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HomeMy WebLinkAbout75-107REPORT NO. 107 1. Purpose of Application - On December 3, 1974, an application was received for the rezoning of Block "E" of Plan 702, being located on the northeast corner of Waverly Road and Quinn Drive in Bowmanville. The purpose of the application was to permit the applicant to construct two apartment buildings on the site with local commercial outlets on the ground floor of one of the buildings. One building would contain 7,500 square feet of commercial floor space and 56 apartment suites above. The other building would contain 64 apartments. Both buildings would be 8 storeys in height. 2. Present Official Plan Provisions - This site is designated Low Density Residential in the approved Official Plan. This designation permits single family detached and semi-detached dwellings. It also permits several other uses inclu= ding 'a limited amount of greater density residential development' and 'a limited amount of commercial development of a local conven- ience nature serving the day to day needs of neighbourhood resi- dents'. Due to the vagueness of this wording, it is difficult to state whether or not the proposal conforms to the Official Plan. The commercial aspect of the proposal would appear to conform with the Plan, as a neighbourhood commercial use. However,thv residential aspect does not appear to conform. The density proposer, in this application is considerably higher than that permitted in areas specifically designated High Density Residential. It would be Page 2. (continued).......... somewhat absurd if land designated Low Density Residential were developed to a higher density than that permitted in high density areas. 3. Present Neighbourhood Plan Provisions - The present Neighbourhood Plan for the Waverly Road Neighbourhood designates this land as Neighbourhood Commercial. However, the amount of land designated is not consistant with the purpose indi- cated, and is considerably in excess of that required for the four or five convenience stores which were intended by the planners who drew up the plan. It has been this fact which has led to the pro- posal to add a residential component to the site. 4, Present Zoning Provisions - The site is presently zoned Local Commercial which permits convenience stores not exceeding 1500 square feet in floor area. The applicant was apparently unaware of this restriction when he purchased the land, and he submitted plans which included a 12,000 square foot supermarket and 14 other stores. This was previously rejected by the Planning Advisory Committee as not being the type of neighbour- hood convenience outlet envisaged by the by-law. I should point out that under present by-laws the applicant could construct approx- imately 35 small stores of 1500 sq.ft. on the site. This, of course, would make no sense from either an economic or a planning viewpoint. 5. Proposed Interim Plan - Since the new Interim Plan will hopefully be in effect by the time any zoning change on the applicant's site reaches the OMB, it is Page 3. 5. Proposed Interim Plan - (continued)......... worthwhile to have regard at this time to the provisions of the Interim Plan. The Interim Plan designates the site urban residential. The urban residential designation would permit a convenience type local comm- ercial facility on this site, but, it would not permit residential development of a higher density than 18 units per acre. In view of the present apartment shortage in Bowmanville, I consider this to be unduly .restrictive. 6, Circulation of Application - The application was circulated for comments to the following agencies: 1. Ministry of the Environment 2. Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education 3, Peterborough -Victoria -Northumberland and Newcastle Separate School Board 4. Durham Planning Department 5. Durham Works Department 6. Bell Canada %. Plans Administration Branch 8. Bowmanville Public Utilities Commission 9. Newcastle Works Department 10. Newcastle Building Department 11. Newcastle Fire Department Page 4. r (continued)......... The following agencies replied to circulation: 1. Ministry of the Environment 2. Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education 3. Peterborough -Victoria -Northumberland and Newcastle Separate School Board 4. Durham Works Department 5. Bell Canada 6. Bowmanville Public Utilities Commission %. Newcastle Fire Department The following agencies did not reply and therefore are considered to have no interest in the application: 1. Durham Planning Department 2. Plans Administration Branch 3. Newcastle vJorks Department 4. Newcastle Building Department 7. Resume of Comments - a) The Ministry of the Fnvironment replied that on a preliminary analysis they found no problem, but that comments on the avail- ability of water and dewer capacity should be obtained through the Region. b) The Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education advised that they object the application since size of the school site in the neighbourhood was based on the subdivisions originally approved. I discussed this application further with Mr. M.A. MacLeod, Business Administrator for the Board, and he felt that the Page 5. (continued)....,...... b) Board would not object to senior citizen units or apartments at a substantially lower density. . c) The Peterborough -Victoria -Northumberland and Newcastle Se,parate School Board advised that they had no objection to the proposal. d) The Durham Works Department advised the sanitary sewer capacity is existing to accomodate the proposal. The site could not be connected, however, until the pumping station and forcemain are installed at the Base Line Road and Bowmanville Creek are in operation. This project is expected to be completed in the spring or early summer of this year. The site would have to be serviced by the existing sewer on Quinn Drive. The exist- ing capacity of the Bowmanville Water Filtration Plant is already overcommitted. There is existing capacity in the water mains serving the site. Water would have to be supplied from the existing 12 inch main on Waverly Road. Additional capacity in the plant will not be available until 1977 and the project should be deemed premature to the extent that it would consume more water than was calculated for the lot at the time the subdivision was approved. (The exact amount of water consump- tion which was previously allocated to this parcel is being investigated by the Regional Works Department. (continued)..... 11 (continued)..... Page 6. If the project as approved involves an increase in water consumption, its construction may have to be phased in accordance with available water supply). 0 e) Bell Canada advised that their position would not be affected by the application. f) The Bowmanville P.U.C, advised that they have no objection to the proposal. g) The Newcastle Fire Department replied making no specific comments with respect to the application but recommending certain stand- ards of fire protection to be incorporated in all apartment buildings. These standards should be included in all site development agreements with apartment developers. 8. Conclusion - Before I make any specific recommendation on this application, I should clarify my position on three points. Firstly, the developer appears to have purchased this land without being fully aware of the zoning restrictions on it. Although I am not aware of the exact price paid, from my discussions with him I am convinced that he paid too much for the use to which the land could be put. However, that is not a matter which should influence the recommendations of the planning staff of the municipality or the Planning Advisory Committee. It is our responsibility to determine what is the best use of the land on planning grounds and to zone it accordingly Page 7. I 8, Conclusion - (continued)....... irrespective of the profit or loss accruing to the developer. Secondly, there is a severe shortage of apartment units available in Bowmanville at the present. In particular, there are no senior citizen units in existance. There are a large number of single family detached and semi-detached houses finished and unsold. There are many more single and semi lots approved but undeveloped. There are over 300 townhouses within sties already zoned for devel- opment. It seems likely that there is or will be a surplus of all lower density types of dwellings for some time in the near future. At the same time the one small apartment building which was constru- cted in the last year in Bowmanville is reputed to have been fully rented before building started. I think that if there is any cap- acity within the water and sewer services of Bowmanville to accomo- date development at the present time, priority ought to be given to apartment dwellings over any other type unit. Thirdly, there are conflicting objectives in the provision neigh- bourhood commercial facilities for an area such as this. There exists a need to provide sufficient facilities for the convenience of the residents and particularly to meet the daily needs of old people, young people, housewives without a second car, and others who don't have continuous access to any automobile. At the same time it is not desirable to have such a large Commercial facility that traffic is attracted into what is predominantly a residential neighbourhood from outside the area. It is therefore a matter of 8, Conclusions - (continued),,,,.,., judgement as to what is the appropriate amount of commercial devel- opment under the circumstances, and I have attempted to specify this in my recommendations. In this case I think that there is sufficient room for a local commercial facility and a residential component on the same parcel. Being on a collector street opposite a public park and adjacent to a local commercial facility, this site seems suited to low density apartment use. Fourthly, the immediate surrounding area is or will be developed mainly for single family detached and semi-detached dwellings. Therefore, I think that very high densities should be avoided in this area and in particular the height of any apartment buildings should be limited to avoid overlooking and loss of privacy by surrounding residents. Due to the presence of a large neighbour- hood park across the street from the sites providing recreational facilities, I feel that preference should be given to a relatively high lot coverage while keeping the height as low as possible. The height of any apartment dwelling should be restricted to one foot of height for every two feet of separation from any existing or permitted low density dwelling. In conclusion, I would recommend that a combined local commercial and residential development of this property be approved in prin- ciple, to be designed according to the following criteria: Page 9. 8. Conclusion - (continued)........ WAVERLY ROAD NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE DESIGN CRITERIA 1. Uses Permitted - (a) Commercial Uses: - a neighbourhood store - a professional office (b) Residential Uses: - an apartment dwelling house 2. Commercial Design Provisions (a) Front Yard Depth (minimum) 45 feet (b) Exterior Side Yard Width (minimun) 45 feet (c) Interior Side Yard Width (minimum) 25 feet (d) Rear Yard Depth (minimum) 35 feet (e) Gross Floor Area per Commercial Use (maximum) (i) Neighbourhood Food Store (1 only) 39000 sq. feet (ii) Other Nieghbourhood Store 1,500 sq. feet (iii) Professional Office 19500 sq. feet (f) Gross Floor Area per All Commercial Uses (maximum) . 10,000 sq. feet (g) Lot Coverage (maximum) 30% excluding any por- (h) Height (maximum) (i) Parking Area (minimum) tion of the surface area of the lot used for res- idential purposes or any purpose accessory to the residential use. 12 feet (ground floor only) 1 space per 300 square feet of gross floor area. ( 3. Residential Design Provisions - (a) Lot Area (minimum) (b) Front Yard Depth (minimum) Page 10. -1800 square feet per dwelling unit excluding any portion of the sur- face area used for com- mercial purposes or any purpose accessory to the commercial use. —35 feet (c) Exterior Side Yard Width (minimum) -35 feet (d) Interior Side Yard Width (minimum) -100 feet (e) Rear Yard Depth (minimum) (f) Dwelling Unit Area (minimum) (i) Bachelor dwelling unit (ii) One bedroom dwelling unit (iii) Two bedroom dwelling unit (iv) Three bedroom dwelling unit (v) Dwelling unit containing more than 3 bedrooms —35 feet -450 square feet -600 square feet -750 square feet -850 square feet -925 square feet, plus an additional 75 square feet for each bedroom in excess of 4. (g) Landscaped Open Space (minimum) (i) Apartment dwelling house —35% excluding por- tions used for commercial purposes. (ii) Other uses -10% (h) Play Areas A play area shall be provided on each lot containing more than 10 dwelling units in accordance with the followings (i) Minimum area (ii) Location (i) Lot Coverage (maximum) —410 of the lot area used for residen- tial purposes -not in a privacy yard nor in a req- uired front yard —35% (j) Height of Building (maximum) -60 feet Page 11. 3. Residential Design Provisions - (continued)..... (k) Privacy Yards. A privacy yard shall be provided adjoining each exterior wall of every dwelling unit with a minimum width in accor- dance with the following; in the case of a wall containing a first storey living room window provided that, where the yard ad- joins a street line or vehicular driveway, the minimum width shall be in the case of a wall containing a first storey habitable room window other than a living room window provided that, where the yard ad- joins a vehicular driveway the minimum width shall be - 35 feet, - 25 feet. - 25 feet, - 20 feet. An unobstructed yard clear of any public pedestrian access shall be provided adjoining the window of every first storey dwelling unit in an apartment dwelling house. Such yard shall extend not less than 12 feet from any portion of the window. For the purposes of this provision, a window shall be con- sidered to be located on the first storey if any part of the glazing is less than 8 feet above the adjacent finished grade. (1) Parking Area (minimum) 4. Preservation of Vegetation - - 1.25 parking spaces per dwelling unit, except that for a senior citizen's apartment dwelling house, the minimum requirement shall be 0.25 parking spaces per dwelling unit or guest room. The project should be designed so as to preserve as many as possible of the existing mature trees on the lot. This will require some control of the grading of the site since these Page 12. 4. (continued)....... trees are in a small depression and simple levelling up of the site would be likely to kill them off. The procedure which I would recommend would be as follows: (1) The Planning Advisory Committee should give approval in principle of a project as specified above. (2) The developer should produce plans for the project and submit them to the Committee for approval, (3) Upon approval, Municipal Planning Consultants should be authorized to produce, at the developers expense, a zoning amendment and a development agreement under section 35 (a) of the Planning Act. Respectfully submitted, George F. Howden, Planning Director.