HomeMy WebLinkAboutPSD-129-08 Clarin n
Leading the Way REPORT
PLANNING SERVICES
Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Date: Monday, December 1, 2008 K bol ukon —(5 b -09
Report#: PSD-129-08 File #: ROPA 2008-0002 , By-law#:
Subject: REGIONAL OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENT TO PERMIT THE SEVERANCE
OF A DWELLING THAT WILL BE RENDERED SURPLUS AS A RESULT OF
THE ACQUISITION OF A NON-ABUTTING FARM PROPERTY
APPLICANT: TERI E. BELL
RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee
recommend to Council the following:
1. THAT Report PSD-129-08 be received;
2. THAT the Regional Municipality of Durham be advised that the Municipality of
Clarington recommends that the application to amend the Durham Regional Official
Plan (ROPA 2008-0002) as submitted by Teri E. Bell, to permit the creation of a new lot
for an existing dwelling that will be rendered surplus as a result of the acquisition of a
non-abutting farm property, be approved;
3. THAT the Regional Municipality of Durham Planning Department be sent a copy of
Report PSD-129-08; and
4. THAT all interested parties listed in this report and any delegations be advised of
Council's decision.
Submitted by: Reviewed by: v/" `� r �✓� "l�
DavAM.",
, MCIP, RPP Franklin Wu,
Director of Planning Services Chief Administrative Officer
PW/CP/lw/sh
November 25, 2008
CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON
40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOW MANVILLE, ONTARIO L1C 3A6 T(905)623-3379 F(905)623-0830
REPORT NO.: PSD-129-08 PAGE 2
1.0 APPLICATION DETAILS
1.1 Owner: Teri E. Bell
1.2 Proposal: The applicant proposes an amendment to the Durham Regional Official
Plan to permit the severance of a dwelling that will be rendered surplus as
a result of the acquisition of a non-abutting farm property.
1.3 Area: 1 ha to be severed from 40 ha.
1.4 Location: Part Lot 8, Concession Broken Front, former Township of Clarke, 955
Newtonville Road, Clarington.
2.0 BACKGROUND
2.1 On October 1, 2008, Mrs. Teri Bell submitted to the Region of Durham an application
to amend the Durham Regional Official Plan in order to permit the severance of a
dwelling that will be rendered surplus as a result of the acquisition of a non-abutting
farm property. A copy of this application was circulated to the Municipality of
Clarington for comment and was received by the Planning Services Department on
October 15, 2008 (Attachment No. 1).
The Applicant owns a 40 ha property and intends to sever and retain 1 ha for their
existing dwelling and then meld the remaining 39 ha of agricultural land to the non-
abutting dairy farm operation, Thornlea Holsteins, located on the west side of
Newtonville Road as shown in Attachment No. 2. Of the 39 ha on the severed parcel
approximately 32 ha is used agriculturally and approximately 7 ha is hazard land.
The non-abutting dairy farm operation consists of an 80 ha parcel (Parcel 1) on the
west side of Newtonville Road, a 20 ha parcel which abuts the southeast corner of the
Applicant's property (Parcel 2) and a 10 ha parcel located on the east side of
Lancaster Road (Parcel 3). The Thornlea Holsteins farmstead is located on the 80 ha
parcel. This application will result in an increase in the farm operation's total land
holdings from 110 ha on 3 parcels of land to approximately 150 ha on 3 parcels of
land.
2.2 The Durham Regional Official Plan does not permit the creation of new lots for
agricultural uses on less than 40 ha land. Based on this policy, and due to the
absence of a farm dwelling on the 20 ha agricultural lot (Parcel 2), Durham Regional
Planning Staff do not consider the abutting lot to be a viable farm parcel with which
the Applicant's property can be consolidated. Therefore, this amendment to the
Durham Regional Official Plan is required in order to permit the severance of a
dwelling that will be rendered surplus due to Thornlea Holsteins' acquisition of a farm
property that is non-abutting (on the opposite side of Newtonville Road) to their
primary farm operation.
REPORT NO.: PSD-129-08 PAGE 3
The Clarington Official Plan recognizes farm properties with a minimum lot area of 20
ha as bona-fide farm operations. Therefore Clarington Planning staff consider the
proposed severance of a dwelling to be surplus to the consolidation of an abutting
farm and an amendment to the Clarington Official Plan is not required.
2.3 The Applicant submitted an Agricultural Assessment, prepared by Toombs Consulting,
which reviewed this proposal against the requirements of the Durham Regional
Official Plan, the Clarington Official Plan as well as Provincial Policy Statement (PPS).
The Agricultural Assessment Report identified that the application conforms with the
PPS and the Durham Regional Official Plan. The Report goes on to state that it will
be necessary for the proposed residential severance to exceed the permitted lot size
of 0.6 ha as outlined in the Clarington Official Plan. It is argued that the severed lot
will continue to meet the intent of the Official Plan policy in so much as the increased
lot size from 0.6 ha to 1 ha is necessary to accommodate the house, septic system
and access to the outdoor wood-burning furnace.
2.4 The Durham Regional Planning Department has informed Clarington that a public
meeting before Regional Council was held on November 25, 2008. Approval of the
Durham Regional Official Plan Amendment is a pre-requisite for the submission of a
Land Division application which has yet to occur.
3.0 LAND CHARACTERISTICS AND SURROUNDING USES
3.1 The proposed surplus dwelling is centrally located along the west side of the 40 ha
farm property. A cold water stream, pond and associated hazard lands run to the
south of the existing dwelling. At present, the agricultural lands on the property are
rented out for use by the non-abutting farm operation, Thornlea Holsteins.
3.2 The surrounding uses are as follows:
North - Agricultural
South - Agricultural
East - Agricultural, Rural Residential
West- Agricultural, Rural Residential
4.0 PROVINCIAL POLICY
4.1 Provincial Policy Statement
The Provincial Policy Statement permits lot creation for a residence surplus to a farm
operation as a result of farm consolidation provided that the local planning authorities
ensure that new residential dwellings are prohibited on any vacant remnant parcel of
farmland created by the severance.
REPORT NO.: PSD-129-08 PAGE 4
The creation of lots shall comply with the minimum distance separation (MDS)
formulae. Where a new lot is proposed with an existing dwelling, and that dwelling is
already located on a lot separate from the subject livestock facility, MDS is not
applied. Therefore this application complies with MDS and conforms with the
Provincial Policy Statement.
4.2 Greenbelt Plan
The Greenbelt Plan permits the severance of a residence surplus to a farming
operation as a result of a farm consolidation where the residence was an existing use
as of the date the Greenbelt Plan came into force. Additionally, the local planning
authority must ensure that no new residential dwellings are permitted on the retained
agricultural lot created by the severance.
The existing residence located on the proposed severed lot has been a legally existing
use since before the Greenbelt Plan came into force and thus conforms with the
Greenbelt Plan.
5.0 OFFICIAL PLANS
5.1 Durham Regional Official Plan
The Durham Regional Official Plan designates this property as "Prime Agricultural
Areas". The severance of a dwelling rendered surplus as a result of the acquisition of
a non-abutting farm is permitted subject to the following criteria:
• The dwelling is not needed for a farm employee;
• The farm parcel to be acquired is of a size which is viable for farming operations;
• Within the Protected Countryside of the Greenbelt Plan Area, the dwelling was in
existence as of December 16, 2004; and
• The farm parcel to be acquired is zoned to prohibit any further severance and the
establishment of any residential dwelling.
Additionally, the creation of lots shall comply with the Minimum Distance Separation
formulae.
These criteria are reviewed and commented on in Section 8 of this report.
5.2 Clarington Official Plan
5.2.1 The Clarington Official Plan designates the property as both "Prime Agricultural Area"
and "Environmental Protection Area". The dwelling, which is subject to the proposed
surplus severance, is located entirely within the "Prime Agricultural Area" designation.
Within the Clarington Official Plan, severances of dwellings which are rendered surplus
as a result of the consolidation of abutting farms may be permitted subject to the
following criteria:
REPORT NO.: PSD-129-08 PAGE 5
• The farms are merged into a single parcel;
• The dwelling to be severed is not required for farm employees; and
• The surplus dwelling lot is generally less than 0.6 ha.
At approximately 1 ha the proposed surplus dwelling lot exceeds the 0.6 ha
recommended surplus lot size. This item is reviewed in Section 8 of this report.
5.2.2 The Applicant's property includes Significant Valleylands and Hazard Land, which
follow the course of two (2) cold water streams which merge on the property south of
the Applicant's dwelling, as well as Significant Woodlands in the southeast corner of
the property.
5.2.3 Based on the presence of these natural heritage features, the Clarington Official Plan
states that development applications, such as the subsequent land division and
rezoning applications, shall require an Environmental Impact Study (EIS). Part of the
purpose of the EIS is to identify the limits of the natural heritage features and how to
mitigate the affects of the proposed development upon these features. Setbacks for
development from an "Environmental Protection Area' must be determined in
consultation with the Conservation Authority.
This application meets the severance policies of the Clarington Official Plan.
6.0 ZONING BY-LAW
6.1 Zoning By-law 84-63 zones the subject lands both "Agricultural Exception (A-1)" and
"Environmental Protection (EP)". The area surrounding the proposed surplus dwelling
lot is zoned "A-1". The "EP" portion of the property is located immediately south of the
existing dwelling. The "A-1" zone requires a minimum lot area of 4,000 m2 with a
minimum street frontage of 30 metres. The proposed surplus dwelling lot would
comply with the provisions of the "A-1" zone.
7.0 AGENCY COMMENTS
7.1 The application and supporting documentation was circulated to a number of agencies
for review and comment. The Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority, Clarington
Engineering Services, including the Building Division, as well as Clarington
Emergency Services have no objection to this application.
7.2 Staff from the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority have reviewed the
application and have no objection to the proposed Official Plan Amendment. In
consultation with Authority Staff it is suggested that the proposed consent will have
negligible impact on the identified natural features as the residential use is existing
and no new buildings are proposed.
REPORT NO.: PSD-129-08 PAGE 6
8.0 STAFF COMMENTS
8.1 A building permit for a single detached dwelling was submitted by Thornlea Holsteins
in February of 2007. This permit located the farm dwelling on the 80 ha parcel (Parcel
1) located west of the Applicant's property, on the opposite side of Newtonville Road
from the subject application. According to the Clarington Building Division,
construction on this home is proceeding in good order. Once construction is
completed, the future acquisition by Thornlea Holsteins of the Applicant's property
would render the existing dwelling surplus. Thornlea Holsteins have indicated that the
Applicant's dwelling would not be needed for a farm employee.
8.2 The proposed lot severance will be approximately 1 ha in size. The Clarington Official
Plan requires that the lot size of a surplus dwelling severance be generally less than
0.6 ha. However, staff support the position put forward in the Agricultural Assessment
Report that the larger lot size requested by this application is necessary in order to
include the existing house, driveway, well, septic system and the service area for the
outdoor wood-burning furnace.
8.3 While the exact construction date of the applicant's dwelling is not known it has been
in existence for over 100 years and therefore was in existence prior to the
implementation of the Greenbelt Plan on December 16, 2004.
8.4 Through the land division process, it will be necessary for the 39 ha severed parcel to
be melded with Thornlea Holsteins existing property and that the zoning be changed
to reflect that another dwelling not be permitted in the future.
8.5 An Environmental Impact Study will not be required recognizing that the residential
use has already been established and no new buildings or structures are proposed as
a result of the lot creation. However, the property line of the proposed parcel will be
determined in consultation with the conservation authority to generally reflect the top-
of-bank.
8.6 Of the 39 ha retained portion of land to be acquired by Thornlea Holsteins,
approximately 32 ha is presently viable agricultural land. The remaining approximately
7 ha is comprised of valley lands along the creek, a pond and poorly drained, low-lying
farmland. Once acquired, it is Thornlea Holsteins' intention to tile drain the low-lying
farmland in order to increase the productivity of this portion of the property.
8.7 The proposed severance conforms with the Provincial Policy Statement, the Greenbelt
Plan, the Durham Regional Official Plan, the Clarington Official Plan and the Zoning
By-law. There have been no objections to this application from any of the circulated
agencies. This application will result in the consolidation of agricultural land, subject
to rezoning, and will not permit any additional rural residential uses. Therefore staff
support this application to amend the Durham Regional Official Plan.
8.8 Municipal conditions to the subsequent Land Division application, will include the
following:
• The farms are merged into a single parcel; and
• In accordance with Provincial and Regional policy, the merged farm parcel
created from the severance will be zoned to prohibit residential uses.
REPORT NO.: PSD-129-08 PAGE 7
9.0 CONCLUSIONS
9.1 Based on the comments provided in this report and the agency comments received,
Staff has no objection to the proposed Regional Official Plan Amendment and
recommends that the application to permit the severance of a dwelling that will be
rendered surplus as a result of the acquisition of a non-abutting farm property be
APPROVED.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Key Map 1
Attachment 2 - Key Map 2
Attachment 1
To Report PSD-129-08
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To Report PSD-129-08
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