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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPSD-057-19 Staff Report If this information is required in an alternate accessible format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131. Report To: Planning and Development Committee Date of Meeting: December 2, 2019 Report Number: PSD-057-19 Submitted By: Faye Langmaid, Acting Director of Planning Services Reviewed By: Andrew C. Allison, CAO By-law Number: File Number: PLN 40 Resolution#: Report Subject: 1987 Bloor Street - Case Study of Site Specific Draft Zoning Mapping Refinements Recommendation: 1. That Report PSD-057-19 be received for information. Municipality of Clarington Page 2 Report PSD-057-19 1. Background 1.1 Council and staff members have been asked by property owners how the site specific review process for ZONE Clarington is being carried out and what the potential results of the site visits will be to the mapping. On November 12, Council requested a report be provided to demonstrate the results of the site specific re-evaluation and refinement process. 1987 Bloor Street was identified as the case study site. 1.2 The property owners of 1987 Bloor Street identified to staff and Council members there are environmental features on their property, and they are no longer actively farming. However, they wish to retain the right to agricultural uses for their property in the future. 1.3 Table 1 of Report PSD-040-19 outlined an 8-step process for the site specific review of environmental features. This report outlines how the process was carried out, including the results and the refinements identified based on the desktop review and site visit. The refinements will be incorporated into the second draft mapping of the zoning by-law (release date to be determined). 1.4 Planning Services and Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA) Staff, accompanied by Councillors Zwart, Jones, Neal and Hooper (at which time Councillor Zwart departed), undertook a visit and walkabout of the site with the owners on October 16. The environmental features identified on the base data sets for this site include a stream, pond, woodlands and wetlands. 1.5 Resolution JC-115-19 directed staff to delete the Environmental Review Area (90 metres) and Vegetation Protection Zone (30 metres) overlays from the first draft zoning by-law mapping, which will be incorporated into the second draft zoning by-law. Report Overview Council asked that a case study be prepared for the site-specific environmental protection zoning review process using the property located at 1987 Bloor Street, and that staff report back with an illustration of how the proposed mapping would change. The purpose of this report is to demonstrate how the site-specific environmental protection zoning review process can refine the first draft zoning mapping released in November 2018 and inform the preparation of the second draft of the proposed zoning by-law (release date to be determined). Municipality of Clarington Page 3 Report PSD-057-19 2. Discussion 2.1 Prior to undertaking a site visit, a desktop review of each property will be carried out by staff and the agencies involved to determine if refinements could be made based on the data sets. Some property owners have provided additional detailed descriptions and/or information from other experts, which assists in the desktop review. If deemed necessary, a site visit allows staff to listen and confirm the concerns expressed by property owners and to ensure the edge of an environmental feature is accurately mapped. 2.2 For 1987 Bloor Street, the steps set out in Table 1 of Report PSD-040-19 occurred and the site was flagged as requiring a site visit due to the overlapping layers of environmental features and knowledge that the site had been allowed to naturalize after active agricultural activity ceased. The owners confirmed they would be willing to have staff visit. Municipal and CLOCA staff met with the property owner on site. 2.3 Invitations to Councillors should, for future site visits, be at the request of and organized by the property owner. 2.4 The group walked the site with CLOCA’s Ecologist who identified plant species which indicate both wetlands and woodlands, in addition to the stream and pond on site. The Ecologist explained her findings to the attendees. Staff observed areas which had been developed and/or used for agriculture. Areas which could be refined were discussed on site with the property owner and Council members. 2.5 After the site visit an aerial photo was marked up to reflect areas of the proposed Environmental Protection (EP) zone which could be refined based on the site visit and discussion. This aerial photo was provided to CLOCA staff for confirmation of the refinements. 2.6 For site reviews, once completed, a letter will be provided to the property owners outlining the findings and proposed map refinements resulting from the site specific environmental protection zoning review process. 2.7 Under the Planning Act, if you are lawfully doing something on your land today, whether cropping the land or living in your house, you are entitled to continue to do that activity in the future. The existing legal use of land continues, regardless of any zoning change. This is much like the houses that exist today in the Environmental Protection (EP) zone. Any changes to zoning as a result of adoption of a new zoning by-law will only come into play when new development is proposed. Municipality of Clarington Page 4 Report PSD-057-19 2.8 The proposed EP zone permits existing farming to continue. A “farm, excluding buildings and structures” is listed as a permitted use. A farmer can change their farm from one commodity group to another. If land is being cropped it can continue to be cropped, regardless of the crop. 2.9 For existing buildings and structures, they can continue to be used as they are currently. This ability is protected by the proposed General Provision in the draft zoning by-law for “Non-Conforming Buildings, Structures and Uses”. This is commonly known as grandfathering. 2.10 For existing building and structure expansions, the Planning Act allows the Municipality to consider a Minor Variance application process for the proposed development. Expansions within an environmental feature or natural hazard (e.g. floodplain) will require an environmental evaluation and site plan application to support the proposal. Often these environmental evaluations can be carried out by municipal and Conservation Authority staff, depending on the proposal. 2.11 The Oak Ridges Moraine Zoning By-law 2005-109 had a similar Environmental Review Area, called the Minimum Area of Influence, which is an overlay extending 90 meters “from a natural heritage feature and/or hydrologically sensitive feature and its associated minimum vegetation protection zone area.” While the applicable provisions and regulations of the underlying zone apply to areas having the overlay, it is a trigger to require a site plan control application. 2.12 Initially when dealing with site plan applications on the Oak Ridges Moraine, property owners were asked to hire a consultant to prepare an evaluation regardless of the size and potential impact of their development. Acknowledging this was cumbersome and expensive staff worked with the Conservation Authorities to develop a protocol to scope the evaluations based on the location and potential impact of the proposal. This practical approach has drastically reduced the need for formal evaluations. 2.13 In the past 5 years on the Oak Ridges Moraine, of the 39 development applications received, only 3 required a consultant to prepare an environmental evaluation and 1 required an update to an existing evaluation. The 3 sites requiring an evaluation, all proposed a new house completely within an environmental feature on an existing, but undeveloped, lot of record. The evaluations were necessary to determine development limits with the least amount of impact on the environmental feature. For the other 36 applications, Planning Services and Conservation Authority staff carried out site specific environmental evaluations to determine the limits of environmental features so residents could avoid the cost and time required to prepare an environmental impact statement. Municipality of Clarington Page 5 Report PSD-057-19 2.14 As part of the first draft zoning by-law, staff are proposing exemptions for Site Plan Approval. Proposed exemptions include: Redevelopment within an existing footprint; Modifications to existing buildings and structures in the existing footprint; Replacement/repair of a septic systems; Construction of new garages, sheds, gazebos, pergolas etc. less than 90 square meters; Construction of new of decks, patios and porches less than 50 square meters; and Proposals separated from an environmental feature by existing development. 2017 Update to Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and Greenbelt Plan 2.15 As a result of the four-plan review and updates, environmental evaluations for agricultural, agriculture-related, and secondary on-farm uses within the Environmental Review Area are no longer required. Now that the two provincial plans no longer require environmental studies for some agricultural uses, the Municipality can relax the requirement for Site Plan Approval in the Environment Review Area (known as the Minimum Area of Influence in the Oak Ridges Moraine By-law). 3. Second Draft Mapping 3.1 For 1987 Bloor Street, the limits of the environmental features present on the property, and correspondingly the limits of the proposed EP zone have been refined based on the outcomes of the site specific review process. Refinement edits to the mapping will be incorporated into the second draft of the zoning by-law. 3.2 Figure 1 shows a comparison of the initial limits of the environmental features based on the source data (purple line), which informed the preparation of the first draft zoning by- law, and the refined environmental feature limits based on the site specific review process (blue line). Figure 2 shows the resulting, second draft zoning by-law mapping for this property taking into account the refinements made and removal of the Environmental Review Area (90 metres) and Vegetation Protection Zone (30 metres) overlays, as directed by Council, by Resolution JC-115-19. Municipality of Clarington Page 6 Report PSD-057-19 Figure 1: Comparison of the initial limits of the environmental features and refined limits based on the results of the site specific review process – Case Study, 1987 Bloor Street Municipality of Clarington Page 7 Report PSD-057-19 Figure 2: Comparison of draft zoning by-law mapping pre- and post- completion of the site specific review process – Case Study, 1987 Bloor Street Municipality of Clarington Page 8 Report PSD-057-19 3.3 As a result of Council direction and the desktop site specific reviews carried out to date, there are a number of general principles that will be considered when the second draft of the zoning mapping is being prepared. These include: Removal of the Vegetation Protection Zone resulting in 13,300 acres no longer proposed as being within the EP Zone. The adjacent zone [such as Agricultural (A) or Rural Residential (RR)] will expand to meet the proposed EP zone limits of the refined edge of the environmental feature. As a result of the removal of the vegetation protection zone, the area of land proposed to be zoned EP in the rural area will decrease from approximately 64,900 acres (first draft zoning by-law) to approximately 51,600 acres, site specific review could result in additional removals. In the two existing zoning by-laws, the EP zone covers 32,900 acres. Consideration of the removal of habitable buildings from the proposed EP zone outside of hazard lands. Buildings within natural hazard lands, and the ones currently zoned EP and will continue to be identified in the second draft as proposed EP zone. Plus, there may be additions proposed because of hazards. An additional detailed review of the mapping at a “zoomed in” scale will occur to ensure the necessary edits identified since release of the first draft. 3.4 The draft Zoning By-law contains a regulation in Section 2.3.1(4). The boundary of the EP zone is the actual limits of the environmental features and the Minimum Vegetation Protection Zone, regardless of the mapping. The limits of environmental features are determined through consultation with the appropriate Conservation Authority and review of a relevant study or evaluation, where necessary. Section 2.3.1 will require modification to reflect the direction from Resolution JC-115-19. The shaded text below will be modified in the second draft. Section 2.3.1 (4) The boundary of an Environmental Protection (EP) zone represents natural heritage features, hydrologically sensitive features and natural hazards, and includes the Minimum Vegetation Protection Zone outside of settlement areas. The Environmental Review Area (ERA) is 90 m measured from a natural heritage feature and/or a hydrologically sensitive feature. The extent of this boundary may be determined through consultation with the appropriate Conservation Authority and review of an Environmental Impact Study, Floodplain Assessment, Natural Hazard Assessment, Natural Heritage Evaluation, Hydrologic Evaluation and/or Geotechnical Evaluation. Municipality of Clarington Page 9 Report PSD-057-19 4. Implication for the Official Plan Mapping 4.1 The maps contained within the Official Plan are prepared at a large scale and are generally not meant to be reviewed at a property specific level. On the other hand, zoning by-law mapping, which refines Official Plan mapping, is meant to be property specific, and can be further refined when a development application is received. Official Plan Policy 14.4.7 The extent of the Environmental Protection Areas designated on Map A [of the Official Plan] is approximate only. The precise limits shall be detailed through the appropriate studies as part of the review of development applications and/or in consultation with the Conservation Authority. 4.2 Upon completion of the Zone Clarington project, the intention is that the Natural Heritage System mapping and the resulting Environmental Protection land use designations will be further evaluated. Where identified, changes to the Natural Heritage System and Environmental Protection designation will be incorporated into the Official Plan through a municipally initiated Official Plan Amendment. 5. Concurrence Not Applicable. 6. Conclusion It is respectfully recommended staff, in collaboration with our partner agencies, continue to process the requests for site specific environmental protection zoning reviews which have been requested. Staff Contact: Faye Langmaid 905-623-3379 x2407 flangmaid@clarington.net and Tracey Webster, 905-623-3379 x2415 twebster@clarington.net List of Interested Parties available from Department.