Preliminary Report - Official Plan and Zoning Amendment

Application UDOZ-98-07 - Michael A. Cohen -

619 Lawrence Avenue West - North York Spadina

 The North York Community Council recommends:

 (1) the adoption of the following report (May 5, 1998) from the Acting Commissioner of Planning, North York Civic Centre, and that the application be refused; and

 (2)staff of the Municipal Standards Division, North York Civic Centre, be requested to have the subject property conform with the existing by-law provisions:

 Purpose:

 The purpose of this report is to evaluate an application to amend the official plan and zoning by-law to permit professional medical offices and a basement apartment within the existing one storey single family dwelling.

 Recommendation:

 It is recommended that:

 (1)this application be refused.

 Background:

 Proposal:

 The applicant is requesting amendments to the Official Plan and Zoning By-law to recognize both the existing medical offices on the main level and the basement apartment within the existing dwelling. There is no new construction associated with this proposal (refer to schedule "C").

 The pertinent site statistics of the current proposal are as follows:

 Official Plan

 The site is designated Residential Density One (RD1) which primarily permits single family and semi-detached dwellings. The Official Plan policies would support a redesignation to commercial uses where the lot is within a Residential Community, located on a major arterial road and grouped with existing commercial designations; where development meets the Compatibility Criteria set out in Part C.5, Section 2.6.0 of the Official Plan and where the use does not jeopardize the stability of nearby residentially designated lands.

 Zoning By-law

 The property is zoned R4 which permits single family dwellings. A zoning by-law amendment is required for this proposal (refer to schedule "B").

 Discussion:

 The proposal does not meet the Official Plan's criteria for the creation of new commercially designated lands. Although the site is included within the Englemount Neighbourhood and is located on an arterial road, the property is not grouped with other commercial uses. In addition, the redesignation of this site would jeopardize the stability of the nearby residentially designated lands along the south side of Lawrence Avenue. The introduction of commercial uses will set a precedent for further changes to the remaining stable single family homes along Lawrence Avenue.

 The south side of Lawrence Avenue consists of well maintained single family residential homes for three City blocks between the Bathurst Street Sub-Centre and the Allen Road Arterial Corridor Area designations. There is no evidence of decline in the area and there are no recent applications in the nearby vicinity requesting any redevelopment. On the north side of Lawrence Avenue, there are Arterial Corridor Area designations which permit mixed use development generally at a density of 2.0 FSI. However, a major portion of these lands are occupied with Bathurst Heights Secondary School which is not likely to redevelop in the near future.

 It is not appropriate at this time to consider a change in the single family nature of the south side of Lawrence Avenue. There are many opportunities for the commercial uses to be located in Commercially or Arterial Corridor designated areas.

 There are no city-wide issues associated with this application.

 Conclusions:

 The introduction of commercial offices on the south side of Lawrence Avenue, between Allen Road and Bathurst Street, by way of redesignation of the lands to Commercial is inconsistent with surrounding land uses. This area is characterized as a stable residential area. Given the single family dwellings are well kept and there is no evidence of decline in the area, applications for mixed use developments are inappropriate at this time.

 Contact Name:

 Anthony Rossi, Planner

Phone: 395-7114Facsimile: 395-7155

 ---------------

 Dr. Michael Cohen appeared before the North York Community Council in connection with this matter.

 A recorded vote on a motion by Councillor Moscoe, North York Spadina, to refuse the application, was as follows:

 FOR:Councillors Mammoliti, Sgro, Moscoe, Augimeri, Berger, Flint, Filion, Minnan-Wong

 AGAINST:Councillors Li Preti, Feldman, Gardner

 ABSENT:Councillors Chong, Shiner, King

Carried

 A recorded vote on a motion by Councillor Moscoe, North York Spadina, to have the property conform to the existing by-law provisions, was as follows:

 FOR:Councillors Mammoliti, Sgro, Moscoe, Augimeri, Feldman, Berger, Flint, Gardner, Filion, Minnan-Wong

 AGAINST:NIL

 ABSENT:Councillors Li Preti, Chong, Shiner, King

Carried

 (A copy of the schedules, draft official plan amendment, draft zoning by-law amendment and site plan referred to in the foregoing report is on file in the office of the City Clerk, North York Civic Centre.)