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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPSD-019-07 REPORT PLANNING SERVICES Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE Date: Monday, February 5, 2007 Report #:File #: By-law #: PSD-019-07 ZBA 2006-0024 Subject: REZONING TO PERMIT AN ADDITION TO A PLACE OF WORSHIP APPLICANT: HOPE FELLOWSHIP CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH RECOMMENDATIONS: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report PSD-019-07 be received; 2. THAT the rezoning application submitted by Reinders and Reider Ltd. on behalf of Hope Fellowship Christian Reformed Church be APPROVED; 3. THAT the By-law contained in Attachment 4 be forwarded to Council for ADOPTION; 4. THAT a Zoning By-law amendment for the Removal of Holding (H) be forwarded to Council at such time all site plan and transportation issues have been resolved; and, 5. THAT all interested parties listed in this report and any delegations be advised of Council’s decision. Submitted by: __________________________ Reviewed by: _________________________ David J. Crome, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Franklin Wu, Director of Planning Services Chief Administrative Officer CP/DJC/df January 30, 2007 CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L1C 3A6 T (905)623-3379 F (905)623-0830 REPORT NO.: PSD-019-07 PAGE 2 1.0 APPLICATION DETAILS 1.1 Owner: Hope Fellowship Christian Reformed Church 1.2 Agent: Reinders and Reider 1.3 Rezoning: To rezone the lands from “Agricultural Exception (A-73)” and “Agricultural (A)” to permit the expansion of the existing place of worship. 1.4 Location: 1685 Bloor Street. 2.0 BACKGROUND 2.1 On September 11, 2006, Hope Fellowship Christian Reformed Church submitted an application to rezone the lands south of the existing church to permit the expansion of a place of worship. A site plan application was submitted simultaneously with the rezoning application to facilitate the construction of a 1608.7 square metre addition. 2.2 The existing building was originally built in 1959 as a public elementary school but sold to Hope Fellowship Christian Reformed Church in 2003. On September 13, 2003 Council approved By-law 2003-113 to permit the existing building to be used as a place of worship. 2.3 The existing building is currently used for meeting rooms throughout the week. The addition would include a sanctuary for weekly worship services. 3.0 PUBLIC NOTICE AND SUBMISSIONS 3.1 A public meeting in accordance with the Planning Act was held on January 22, 2007. Cedardale Realty Holdings Inc., the adjoining land owner to the west, submitted a letter of concern a few days in advance of the meeting and were also represented at the public meeting by their solicitor Frank Feldman. 3.2 The concerns raised in the letter and at the meeting deal with the fact that the subject lands together with the abutting lands owned by Cedardale Realty Holdings Inc. are designated "Light Industrial". The Light Industrial designation does not permit a place of worship and it is argued by the adjoining neighbours that the expansion of the church "is not appropriate, is not desirable and does not represent good planning." The letter went on to state that "planning approval (of the subject application) will result in the establishment of a large institutional use (that could include a school component and day care facility) that will significantly REPORT NO.: PSD-019-07 PAGE 3 jeopardize or limit the development opportunities of my client’s lands for the uses that are currently permitted by the Official Plan." The letter further notes that based on Ministry of the Environment Guideline MOEE D6 dealing with incompatible uses, a separation to the church of 70 to 300 metres may be imposed based on uses that would be permitted by the policies of the existing Light Industrial designation. 4.0 LAND CHARACTERISTICS AND SURROUNDING AREAS 4.1The property is occupied by a 693 m2 (6970 sq. ft.), former five classroom, single floor school building. As municipal water and sewers do not service the area, the school is serviced by a private well and septic system located on the property. A storage container is located on the east side of the property for temporary storage. 4.2 Surrounding Uses: West - limited existing residential and agricultural North - the Courtice Flea Market and limited existing residential East - limited existing residential and agricultural South - limited existing residential and agricultural 5.0 PROVINCIAL POLICY STATEMENT 5.1 Provincial Policy Statement The Provincial Policy Statement states that Settlement Areas shall be the focus of growth promoting efficient land use and development patterns. Planning authorities shall plan for, protect and preserve employment areas. In addition, transportation corridors shall be protected to meet current and future needs. The application conforms to the intent. 5.2 Provincial Growth Plan The proposal does not conflict with the Provincial Growth Plan. 6.0 OFFICIAL PLAN CONFORMITY 6.1 Durham Region Official Plan The Durham Region Official Plan designates the property “Employment Area” within the urban boundary of Courtice. Although a place of worship is not permitted in the Employment Area, policies in the Plan allow for the continuation, expansion, or enlargement of uses which do not conform. REPORT NO.: PSD-019-07 PAGE 4 6.2 Clarington Official Plan The Clarington Official Plan designates the subject property ”Light Industrial Area”. Section 11.5.2 states: “The predominant use of land in the Light Industrial Areas shall be manufacturing, assembling, processing, fabricating, repairing, research and development and warehousing.” 6.3 Despite the fact that a school or church is not consistent with the intended use of the “Light Industrial Area”, Section 23.5 concerning Non-Conforming uses states that it is not possible or desirable to recognize all existing uses in the Official Plan and provides criteria to be considered prior to passing a by-law to recognize the continuation, expansion or enlargement of a non-conforming use, or the variations to similar uses. The application will be reviewed under these policies. 6.4 The church fronts onto Bloor Street. This section of Bloor Street is a Regional Type ‘A’ arterial road. Type ‘A’ arterials are to be designed to efficiently move large volumes of traffic at an operating speed of 70 km/hr in Urban Areas. With a right-of-way width of 36 to 50 metres, access in an urban area is to be limited to every 200 metres on the road. 6.5 The Clarington Official Plan designates the area north of the subject property, north of Bloor Street, as “Future Urban Residential”. These areas shall only be used for existing uses or for agricultural purposes until additional residential lands are required. 7.0 ZONING BY-LAW CONFORMITY 7.1 The location of the existing church is zoned Agricultural Exception (A-73) which permits a place of worship and ancillary uses. Lands necessary to accommodate the church expansion are zoned Agricultural (A). Only places of worship which existed prior to the date of passing of the by-law (September 10, 1984) are permitted, hence the necessity for the rezoning application. 8.0 AGENCY COMMENTS 8.1 The application was circulated to a limited number of agencies. 8.2 None of the circulated agencies had any objection to the proposed rezoning application. The Clarington Engineering Services Department, Clarington Building Division, Regional Works Department, Regional Health Department and CLOCA all provided comments through the circulation that will be considered during the site plan approval process. REPORT NO.: PSD-019-07 PAGE 5 This will include providing a road widening, addressing all stormwater management issues and further evaluation of the existing septic tile bed. 9.0 STAFF COMMENTS 2 9.1 Hope Fellowship is proposing to triple the size of the existing 693 m building to 2 2,301.9 m. Included in the proposal will be enhanced parking, landscaping and on-site stormwater management. A future reserve septic bed is located south of the parking lot. 9.2 Designated “Light Industrial” in the Clarington Official Plan, the existing place of worship does not conform to the intended uses for the area. However the church enjoys a legal non-conforming status and Council may zone the lands to permit the extension or enlargement of a legal non-conforming use. The expansion of the place of worship would provide a service to the community of Courtice and make use of existing infrastructure. The subject site is close to transportation links and more important, in close proximity to future residential neighbourhoods located immediately on the north side of Bloor Street. 9.3 The consultant and solicitor for the abutting land owner to the west have raised the issue of land use compatibility of a place of worship in an industrial area. Ministry of Environment Guideline D-6 was identified as providing specific criteria that should this zoning be approved it would impact the future use of surrounding industrially designated lands. 9.4 The Ministry of Environment Guidelines deal with incompatible land uses. It recognizes that impacts from industrial sources relate to operating and maintenance procedures of an industrial facility rather than general land use designation. The actual area of adverse influence from an industrial operation is site specific. The Ministry Guidelines identify what is considered a sensitive use, as well as three (3) levels of industrial uses. In the absence of site-specific information the guidelines recommend separation distances ranging from 20 to 300 metres between incompatible uses. 9.5 The subject lands were historically used as a public elementary school, which the guideline identifies as a sensitive land use. The rezoning three (3) years ago to allow a place of worship on the lands legalized another use, considered a sensitive land use. Attachment Number 3 depicts the impact of the 70 and 300 metre buffers, Class II and Class III category of uses respectively, from the current zone limits of the subject property as well as from the limits of the designated 'Future Urban Residential' lands to the north. Existing residences, regardless of land use designation would have a similar impact on future industrial land uses. REPORT NO.: PSD-019-07 PAGE 6 9.6 Class I category of uses (20 metre buffer) include small scale industrial facilities with a self contained plant or building producing or storing a packaged product. This includes uses similar to electronic manufacturing and repair; furniture repair; auto parts supply; and a laundry and linen supply. A number of uses permitted in the “Light Industrial (M1) Zone” would fit into this category. Class II category of uses (70 metre buffer) includes some outside storage, an open process and frequent movement of products and/or heavy trucks. Uses may include magazine printing, paint spray booths, manufacturing of dairy products and dry cleaning services. 9.7 The policies allow the required separation between incompatible uses to be measured from the zone setback as opposed to the property line. Ancillary land uses such as parking areas may also be used in calculating the required setback between incompatible land uses. In drafting a zoning by-law amendment for the place of worship, a rear yard setback for the church building has been established to allow a possible building envelope that roughly coincides with the existing zone boundary of the original school site (currently zoned A-73). This would allow land south of this point to be used for parking or other ancillary uses that are not considered sensitive. This approach does not increase the area of impact on adjacent industrially designated properties while at the same time allowing for the proposed expansion to the existing building. 9.8 While potentially limiting future expansions for the place of worship, this approach provides sufficient land with the setback to accommodate future growth needs once full municipal services are available to the lands. This proposal has been reviewed with representatives of Hope Fellowship Christian Reformed Church. No objections to this proposed amendment were raised 9.9 The Clarington Official Plan provides for a future collector road to extend east- west in an area near the south end of the site. The woodlot on the adjoining property would lead to an alignment that would require the road to be located on the subject property. This will allow for the future development of the other lands owned by the church to the east. It is recommended that the southerly 45 metres of the subject property remain in the ‘A’ zone, with the precise collector road alignment to be determined by future studies. A servicing agreement would provide for transfers to dedicate the land to the Municipality at a nominal cost and address the issue of road construction costs. This would be undertaken at the time of the site plan approval process and is a condition for lifting the holding symbol. 9.10 The expansion of the existing church with setback restrictions as described above should not unreasonably hinder future development of adjacent “Light Industrial” lands. There is no increase in the area where the “sensitive use” is currently permitted. REPORT NO.: PSD-019-07 PAGE 7 9.11 It is staff’s opinion that the enlargement of the non-conforming place of worship is desirable and consistent with the policies of the Official Plan provided that the future road alignment is secured. 10.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 10.1 Based on the comments in this report, it is respectfully recommended that the rezoning application submitted by Hope Fellowship Christian Reformed Church be APPROVED and that the attached Zoning By-law be forwarded for ADOPTION by Council. Attachments: Attachment 1 - Key Map Attachment 2 - Collector Road Context Map Attachment 3 - Separation Distances Attachment 4 - Zoning By-law List of interested parties to be advised of Council's decision: Hope Fellowship Christian Reformed Church Glenn Reinders Rob Freeman Frank Feldman THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON BY-LAW NO. 2007-______ being a by-law to amend By-law 84-63, the Comprehensive Zoning By-law for the Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington WHEREAS the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington deems it advisable to amend By-law 84-63, as amended, of the former Town of Newcastle in accordance with application ZBA 2006-0024 to permit the expansion of a place of worship; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington enacts as follows: 1. Section 6.4.73 “AGRICULTURAL EXCEPTION (A-73) ZONE” is hereby amended by deleting 6.4.73 in its entirety and replacing it as follows: “Notwithstanding Sections 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 to this By-law, those lands zoned A- 73 on the Schedules to this By-law may only be used for a place of worship and ancillary uses subject to the following regulations: a) Lot Area (minimum) 1.5 ha b) Lot Frontage (minimum) 90 metres c) Yard Requirements (minimum) i) Front Yard 10 metres ii) Interior Side Yard 10 metres iii) Rear Yard 150 metres d) Lot Coverage (maximum) 30 percent e) Building Height (maximum) 12 metres f) Landscaped Open Space (minimum) 30 percent” 2. Schedule “1” to By-law 84-63 as amended, is hereby further amended by changing the zone designation from: “Agricultural (A)”, to “(Holding) Agricultural Exception ((H)A-73) Zone” as illustrated on the attached Schedule “A” hereto. 3. Attachment “A” attached hereto shall form part of this By-law. 4. This By-law shall come into effect on the date of the passing hereof, subject to the provisions of Section 34 and 36 of the Planning Act. BY-LAW read a first time this day of 2007 BY-LAW read a second time this day of 2007 BY-LAW read a third time and finally passed this day of 2007 ___________________ _ Jim Abernethy, Mayor ___________________ Patti L. Barrie, Municipal Clerk