2015 LAWRENCE AVENUE WEST - PRELIMINARY EVALUATION REPORT

ZONING BY-LAW AMENDMENT APPLICATION

Ward 27, York Humber.

Director of Community Planning, West District

(January 29, 1999)

Purpose:

To provide preliminary comments on the Zoning By-law Amendment application to rezone the subject lands from "PE - Prestige Employment" to "CE - Commercial Employment."

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

City funding is not required. There are no impacts on capital or operating budgets.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that:

(1)a Community Information Meeting be held to present the proposal to the local community; and

(2)the application continue to be circulated and, following completion of the staff report, a Public Meeting be scheduled by Community Council.

Background:

Site and Surrounding Area

The 2.3 hectare (5.8 acre) vacant property is located on the south side of Lawrence Avenue, between the CN-CP Rail corridor and Pine Street (see Appendix 1 - Location Map), and has a frontage on Lawrence Avenue West of 215 metres (705 ft). The property, more commonly known as the Lawrence Business Park - Phase II lands, is surrounded by the Lawrence Business Park (a one-storey industrial/commercial condominium development) on the south, the CN-CP Rail corridor and a City Fire Station on the west, a large industrial use (GE Shnier Company) on the east and, across Lawrence Avenue West, a neighbourhood of primarily single detached homes.

Official Plan and Zoning

The site is designated Employment in the Official Plan and is located within the Lawrence Employment Area as set out by the Weston Secondary Plan. The Secondary Plan allows Council to pass by-laws for the area permitting a broad range of employment uses. The site is zoned "PE - Prestige Employment" by Zoning By-law 1-83.

Comment:

Proposal

The applicant proposes to rezone the site from "PE - Prestige Employment" to "CE - Commercial Employment." The applicant has not submitted development plans at this time, and is agreeable to being bound by the zoning regulations applicable to the CE zone and by requirements arising from the Site Plan Approval process. Both zones permit a broad range of industrial and commercial employment uses. The maximum building height permitted by both zones is 6 storeys or 20 metres, whichever is greater. The only differences between the two zones are as follows.

The CE - Commercial Employment Zone permits retail stores with no minimum size restrictions, whereas the PE - Prestige Employment Zone requires retail stores to have a minimum gross floor area (g.f.a.) of 1500 m² (16,100 ft²). In the PE zone, smaller retail stores (less than 1500 m² g.f.a.) are only permitted in conjunction with larger retail stores (over 1500 m²). The applicant contends that it is difficult to find large retail tenants, and therefore, the minimum gross floor area provision within the PE zone is a deterrent to the marketable development of the property.

Unlike the PE zone, the CE zone permits public garages and theatres.

Issues:

The main issue respecting rezoning the property from PE to CE is the elimination of the minimum retail store size provision. The intent of the provision is to encourage larger retail uses that cannot be accommodated within the former City of York's retail main streets. By eliminating the minimum gross floor area provision, the lands then become eligible for a traditional "strip plaza" development that does not include an "anchor" store with a gross floor area greater than 1500 m². This may be an issue with businesses in local area. Planning staff will be considering a variety of alternatives including maintaining the zoning as it currently exists, rezoning the lands to CE as proposed, or creating a site specific zoning where all the CE uses are permitted, but with a retail store minimum gross floor area provision less than 1500 m².

Conclusion:

The proposal would benefit from a Community Information Meeting to present the proposed Zoning By-law amendment to the local community.

Contact Name:

Henry ByresTel: (416) 394-2618

Senior PlannerFax: (416) 394-2782

(A copy of Appendix 1 referred to in the foregoing report was forwarded to all members of Council, with the agenda of the York Community Council for the meeting of February17and18,1999, and a copy thereof is on file in the Clerk's Division, YorkCivicCentre.)