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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPD-43-96DMOSHOPA36WIHE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON REPORT Meeting: General Purpose and Administration Committee File # c L Date: Monday, March 18, 1996 Res. # - ( c _ /' :I Report #: PD -43 -96 File #: OPA -0-94 -002 By -law #. (TAUNTON Subject: AMENDMENT NO. 36 TO THE CITY OF OSHAWA OFFICIAL PX�A -A •• 00 Recommendations: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report PD -43 -96 be received; 2. THAT the Region of Durham be advised: a) That the modifications by Oshawa Council to Amendment No. 36 to the Oshawa Official Plan do not satisfy the concerns of the Municipality of Clarington regarding commercial floor space in the Taunton Community; and b) That the Municipality of Clarington supports the modifications to Amendment No. 36 to address Clarington's concerns as proposed by the Region of Durham in their Post - Circulation Letter dated September 11, 1995; and 3. THAT a copy of this Report and Council's decision be forwarded to the Region of Durham Planning Department and the City of Oshawa Planning Department. 1. PURPOSE OF REPORT 1.1 The Municipality of Clarington has expressed a number of concerns with the commercial policies contained in Amendment No. 36 to the City of Oshawa Official Plan (Taunton Planning Area). The Region of Durham proposed modifications to the Amendment to address these concerns. The City of Oshawa recently provided its position with respect to the proposed modifications. By letter dated February 26, 1996, the Region requested Clarington's response to Oshawa's position with respect to the proposed modifications. REPORT PAGE 2 1.2 The purpose of this report is to respond to the Region's letter. Fes: •�:(rl0* 1P►I 2.1 In October 1994, the City of Oshawa adopted Amendment No. 36 to its Official Plan. The purpose of the Amendment is to incorporate a Part II Plan for the Taunton Planning Area into the Official Plan, and to amend the Official Plan to reflect the detailed designations in the Part II Plan. 2.2 The amendment provides the following commercial policies and land use designations: • the designation of Special Purpose Commercial sites on the northeast corner of Taunton and Wilson Roads (120,000 sq. ft. GLA), and on the north side of Taunton Road west of the intersection with Townline Road (45,000 sq. ft. GLA); ® the inclusion of power centres and other 'big box' retailers as permitted uses in the Special Purpose Commercial areas without the need for further retail analysis; • the designation of a Planned Commercial Strip (15,000 sq. ft. GLA) at the northwest corner of Taunton and Townline Roads; • the designation of a Planned Commercial Centre - Neighbourhood /Local Central Area (80,000 sq. ft. GLA) at the northeast corner of Taunton and Harmony Roads. 2.3 On September 13, 1994, Council endorsed Staff Report PD- 105 -94 as Clarington's comments on the proposed Amendment # 36. The Report noted a concern with the amount of Special Purpose Commercial floor space being proposed along Taunton Road, and the inclusion of power centres and other'big box' retailers as permitted uses. The need for the Special Purpose Commercial site at Taunton and Townline Roads was specifically questioned, given the site's peripheral location to both the Taunton Community and the City of Oshawa. Staff also noted that the Commercial Market Study for Northeast Oshawa did not provide detailed justification for the introduction of new format retail uses on the Taunton Road sites, and did not address either the existing inflow of retail expenditures from Clarington residents or the anticipated impacts of new format retailers on the planned function of the Courtice Main Central Area and other designated Central Areas in Clarington. 535 REPORT PAGE 3 2.4 In response to a request from the Region to identify potential modifications to address the Municipality's concerns, staff in a letter dated December 7, 1994 proposed specific modifications to Amendment No. 36. These proposed modifications were as follows: • delete power centres and warehouse membership clubs as permitted uses in Special Purpose Commercial areas; • add a requirement that power centres or warehouse membership clubs may only proceed by amendment, subject to the preparation of an independent retail market analysis to examine the impact on Clarington; • redesignate the Special Purpose Commercial area at the northwest corner of Taunton and Townline Roads to a residential use. 2.5 Regional Planning, through its Post - Circulation Letter on Amendment No.36 dated September 11, 1995, proposed a number of modifications to Amendment No. 36. The following modifications were proposed to specifically address Clarington's concerns with the amendment: • permit power centres or warehouse membership clubs in Special Purpose Commercial areas to proceed by amendment only, subject to the preparation of an independent retail market analysis to examine the impact on the Municipality of Clarington; • revise Schedule A of the Amendment to redesignate the Special Purpose Commercial site at Taunton and Townline Roads to "Residential ". 2.6 On February 5, 1996, Oshawa City Council indicated its opposition to both modifications proposed to address the concerns expressed by Clarington. Reasons given for opposing the modifications included the fact that the Oshawa Official Plan already permits power centres and warehouse membership clubs in Special Purpose Commercial areas, and that the Commercial Market Study for Northeast Oshawa indicated a need for Special Purpose Commercial uses in the Taunton Community. 536 REPORT NO.: PD-43-96 PAGE 4 2.7 However, Oshawa Council also approved a number of other modifications to Amendment No. 36 relating to commercial uses. The Special Purpose Commercial area at Taunton and Townline was increased in area from 1.6 hectares to approximately 3.4 hectares, and the maximum GLA requirement of 45,000 sq. ft. was deleted. As well, the Special Purpose Commercial area at Taunton and Wilson Roads was redesignated to a Planned Commercial Centre - Neighbourhood /Local Central Area. The change was made to permit the developer to construct a food store and smaller retail stores as part of its development. The net change in floor space is shown on the following table: COMMERCIAL FLOOR SPACE ON TAUNTON ROAD AMENDMENT NO. 36 - OSHAWA OFFICIAL PLAN TYPE OF COMMERCIAL FLOOR SPACE ORIGINAL ADOPTION BY OSHAWA COUNCIL (OCT. 1994) MODIFIED BY OSHAWA COUNCIL (FEB. 1995) Community Central Area 200,000 sq.ft. 200,000 sq.ft. Special Purpose Commercial 165,000 sq.ft. 100,000 sq.ft.* Local Central Area 80,000 sq.ft. 200,000 sq.ft. Planned Commercial Strip 30,000 sq.ft. 30,000 sq.ft. TOTAL 475,000 sq.ft. 530,000 sq.ft. W uianngton starr estimate 2.8 The letter from the Durham Region Planning Department, dated February 26, 1996, requests the Municipality of Clarington to confirm that the City of Oshawa's actions in respect of the proposed modifications satisfies the Municipality's concerns. As noted earlier, this Staff Report has been prepared in response to the Region's letter. 3. STAFF COMMENTS 3.1 Staff continue to have significant concerns with the commercial policies of Amendment No. 36 to the Oshawa Official Plan as modified by the City of Oshawa. 3.2 The modifications to Amendment No. 36 have reduced the amount of Special Purpose Commercial floor space in the Taunton Community by approximately 65,000 sq.ft. 537 REPORT NO.: PD -43 -96 PACE 5 This was accomplished through the redesignation of the Special Purpose Commercial site at Wilson and Taunton Roads to Neighbourhood Commercial /Local Central Area (120,000 sq. ft.), and the increase in size of the remaining Special Purpose Commercial site at Taunton and Townline Roads to allow up to 100,000 sq. ft. of Special Purpose Commercial uses. No commercial market study was prepared in support of these changes. 3.3 However, staff are disappointed that the City of Oshawa was not receptive to the Municipality's proposals to address the cumulative impact of additional commercial development in northeast Oshawa. In particular, the City chose to increase the Special Purpose Commercial floor space potential at the site at the Taunton / Townline site. In this regard, Staff reiterate its concern that these designations will attract retail expenditures from Clarington residents, and that the Commercial Market Study for Northeast Oshawa did not adequately address this potential inflow and its effect on the planned function of Central Areas in Clarington. In combination with the Power Centre development in Whitby, it affects the assumptions utilized in the Municipality's market studies in recent years. 4. CONCLUSIONS Large commercial developments near the Oshawa /Clarington border will undermine efforts to establish a workable commercial hierarchy in Clarington. As such, staff remain concerned with the commercial floor space policies of Amendment No. 36 to the Oshawa Official Plan. Respectfully submitted, Reviewed by, Franklin Wu, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Director of Planning and Development JAS *DC *FW *df 11 March 1996 µ W.H. Stockwell Chief Administrative Officer 538