Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPD-141-96THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON DN: KOSE.GPA REPORT Meeting: General Purpose and Administration Committee File . u ,! � Date: Monday, October 21, 1996 Res. L{ cl PROPOSED - HAM REGION OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENT PROPERTIES APPLICANT: KOSE OPA 96-010/D Recommendations: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report PD- 141 -96 be received; 2. THAT Report PD- 141 -96 be approved as the comments of the Municipality of Clarington on the proposed Official Plan Amendment submitted by Kose Properties Inc.; 3. THAT the Town of Whitby and the Region of Durham advise the Municipality of Clarington of the respective Councils' decisions; and, 4. THAT a copy of Council's decision and this report be forwarded to the Town of Whitby and the Region of Durham Planning Departments. 1.1 Applicant: Kose Properties Inc. 1.2 Proposal: Proposing to amend the Durham Regional Official Plan to allow the Town of Whitby to designate the Kose lands to permit retail warehouses in addition to other Employment Area uses. Parallel applications have been made to amend the Whitby Official Plan and zoning by -law. 1.3 Area: 3.9 hectares (9.7 acres) (0.9 hectares or 2.2 acres is devoted to the Value Village store) 625 REPORT NO. PD- 141 -96 PAGE 2 2. LOCATION 2.1 The Kose property is located on the south side of Victoria Street, east of Thickson Road and is described as Lot 19, Broken Front Concession in the Town of Whitby (see Attachment #1). The entire Kose property is located directly south of the Home Depot. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 In 1989, Kose Properties Inc., purchased a property from Invar Industrial Limited with the hopes of marketing the property for traditional manufacturing or warehousing uses on a leasehold basis. 3.2 Since then, however, Kose has obtained a commitment from Value Village Stores Inc. to locate on the west end of the subject property to establish a free - standing 20,000 square foot retail warehouse consuming about 0.9 hectares (2.2 acres) of the Kose site. Value Village is a U.S. based for - profit thrift store chain selling primarily used apparel merchandise in a format and environment similar to a department store. The company buys donated and household items from charities. It then cleans them, and resells them. In Ontario, Value Village relies on the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy and the Canadian Association for Community Living. 3.3 To the east of Value Village, the remaining 3 hectares (7.5 acres) of the subject property are proposed manufacturing and warehousing uses with up to 40% of the floorspace available for retail uses. Specific end users for this area of the site have not been secured at this time. However, the proposed amendment to the Durham Regional Official Plan would permit these lands to be designated for retail warehouse uses in the Whitby Official Plan. REPORT NO. PD- 141 -96 PAGE 3 4. PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE DURHAM REGION OFFICIAL PLAN 4.1 The Kose property is designated "Employment Area" in the Durham Regional Official Plan. Section 11.3.1 of the Regional Plan permits manufacturing, assembly and processing, service industries, warehousing, limited personal service uses, hotels and transportation facilities. Currently, retail warehouses are not permitted in Employment Areas. 4.2 Kose Properties is seeking an amendment to the Durham Region Official Plan to permit the Town of Whitby to designate all or a portion of the approximately 3.9 hectares (9.7 acres) Kose lands for the additional use of retail warehouses provided that these uses meet certain criteria as outlined in the proposed amendment (See Attachment #2): 5. STAFF COMMENTS 5.1 Staff have presented reports on other applications in this area by Invar Industrial Ltd. The first two applications were approved and have led to the development of the Thickson Ridge Power Centre. The new Whitby Official Plan has designated the Thickson Ridge Power Centre and additional lands on the north side of Highway 401 as a Special Activity Node. The area and the related policies have been deferred. More recently, Invar Industrial Limited submitted an application for smaller retail warehouses on the south side of Victoria Street. Council opposed the introduction of smaller retail warehouses in Employment Areas. 5.2 Since the approval of the Thickson Ridge Power Centre, proposals have been submitted which, if approved, would result in a substantial cumulative increase in commercial floorspace and regional drawing power. The total floorspace would increase from approximately 400,000 square feet to 1 million square feet as outlined below. 627 REPORT .D .6 PAGE 4 Thickson Ridge Power Centre 400,000 North of Highway 401 200,000 600,000 Subtotal "Special Activity Node" Invar Proposal for Smaller Retail Warehouses 120,000 Kose Properties Inc. Proposal 108,200 Reladanora Holdings Inc. Proposal 150,000 TOTAL EXISTING AND PROPOSED 978,200 5.3 The cumulative impact of these proposals substantially change the retail structure of the Region as outlined in the Durham Region Official Plan. This necessitates careful independent analysis which addresses the impacts on each Municipality. The approval of these applications including that submitted by Kose Properties is not appropriate until independent studies demonstrate the impact on the designated Central Areas including the Courtice Sub - Central Area, the Courtice Main Central Area and the Bowmanville Main Central Area. 5.4 With respect to the Kose site, the retail market study focused on the impact of the Value Village store. It concluded that it will not create any detrimental or critical impact on Whitby or Durham area stores; it is not expected to result in the closure of apparel stores. However, staff are concerned that the study did not adequately address possible impacts on the designated Central Areas in other areas besides Whitby. The consultant notes that the license plate survey done for the existing Home Depot found that only 19.4% of the total customers were from Whitby whereas 12% were from Clarington. This would indicate that Clarington residents are making significant contributions to the customer base of the Power Centre. 628 REPORT NO. PD- 141 -96 PAGE 5 5.5 Council is also opposed to smaller retail warehouses (5,000 to 20,000 sq. ft.) as would be permitted under industrial zoning which would allow the permitted accessory retail use up to a maximum of 40 %. 6. CONCLUSION 6.1 The Municipality of Clarington is opposed to the proposed Kose Properties development and recommends that appropriate independent studies be undertaken to adequately assess the impact of the development on Clarington communities. In addition, the Municipality opposes smaller retail warehouses in Employment Areas. 6.2 Staff recommend that this report be approved as the comments of the Municipality of Clarington on the proposed amendment to the Durham Regional Official Plan. Respectfully submitted, '::) , -Q-Q --" Franklin Wu, M.C.I.P., R.P.P., Director of Planning and Development DJC *FW *cc Attachment #1 - Key Map Attachment #2 - Amendment October 15, 1996 Reviewed by, IN ATTACHMENT #1 ATTACHMENT #2 KOSE PROPERTIES INC. Proposed Amendment to the Durham Regional Official Plan Actual Amendment: The Durham Regional Official Plan is hereby amended by: 1) Adding a new policy as follows: X.X.X. Council of the Town of Whitby may, in the area municipal official plan, designate locations in the Employment Area comprised of approximately 3.9 hectares of land located on the south side of Victoria Street East, and approximately 0.4 kilometres east of Thickson Road for the additional use of retail warehouses. These uses shall: a) be subject to a traffic impact study to identify impacts on the Regional road system and to recommend mitigating measures. The cost of any required improvements to the Regional road system will be the responsibility of the applicant; b) be the subject of a study which demonstrates that the proposed floorspace will not unduly affect the viability of any designated Central Area on Map "A "; c) be compatible with surrounding land uses; d) be zoned in an appropriate commercial category in the respective zoning by- law; e) be subject to any other matters deemed necessary by Whitby Council." 631