crossings of the Morningside Tributary to two, providing for only one more than at present.

(5)The design guidelines proposed will achieve a high quality of urban design for the community.

Potential Concerns:

(1)Stormwater management techniques will have to achieve the objectives of the Morningside Tributary Subwatershed Study.

(2)The subwatershed study emphasised the importance of linkages between the Morningside Tributary and the Rouge Valley; the proposed plans rely primarily on the Ontario Hydro corridor to provide this function. It must be determined whether this linkage is sufficient to serve this objective, and how it can be enhanced and secured on a long-term.

(3)The developers are expected to request a credit against development control charges for part or all of the cost of the trunk sewer extension. The amount of the credit will be the subject of review.

(4)The developers propose to build only part of the Morningside Avenue arterial within the community, sufficient only to provide access to the residential development from the Neilson Road connection to north of the Hydro corridor. There is no intention at this time to contribute to the Morningside-Finch intersection improvement, which would likely require a grade separation.

(5)Although the plan provides for school sites, interim arrangements for providing elementary school accommodation prior to construction of a school within the community are a concern, given the present lack of space in the schools within the Malvern community.

Conclusions:

The layout of the proposed subdivision plans conform to the Secondary Plan approved by the OMB for Morningside Heights. Their implementation will enable public acquisition of environmentally important lands with the Morningside Heights community.

The "environmental" character of the community could be enhanced by increasing exposure of the open space system to the road system.

Appropriate stormwater management techniques are a critical to achieving the objectives of the Morningside Tributary Subwatershed and may be a concern.

Contact Name:

David Beasley

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

DB/PH/nk