October 8, 1999

To: Scarborough Community Council

From: Ted Tyndorf

Director of Community Planning, East District

Subject: Zoning By-law Amendment Application SC-Z19990017

VMP Properties Inc.

2085 Lawrence Avenue East

Part of Block B, Registered Plan 4539

Wexford Community

Scarborough Wexford

Purpose:

This report recommends approval of this application to amend the Wexford Community Zoning By-law No. 9511, to add restaurants to the limited list of Community Commercial Uses (CC) currently permitted on this site.

Financial Implications:

None.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that City Council:

(1) Amend the Wexford Community Zoning By-law No. 9511, as amended, with respect to Part of Block B, Registered Plan 4539, known municipally as 2085 Lawrence Avenue East, by deleting the current Exceptions in the By-law, only as they apply to this site, and replacing them with a new Exception providing for the following:

(a) Only the following uses shall be permitted:

- Banks

- Business and Professional Offices

- Ground signs which are non-accessory

- Marketplace signs

- Medical Centre

- Retail stores

- Restaurant

- Service Shops

- Studios

- Wall signs which are non-accessory

(b) The permitted Restaurant shall be limited to one establishment. Preparation and cooking of meals and sale of food and beverages to the public for consumption on or off the premises shall be permitted, but no stage or dance floor is permitted. Patron entrances and outdoor patios shall be limited to the north face of the building only.

(c) Pinball machines or other electronic or manually operated games shall be prohibited.

(2) Authorize such unsubstantive technical, stylistic or format changes as may be necessary to the Zoning By-law to properly carry out the intent of this resolution.

Background:

The subject property, the two westerly properties at 2055-2069 and 2075 Lawrence Avenue East, and lands on the north side of Lawrence Avenue, both east and west of Warden Avenue, are designated and zoned for Community Commercial uses. Taken together, these lands comprise a Community Commercial node for the Wexford Community which under the Official Plan is intended to provide a population of 15,000 to 30,000 people within a 1.5 kilometre radius with major food facilities and weekly shopping needs and services. All of the lands zoned Community Commercial (CC) directly abut single family residential dwellings, however the current prohibition on restaurants only applies to the three properties noted above, on the south side of Lawrence Avenue, east of Warden Avenue.

The history of various rezoning applications to permit restaurants on these three properties was detailed for Scarborough Community Council in the staff Preliminary Evaluation report on the subject application dated June 30, 1999. To summarize, the present or previous owners of all three properties have all applied for restaurant permissions. In 1981, the Council of the (former) Borough of Scarborough amended the by-law to permit restaurants on the subject property, however the decision was appealed and the Ontario Municipal Board ultimately permitted only a limited array of commercial uses excluding restaurants.

The current owner in 1992 applied again to amend the By-law to permit an expanded range of permitted commercial activities, including restaurants. The owner withdrew the restaurant request prior to Council's consideration of the application.

The property immediately to the west at 2075 Lawrence Avenue East since 1976 had been designated and zoned only for post office use. In 1992, the owner of the Wexford Plaza, who had purchased the property when it was declared surplus by Ottawa, applied to amend the Official Plan and Zoning By-law (Files P92030 and Z92051) to allow the full array of Community Commercial uses, including restaurants. Council limited the approval to permit only the activities of a Goodwill store.

As a result of the two 1992 proposals noted above, Council directed that the question of full commercial permissions on all three properties at this location be further reviewed. (Figure 3 illustrates the site plans from that period for all three properties.) Following a series of community consultations, Council in 1994 approved an expanded range of commercial uses including only banks, business and professional offices, medical centre, retail stores, service shops and studios for these properties, and again excluded restaurants.

The owners of the Wexford Plaza and 2075 Lawrence subsequently obtained 2055-2069 Lawrence Avenue East, and in 1996 applied for a rezoning of the latter site to allow a 230 square metre (2,500 square foot) restaurant. Given that the combined ownership with 2075 Lawrence enabled an integration of site access, vehicle circulation, parking, landscaping, grading and fencing over the two properties, Planning staff presented a Preliminary Evaluation Report to the (former) City of Scarborough Council recommending that community consultation be undertaken and a further report submitted. Council, however, refused the application at this stage.

That decision was appealed by the owners in 1998, and the hearing of the Ontario Municipal was held in January 1999. In its decision allowing the appeal on March 15, 1999, thereby allowing restaurants, the Board specifically noted that there are no policy constraints within either the overall Official Plan or the Wexford Community Secondary Plan to prohibit restaurants within a Community Commercial designation. The Board also found that the Citys parking requirements could be adequately satisfied, and that the residents concerns could be satisfied by restricting public access to the restaurant to the Lawrence Avenue face of the building, prohibiting any patio exposed to neighbouring residences, and requiring a privacy fence between the commercial use and the dwellings to the rear. (The Boards Order has not yet been issued pending resolution of certain outstanding site plan and mutual easement issues.)

The current application for 2085 Lawrence Avenue is seeking a similar restaurant permission as has recently been granted by the Board for the neighbouring property to the west.

The application has been processed in accordance with Scarborough Community Council's direction of July 15, 1999 responding to the staff Preliminary Evaluation Report. No concerns have been raised by any of the departments and agencies circulated.

Comments:

Planning staff agree with the recent finding of the Ontario Municipal Board that neither the Official Plan nor the Wexford Community Secondary Plan in particular, contain an express policy basis for any limitation on the location or distribution of restaurants within the Community Commercial designation. Restaurant uses in close proximity to residential uses have often been cause for concern in the past, however. The issue is usually less one of the use itself, than the potential for nuisances generated by the use such as noise, odour, garbage handling and parking. Over the years the municipality has responded to these concerns through various mechanisms such as requiring indoor garbage rooms, standardized restaurant parking regulations, property standards enforcement and the use of Site Plan Control. In the majority of cases, certainly within the City's Community Commercial nodes, restaurants can coexist well with other businesses and neighbouring properties.

As noted in the Preliminary Evaluation report on this application, the owner currently has no plans to establish a restaurant within the existing 1 129 square metre (12,150 square foot) building, largely because the currently available parking supply for all uses is only sufficient to accommodate an approximately 28 square metre (300 square foot) restaurant. A viably larger restaurant can only be accommodated through site and building modifications, if not full site redevelopment, to ensure both adequate parking supply and protection for abutting properties.

In this case, Planning staff feel the Site Plan Control process affords the City sufficient ability to address potential nuisance issues, notwithstanding introduction of a restaurant permission at this time. Staff note, however, that the recent Ontario Municipal Board decision for 2055-2069 Lawrence Avenue goes even further by approving additional performance standards for restaurant use on that property, including a limit of one restaurant establishment not exceeding 240 square metres (2,580 square feet), that no stage or dance floor is permitted, and no public entrance or outdoor patio is permitted facing neighbouring residences. To achieve a consistent standard for restaurant uses and a consistent level of protection for all residents to the south of these commercial properties, staff are prepared to recommend the application of similar standards to the subject site with the exception of a restaurant size limitation, given the different site and building characteristics of the two properties.

The Board also stipulated that no pinball and similar arcade games are permitted. Such uses are already prohibited on all three properties, except for premises where liquor is legally sold, by Exception in the By-law. The Board's decision would effectively supersede this permission for licensed premises. Again, to maintain consistent standards between the properties, Council may wish to also apply this further restriction by the Board to the subject lands.

Conclusion:

Restaurants are integral business elements which contribute substantially to the health and vibrancy of active, successful commercial centres and streets. They are commonly provided for in commercial districts across Scarborough. Lawrence Avenue in particular is already characterized by numerous successful restaurants in the vicinity offering a wide diversity of cuisines. The addition of a restaurant permission for the subject site is appropriate and will provide additional business opportunities for both the owner and the Lawrence Avenue business community, as well as greater public choice. Through both the proposed performance standards and the application of Site Plan Control for any site improvement necessary to accommodate a restaurant, Planning staff feel the use can be satisfactorily accommodated without undue impact on neighbouring properties.

Contact Name:

Rod Hines, Principal Planner

Scarborough Civic Centre

Telephone: (416) 396-7020

Fax: (416) 396-4265

E-mail: hines@city.scarborough.on.ca

Ted Tyndorf, MCIP, RPP

Director of Community Planning, East District