Request for Direction

Ontario Municipal Board Appeal by Burnac Corporation

P89025/Z89049/S90055 McLevin Avenue and Neilson Road

Ward 18 - Scarborough Malvern

 The Scarborough Community Council recommends the adoption of the following report (April 22, 1998) from the Commissioner of Planning and Buildings, Scarborough:

 Purpose:

 The purpose of this report is to seek direction of Council on the position to be taken by staff with respect to the appeals of the above noted applications by Burnac Corporation. A pre-hearing conference of the Board is scheduled for June 5, 1998 with the full hearing scheduled for

September 14, 1998.

 Recommendations:

 It is recommended that Council:

 (1)direct the Commissioner of Planning and Buildings to:

 (a)negotiate with the applicant to achieve the following improvements to the applications:

 (i)an increased office component;

(ii)a more prominent commercial building at the McLevin/Neilson corner;

(iii)an increased front yard setback and more visually interesting facades for the proposed townhouses;

(iv)improved facade and roofline treatment for the apartment building;

(v)more efficient pedestrian and vehicular circulation on the site;

(vi)a revised zoning proposal to more accurately reflect the proposal with respect to the height of the apartment buildings and the size of the commercial space;

 (b)conduct a community information meeting, in consultation with the Ward Councillors, prior to the June 5, 1998, pre-hearing conference; and

 (2)direct the City Solicitor to:

 (a)attend the scheduled June 5, 1998, pre-hearing conference and, if necessary, the September 14, 1998, full hearing with instructions to seek a settlement based on the substantial resolution of the matters noted above and consideration of any additional planning matters arising from the community information meeting; and

 (b)failing negotiation of a settlement, oppose these applications at the Ontario Municipal Board.

 Background:

 Burnac Corporation has referred the above noted applications to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). The applications are to amend the Official Plan from District Commercial and Office Uses and the Zoning By-law from AAgricultural - Residential Uses@ to permit development of a 1.85 hectare (4.56 acre) site at the northwest corner of McLevin Avenue and Neilson Road for 260 apartment units, with a maximum height of 17 storeys, 16 townhouses and 6,800 square metres (73,000 square feet) of retail and office uses. (Although not specified in the application, redesignation to Commercial Mixed Use at density of 150 units per hectare (60 units per acre) would be required).

 Also referred to the Ontario Municipal Board is a site plan control application showing two 14-storey apartment towers, with 259 units, 12 three-storey townhouses and 1,850 square metres (20,000 square feet) of retail and office uses.

 Location:

 This property was originally part of the provincial land ownership bounded by Neilson Road, McLevin Avenue, the CPR line and McLevin Community Park. It was acquired by the Burnac Corporation which applied in 1989 for official plan and zoning amendments to permit a high density residential and commercial project.

 The 1.85 hectare (4.56 acre) site is bounded by Neilson Road, McLevin Avenue, a hedgerow of trees running north from McLevin and the Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) lands to the west and north. It is north of the Malvern Town Centre. The Mayfair-on-the-Green apartment buildings, which range up to 19 storeys and at densities of 175 units per hectare (71 units per acre), are directly to the east of Neilson Road. The site is diagonally opposite a three storey medical office building. The vacant south-west corner of Neilson and McLevin, owned by Alexis Nihon, has been zoned for a 15 storey apartment building with townhouses, at a density of 247 units per hectare (100 units per acre), and a retail component.

 Official Plan:

 The Malvern Secondary Plan designates most of the Burnac site for District Commercial uses, providing for a shopping centre to serve a population of between 50,000 and 125,000 people. The western part of the site is designated for Office Uses, providing for professional business, administrative and government office uses and limited commercial uses.

 This designation, which also extends onto the adjacent ORC lands, provides for approximately 2,000 office employees.

 The Intermediate Centre policies of the Plan apply to central Malvern. Each AIntermediate Centre@ is planned to accommodate 5,000 to 10,000 office employees within approximately a

400 metre (1,312 feet) walking distance of a major public transportation facility and in close proximity to major commercial facilities. Two other locations within the Malvern central area also have targets for 2,000 office employees.

 Zoning:

 The Burnac site is zoned AAgricultural-Residential Uses@ under the Agricultural Holding By-law, permitting a single family dwelling unit.

 History of the Application:

 Two community information meetings were held, one on February 28, 1990, and another on December 10, 1991, to discuss the Burnac proposal. The first meeting was attended by approximately 10 residents, the local Councillor, the applicant and staff. Comments expressed at the meeting included the need for another school, the number of apartments already in the area, additional parkland and a request for a new police station.

 The 1991 meeting attracted 12 residents. Additional issues raised included the relationship between high density and increased crime, the need for a pedestrian overpass on Neilson Road between McLevin Avenue and Tapscott Road, the capacity of sewers, safety considerations regarding the gas regulating station and the rail line, and woodlot preservation.

 The Burnac application was inactive for several years pending testing and cleanup of low level radioactive contamination. These concerns were resolved in 1995.

 In February 1995, a preliminary evaluation report on the ORC and Burnac proposals was prepared. Staff proposed holding a community meeting. Scarborough Council instead directed that staff negotiate with the owners to achieve the employment opportunities and other objectives of the Malvern Secondary Plan.

 Staff held discussions with both applicants. However, the ORC applications have been inactive since November 1996 and the Burnac applications have now been appealed.

 On February 8, 1998, a pre-hearing conference was held by the OMB. It was determined that a second pre-conference hearing would be scheduled for June 5, allowing sufficient time for City staff to report to Council and obtain instructions. Four weeks starting September 14 have been allocated by the Board for a full hearing if required.

 Comments:

 Should the Existing Official Plan Designations be Retained?

 The greater part of the site falls under the District Commercial designation. In staff=s opinion, the objective of this designation, which is to provide for a shopping centre to serve the community, has already been met by the development of the Malvern Town Centre. The Town Centre owners have in fact expressed concern that the competition from a large amount of retail space on the Burnac site would weaken their retail centre; they are not opposing the amount shown on the current Burnac proposal.

 Assessing the merits of retaining the Office Uses designation is somewhat more complex. This designation stems from a 1976 City-wide employment study. The findings of the study recognized a fundamental shift in employment from traditional industrial jobs to the office sector. It proposed a planning strategy including four Intermediate Centres to be focal points, each to accommodate 5,000 to 10,000 of these new office jobs. One of them is in the central area of the Malvern Community.

 The criteria for the selection of locations for office employment uses were:

 (1)proximity to a major transportation facility;

(2)proximity to a community or district shopping centre;

(3)deficiency of employment opportunities in the general area; and

(4)provision of services to the surrounding population and workers.

Many circumstances affecting these factors have changed in the past two decades. The prospects for a major transportation facility within Malvern have diminished. The Official Plan has been amended to delete the rapid transit alignment north of Sheppard Avenue, recognizing a new alignment further to the west. Staff have been advised that a GO station here is not feasible.

 The study concluded that office uses can support an adjacent District Centre by providing market support and visually re-enforcing the core image and sharing parking. However, uses other than offices, such as high rise apartments, can also generate some of these benefits.

 The 1976 study identified Malvern as an area deficient in employment. However, this was at a time when the Tapscott Employment District had only 200 jobs. Malvern is now surrounded on three sides by employment districts, two of which are the largest in the City. The Tapscott District alone has almost 4,000 office jobs. The Malvern area is no longer deficient in jobs.

 Furthermore, significant changes have been made to the Scarborough Official Plan in recent years providing for offices throughout all employment districts, thereby greatly increasing many potential alternative locations for this use.

 Finally, the applicant=s planning submission has noted the lack of success of designated intermediate office centres elsewhere throughout the Toronto region, such as at Lawrence/Morningside/Kingston Road, Kennedy/Eglinton, the civic centres of the former Cities of York and Etobicoke, Erin Mills Town Centre and Brampton/Bramalea.

 Potential Merits of the Burnac Proposal:

 (1)the high density residential project would provide additional market support for the Malvern Town Centre;

 (2)the two proposed apartment towers and the proposed retail and office building at the McLevin/Neilson intersection would reinforce the Adowntown@ image of the Malvern core;

 (3)the towers would be in scale with existing and proposed high-rise apartments within the core;

 (4)the residential uses are well located with respect to schools and community facilities;

 (5)piped services are presently available so the proposal is not premature; and

 (6)the proposed building locations would not preclude implementation of a comprehensive development/plans for the entire block, including the ORC lands.

 Remaining Concerns:

 The site plan indicates only a single storey commercial building at the corner. Earlier versions of the site plan showed a three storey building, the design of which had a much more substantial presence at this important corner. The deletion of the upper two office floor reduces the office employment potential and is not reflected in the proposed zoning by-law performance standards.

 Staff have a number of other design concerns related to the quality of the designs for the elevations of all of the buildings, the front yard setback of the townhouses and on-site circulation.

 Provision of school accommodation remains a concern. It should be noted that the Toronto School Board recently wrote to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs stating that the students from this development could be accommodated.

 Although amendment of the Plan to delete the Office Uses designation from the Burnac site may reduce the potential to achieve the 2,000 office jobs target in this area, the potential reduction would be only by a few hundred jobs. The Intermediate Centre minimum target of 5,000 jobs would remain achievable. At such time as proposals of the much larger ORC site are revived, this issue may have to be reconsidered.

 Since the last public information meeting on this proposal was in 1991, it would be appropriate to go to the community with the current proposals.

 Conclusions:

 I am prepared to recommend to Council that, subject to substantial progress in negotiating a resolution to the matters raised in this report, staff should be directed to negotiate a settlement of the Burnac appeal.

 Staff, in consultation with the Ward Councillors, should conduct a public information meeting, to include a presentation by the applicant. Staff will attempt to negotiate the resolution of any additional matters arising from this meeting.

 The City Solicitor should be directed to attend the June 5, 1998 pre-hearing and, subject to having reached a settlement, present this to the OMB. Any remaining issues or public concerns would be reported to the Board.

 The City Solicitor, with support of planning staff, should similarly attend the full hearing should this be necessary.

 Contact Name:

 David Beasley

Principal Planner, Community Planning Division

Phone: (416) 396-7026

Fax: (416) 396-4265

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