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HomeMy WebLinkAbout74-99Ffjffsj�.._ NMI " INTERIM PLAN - FINAL COMMENTS ON REVISED This report results from a final review of the original text, the proposed revisions and the maps which currently make up the Interim District Plan. When these comments have been dealt with by the Committee, I would recommend that the Interim Plan be printed and bound in sufficient quantity for the use of the Committee, consultants, staff and Council, and that the same be forwarded to Council with a recommendation of approval. The following comments are submitted in order of the Section on which they are based. (7) Section 3(4)ae This section would appear to require d6dication of parkland or cash in lieu from all forms of dev elopment or redevelopment. In the past most municipalities have only required parkland or cash -in -lieu for residential, development. It would be a new departure for a municipality to require this in the case of commercial, industrial or institutional developments. In any case, I have checked the provisions of the Planning Act and I find that commercial industrial and. institutional uses could only be required to contribute parkland or cash -in -lieu where a change of zoning, a plan of subdivision, a condominium, or a consent is required. I think that it would be desirable to procure parkland for recreational purposes within large indus- trial or commercial developments such as shopping centres. Recreation areas are commonly found for example in European - 2 - industrial parks. However, I do not think that the parks pro- visions should apply to all forms of non - residential develop- ment. I would recommend that the section be reworded to add the words "for residential purposes" after the word "land" in the first sentence, and the following sentence added after the first "The municipality may also require such conveyance in the case of large or important commercial or industrial developments ". (10) Section 4(5)(c): I think that the words "medium density" should be struck from item (i). To me medium density means approximately 40 units per acre, and that kind of density should not be contemplated on septic tanks. In fact in this case the applicants have only proposed 40 units on 6J acres. (16) Section 4(8)(c): This section does not seem really to accomplish what was intended by the Arterial Commercial Designation. The present wording creates the equivalent of a highway commercial designation along both sides of King Street. I do not think that the development of a "gasoline alley" type of strip is really the most desirable use of land adjacent to King Street. King Street constitutes the main east -west route through Bowmanville, and development alongside of it should be restricted to building of a high quality and attractive appearance as well as to uses which will not interfere substantially with the functioning of the street as a major traffic artery. To some extent the area to the east of Liberty Street has already acquired a highway commercial character, but this has not happened, with one or two exceptions' - 3 - in the area west of Liberty Street® I do not think that such uses should be introduced into that area. In addition no res- idential uses are permitted in the Arterial Commercial Area. I see no reason why they should not be permitted on the same basis as they are permitted in the downtown area itself. I rec- ommend adding the following sentences to item 4 (8)(c)(i): "In addition, accessory residential uses and apartments over stores may be permitted. However, new apartments over stores will only be permitted by an amendment to the appropriate zoning by -law ". The following sentence should be added to item 4 (8)(c)(ii): "New uses of an auto oriented or drive in nature will not be permitted in the area between Ontario and Liberty Streets ". (l9) Section 4 (9)(b): This section has been taken striaght from the former Bowmanville Official Plan and it contains two items which are questionable for inclusion in the interim plan. These items were appropriate when Bowmanville was planning only for its own needs, but they may not necessarily be appropriate for the new Town of Newcastle. Item (i) appears to involve a commitment to locate new municipal office facilities within the specified area. The Town of Newcastle will undoubtedly wish to consolidate its office facilities in one location at some time over the next few yearsi but I think it is premature to say that this location will nece- ssarily be in the small area specified in item (ij I think that the selection of a site for new municipal offices hould be carried out as a part of the planning studies now underway and leading up to the new District Plan, but no commitment should be made at this 4 - time to locate these facilities in any specific area. Item (vi) seems to suggest that new community and recrea- tional facilities in Bowmanville should be provided in the area of the present area. Again this would appear to be a premature decision since there has already been some discussion of pro- viding a future sports - recreation complex at some other location in or on the edge of the town. When Murray V. Jones and Associ- ates produce their concept plan for Bowmanville they will undoub- tedly make recommendations with regard to the location of future social and recreational facilities. The location of these may not be consistant with item (vi). (23) Section 4(11): I cannot see the value of having any "deferred" categories in an Interim Official Plan. This plan will only be in effect only for a period of 18 months maximum at which time it will be superceded by the Regional Official Plan and by the final District Plan which must conform to the Regional Plan. Under these circumst- ances it becomes obvious that anything which is "deferred" in the Interim Plan may well be "deferred" forever, depending on what emerges as the Regional strategy for industrial development. The "deferred industrial" category is therefore really meaning- less as far as actual development is concerned; and being a long term proposal in what is supposed to be an interim plan, it can only serve to hold up approval of the plan at higher levels of government. The purpose of the interim plan was intended to provide for immediate needs over the next year and a half max- imum and to provide the Town with some lead time in which to 5 - produce an overall strategy for the development of the area. I do not think that "deferred" categories of any type have any place in the interim plan. Aside from my concern that they are inappropriate in an interim plan, I feel that the locations of the deferred industrial designations are wrong on several planning grounds. These are outlines below: 1. The deferred industrial category occupies almost exclu- sively first class agricultural land as shown in the Regional Planning Department's Discussion Paper #1. The Town of Newcastle has consistantly sought to mini- mize the loss of good agricultural land to other uses. The Town has tried to convince residential developers, Ontario Hydro and others that their developments should avoid as much as possible the taking of good agricul- tural land out of production. The interim plan restricts estate residential development to Class 7 agricultural land. How can it then consitantly designate large areas of Class 1 land for industry? 2. The development of such extensive industrial areas, if it ever materialized, without municipal services, could create severe servicing problems. The cost of solving such pollution problems, once they developed, would be enormous, since the areas designated deferred industrial are all very difficult to provide with municipal services, especially sanitary sewers. This is particularly true of the industrial area adjacent to Orono. Full develop- - 6 - ment of this industrial area could quite likely create a need for sewers in Orono, likely requiring upstream sewage treatment facilities on the Orono Creek. I believe this idea was rejected on a previous occasion by Clarke Township. 3. The extent and location of the industrial area in Orono concerns me in particular. It is quite appropriate for a village to attempt to provide some local employment for its residents, but the Orono industrial area is almobt large enough, in theory, to accomodate the main plant of General Motors in Oshawa. Obviously, industrial development of that magnitude, whatever its form, would transform Orono from a rural service centre and resi- dential community into an industrial town, with all the consequences of that change. I doubt whether such a change would really be desired by the community, and in any case it is not the kind of decision to be made in an "interim" plan. The location of the proposed industrial area is also of some concern. The village of Orono has clearly defined boundaries on the north (Taunton Road) and on the east (Hwy.115). These boundaries are constituted by major traffic arteries which by -pass the urban area. There are a few developments to the north and east of these bypasses such as the Regional Garage, the Dutch Oven, Cury -Ply and Nesting Furniture, but most of the village lies to the south and east of the by- passes. ® 7 - To develop the area east of Hwy. 115 for industry would be to cause Orono to straddle the highway, with resi- dential development on one side and industry on the other. This would create a major traffic flow across what was intended to'be a controlled access by -pass to the Village thus defeating the purpose of the original construction. 4. Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of the "deferred industrial" designation is that it repeats an industrial development strategy which has shown in the past that it doesn't work. If it did work it would be unfortunate in some ways, as mentioned above, but, in fact, it would almost certainly fail to produce industrial development in anything like the quantity to balance residential growth. Although I was generally impressed with the results, one aspect of the proposed plan for the Courtice Area which disappointed me was that so little land was designated for industry. Murray V. Jones Associates apparently felt that the potential for industrial devel- opment in that area was quite small. I think that if we cannot attract industry to the area immediately adja- cout to Oshawa, we may as well forget about bringing it in elsewhere in Newcastle. As the Regional Director of Development said at the recent meeting in Bowmanville Council Chambers, most of the enquiries he receives are for serviced urban industrial lots. This is the type of industrial land which we presently lack and should be providing Furthermore, the land prices in this area g have already been raised by residential speculation to the point where private industrial development is priced out of the market. Industrial land development by the municipality or the region appears to be essential to achieve industrial development, and I think that any moneys received from O.H.A.P. for the provision of hous- ing should be invested in industrial development which would support that housing on a long term basis. In conclusion, I would recommend that the present deferred industrial designation should be deleted from the interim plan, since it is not consistant with many of our basic planning objectives and our consultants should produce a report to answer the four following questions which I think are basic to our overall planning program° a) what potential does the Town of Newcastle have for industrial development under present and forseeable economic conditions? b) where in a general sense are the best locations for industry in the Town taking into account both plan- ning and economic factors? c) how should the rate of residential and industrial development be coordinated? d) what measi.ires should the municipality take to achieve a reasonable balance between population growth and industrial development? I think that it is premature to designate any area for long term industrial development until we have answers to these questions. (29) Section 4 (15)0 The extension of the Environmental Study Area to include the lands south of the CNR tracks and west of the Newcastle harbour is a - 9 - matter which concerns me. This is being done as a result of pressure from developers who have residential development in mind. I do not consider this to be a desirable area for res- idential development for two major reasons, Firstly, it is separated from the existing village by a major freeway and main line railway which has a very inadequate underpass for the accomodation of any significant traffic volumes. Secondly, and more importantly, the area surrounds the sewage treatment plant and if adequate setbacks were maintained from this facility, residential development in this area would be virtually elimin- ated. I do not think that we are so short of potential resi- dential land in Newcastle that we need to impose residents to this kind of nuisance. I do not see any objection to the inclu- sion of this area as part of the Environmental Study Area as such, provided there is no commitment implied for residential development. Actually I feel that the land in the north near the railway and Hwy. 401 may have some industrial potential and the rest of the area including the harbour should be studied as a potential Regional recreational area. These purposes, of course, are somewhat far removed from the original purposes of the O.H.A.P. study but if O.H.A.P. do not object to the inclusion of the area on the above basis, I see no reason why we should not take advan- tage of the opportunity to study the potential uses of this area. Respectfully submitted, '7' -'George F. Howden, Planning Director.