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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPSD-041-09CIarington Leading the Way REPORT PLANNING SERVICES PUBLIC MEETING Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE p~ Date: Monday, May 4, 2009 ~~S°1~'`~©~ ~r~ J~ o~ Report #: PSD-041-09 File #: ZBA 2009-0006 By-law #: ~DOR-c~~5 Subject: TO PERMIT REZONING OF A FARM PROPERTY TO PROHIBIT RESIDENTIAL USES RECOMMENDATIONS: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report PSD-041-09 be received; 2. THAT the application for Zoning By-law. Amendment submitted by Teri Bell be APPROVED and that the attached Zoning By-law Amendment be ADOPTED by Council; 3. THAT the Durham Regional Land Division Committee be forwarded a copy of Report PSD-041-09 and Council's decision; and 4. THAT the Region of Durham Planning Department, MPAC and all interested parties listed in this report and any delegations be advised of Council's decision. Submitted by: Dav' J. rome, MCIP, RPP Director of Planning Services Reviewed by: ~~`'~'~'' Franklin Wu, Chief Administrative Officer PW/CP/df 21 April 2009 CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L1C 3A6 T (905)623-3379 F (905)623-0830 REPORT NO.: PSD-041-09 PAGE 2 1.0 APPLICATION DETAILS 1.1 Applicant: Teri E. Bell 1.2 Owner: Teri E. Bell &Thornlea Holsteins Ltd. 1.3 Proposal: The Applicant proposes to rezone a total of 59 ha of farm land to prohibit residential uses. This will facilitate the severance of a 1 ha surplus residential lot which was rendered surplus as a result of the acquisition of an abutting farm property. 1.4 Area: 59 ha 1.5 Location: Part Lots 7 and 8, Concession Broken Front, former Township of Clarke, 955 Newtonville Road and 958 Lancaster Road 2.0 BACKGROUND 2.1 The Applicant, Teri Bell, owns a 40 ha property at 955 Newtonville Road. Thornlea Holsteins Ltd., owns a 20 ha property at 958 Lancaster Road, abutting Ms. Bell's property to the southeast, as well as an 80 ha property on the west side of Newtonville Road. Ms. Bell is seeking to sell 39 ha of her Newtonville Road property to Thornlea Holsteins retaining a 1 ha residential lot to accommodate her existing house, septic system and access to the outdoor wood-burning furnace. 2.2 On February 3, 2009, Durham Regional Council accepted Ms. Bell's application to amend the Durham Regional Official Plan in order to permit the severance of a dwelling as a result of the acquisition of anon-abutting farm property. 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, Durham Regional Planning Staff did not consider the abutting lot to be a viable farm parcel with which the applicant's property could be consolidated. Therefore, the amendment to the Durham Regional Official Plan was required. The Clarington Official Plan recognizes farm properties with a minimum lot area of 20 ha as bona-fide farm operations. Therefore Clarington Planning Staff considered the proposed severance of a dwelling to be surplus to the consolidation of abutting farms and therefore it did not require an amendment to the Clarington Official Plan. 2.3 On February 9, 2009, the Durham Regional Land Division Committee granted conditional approval to Ms. Bell's request to sever a 1 ha residential lot surrounding her existing house. In order to satisfy the requirements of the Provincial Greenbelt Plan, one of the conditions of approval for the severance was that the retained farm property (39 ha), and the abutting farm property to which it is being. merged (20 ha), must be rezoned to prohibit the establishment of new residential uses. REPORT NO.: PSD-041-09 PAGE 3 2.4 Consequently, on March 12, 2009, Teri Bell submitted an application for rezoning as partial fulfilment of the conditional approval granted by the Durham Regional Land Division Committee for the severance of a 1 ha surplus residential lot from a 40 ha lot. 2.5 An Agricultural Assessment, prepared by Toombs Consulting, was previously submitted by the Applicant in support of the Durham Regional Official Plah amendment, consent application and subsequent rezoning application. 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. REPORT NO.: PSD-041-09 PAGE 4 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 the 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. 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. 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 severed lot, has been a legally existing use since before the Greenbelt Plan came into force and thus the application 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 anon-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. REPORT NO.: PSD-041-09 PAGE 5 Additionally, the creation of lots shall comply with the Minimum Distance Separation formulae. These criteria are reviewed and commented on in Section 9 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; the severances of dwellings which are rendered surplus as a result of the consolidation of abutting farms may be permitted subject to the following criteria: 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 9 of this report. 5.2.2 The applicant's property includes Significant Valleylands and Hazard Land, which follow the course of two 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-ti3 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. REPORT NO.: PSD-041-09 PAGE 6 7.0 PUBLIC NOTICE AND SUBMISSIONS 7.1 Public notice was given by mail to each landowner within 120 metres of the subject site. Public meeting signs were installed on the property. No inquiries on the application were received from the public at the time of the writing of this report. 8.0 AGENCY COMMENTS 8.1 The application and supporting documentation were 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. 9.0 STAFF COMMENTS 9.1 In addition to the 20 ha farm property on Lancaster Road, Thornlea Holsteins owns ari 80 ha farm property on the west side of Newtonville Road, on the opposite side of the road from the subject application. It is on this 80 ha property that Thornlea Holsteins has begun construction on their principal farm dwelling. 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. - 9.2 The residential lot severance is 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 supported 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. 9.3 While the exact construction date of the applicant's dwelling is not known, the original portion of the dwelling 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. 9.4 As a condition of the severance approved by the Durham Regional Land Division Committee, the Applicant's 39 ha retained farm parcel is to be melded with Thornlea Holsteins 20 ha property to the southeast and that the newly merged farm lot be rezoned to prohibiYany residential development. 9.5 An Environmental Impact Study will not be required since the residential use has already been established and no new buildings or structures are proposed as a result of the rezoning. The property line of the severed residential lot has already been determined in consultation with the Conservation Authority staff to generally reflect the top-of-bank and ensure the hazard lands remain in one ownership. REPORT NO.: PSD-041-09 PAGE 7 9.6 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 the drain the low-lying farmland in order to increase the productivity of this portion of the property. 9.7 The proposed rezoning conforms with the Provincial Policy Statement, the Greenbelt Plan, the Durham Regional Official Plan and the Clarington Official Plan. This application is the last step in the process to sever the surplus dwelling lot. There have been no objections to this application from any of the circulated agencies and no comments received from the public. This application will prohibit any residential uses from being established on the merged farm property (59 ha) that is created through the consolidation of two abutting farm properties and will permit the severance of a rural residential lot (1 ha). Therefore Staff support this application to amend Zoning By-law 84-63. 10.0 CONCLUSIONS 10.1 Based on the comments provided in this report, it is respectfully recommended that the rezoning application be APPROVED. Attachments: Attachment 1 -Key Map Attachment 2 - Proposed by-law Amendment List of interested parties to be advised of Council's decision: Teri E, Bell Roy & Susan Robinson (Thornlea Holsteins Ltd.) Professor Helmut and Elizabeth Brosz Attachment 1 To Report PSD-041-09 Attachment 2 To Report PSD-041-09 CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON BY-LAW NO. 2009- being a By-law to amend By-law 84-63, the Comprehensive Zoning By-law for the Corporation of the former Town of Newcastle WHEREAS the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington deems it advisable to amend By-law 84-63, as amended, of the Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington for ZBA 2009-OOD6; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT, the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington enacts as follows: 1. Schedule "2" to By-law 84-63, as amended, is hereby further amended by changing the zone designation from "Agricultural Exception (A-1) Zane" to "Agricultural Exception (A-81) Zone" as illustrated on the attached Schedule "A" hereto 2. Schedule "A" attached hereto shall form part of this By-law. 3. This By-law shall come into effect on the date of the passing hereof, subject to the provisions of Section 34 of the Planning Act. BY-LAW read a first time this day of 2009 BY-LAW read a second time this day of 20Og BY-LAW read a third time and finally passed this day of 2009 Jim Abernethy, Mayor Patti L. Barrie, Municipal Clerk This is Schedule "A" to By-law 2009- passed this day of - .2009 A.D. i - i L- -. ,~/~ -~- ~/ ~% ~ ~/, -; / ~~~ // ~~' /~ j ~; o ii / '!~~; . J °~ ~ ,_/ ~ Y n /~ ~/ i; ~j/, ; ~t/ / / I< ~% n .,,~_ , ~ i ,/i ~- X~~~,~,~ ---- ~i / i' - % /i / j Zo nin ChR ® anY g e From "A- ' g 1 ' To "A-81" Zoning To Remain "EP" Jim Abernethy, Mayor Patti L. Bcrrie, Municipci Clerd