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HomeMy WebLinkAbout74-60REPORT NO. 4 REPORT ON PROPOSED AMENDMENT NO.1 TO THE OFFICIAL PLAN OF THE CLARKS PLANNING AREA 1. Terms of Reference and Basis of Report: This is one of the Proposed Official Plans and Official Plan Amendments which were referred to the Planning Advisory Committee for review. The Ministry of Housing were requested to await comments from the new Town of Newcastle on their proposals and have advised that they are awaiting our input. My report con- tained hereunder is based largely on the previous report submitted by Municipal Planning Consultants Co. Ltd., and repeats much of what was said in that report. I have however, made a number of modifications and additions to cover points which I felt needed further treatment, and I assume full responsdbility for the contents of this report. 2. Introduction and History of the Amendment: The former Council of the Township of Clarke gave directions for the preparation of an amendment to the proposed Official Plan modular housing development in two separate locations. The Council did not request background studies or reports on the deve- lopment to be prepared. Two proposals for the development of two separate modular housing retirement parks were submitted to the former Clarke Township Council, prior to approval by the Minister of the Clarke Township Official Plan and prior to the establishment of regional govern- ment. 2 - REPORT NO, 4 One proposal was for the construction of a modular housing retirement community along the shore of Lake Ontario, west of the former Village of Newcastle, by the Rice Construction Com- pany ® known as Pine Ridge Retirement Park, The other applica- tion for retirement people was made by Howard Payne, for the development of his property on the Lake Ontario shoreline, east of Port Granby, near Newtonville Station, to be called Durham Retirement Park. The amendment to the Official was passed by Council under Section 17(2) of the Planning act without reference to the Planning Board which declared its opposition to the amendment. There was no public meeting held to discuss the amendment as is normally a requirement of the Ministry, and in fact petitions were sent by local residents to both the local Council and later to the Regional Council opposing the amendment. Furthermore, the amendment was the major election issue in that part of the Town of Newcastle in the last election and those candidates who opposed the proposal were elected while thos who favoured it were defeated. All of this does not, of course, bear on the merits of the proposal, but it indicates that there is an absence of the kind of local acceptance of the amendment which the Min- istry would normally require before giving its approval. It should be noted that the Regional Council have also recommen- ded against approval of the amendment for the following reasons: (a) That there were no apparent public particiaption efforts concerning the amendment. 3 REPORT N0, 4 (b) That the Regional Planning staff is unable to respond contrum ctively to the amendment in view of its limited documentation and lack of background studies, (c) The Region as yet has no defined policy on the question of Mobile Homes, their role in housing) locational criteria, magnitude etc. It is important to note that the Province has been engaged in research on Mobile Homes over the last two years and as yet has been unable to offer a policy position on this matter, 3, Pine Ridge Retirement Park (a) General Description: According to information provided by the developer) the park proposal is designed to provide lots for prefabricated mobile unit-type structures. They are mobile only in the sense that they are moved as a unit to the site and are then permanently established on foundation pillars and are probably better described as modular units. Each unit is approximately 1000 square feet and is placed on a lot of 4000 square feet minimum. The proposal is to be a development of approximately 1000 units on a 273,5 acre site. At 2 persons per unit, this will generate a population of 2000. This is a gross density of 3,6 units per acre. In comparison) a similar type of devel- opment, namely Sandy Cove in Innisfil Township (Simcoe County) has only 400 units on a site of approximately 170 acres, for a density of only 2,3 units per acre. 4 m REPORT NO. 4 3. (cont'd.. ®. A preliminary plan for the site was created, allowing app- roximately 8 acres for the Community Centre, 2.� acres for storage, 58.3 acres of open space, plus an additional 53 acres of open space on Wilmot Creek, and 31.6 acres for roadways, leaving 138.5 acres for modular housing lots. The result is an overall net density of 7.2 units per acre. (b) Location: The Pine Ridge development site is situated just south of Highway No. 401 and the C.N.R. tracks, to the west of the Village of Newcastle. Presently, access is available only by a single gravel Town road which runs north from the C.N.R. tracks and joins highway No.2 just east of the Highways No. 35 & 115 and No.2 interchange. This road crosses Highway No.401 by a "fly-over", but has a level crossing over 4 railroad tracks. The road continues westerly immediately south of the C.N.R. tracks and stops at the edge of the pro- posed development. The location of the proposed development would back on to the C.N.R. mainline Toronto-to-Montreal tracks which are heavily used. The proximity to the railway and the highway may be disruptive and disturbing ® more so to the elderly than to a group of younger residents. Therefore, traditional buffering would not be adequate. Sound waves of low frequency such as those made by a diesel locomotive travel outward in an arc from the source of emission, and buffering is not effective beyond about 90 ft. 5 3, ( cont' d e „ a ) REPORT NO. 4 (b) It should be noted that the Lakeshore location is an advan- tage of view only. Most parts of the site have no access to the lake due to the high cliffs along the shoreline. Even where there could be access to the waterline, there is no beach or sheltered water. The advantagesof the lake- front location are probably more than compensated for by the micro - climatic disadvantages of the site, (c) Micro - climate: We do not have any detailed micro-climatic information for the site, but It is known locally to be susceptible to foggy conditions. It is probably slightly cooler in the spring and fall than more inland areas. Its locations on top of a lakeshore cliff probably exposes the site to higher wind velocities and to a greater wind chill factor in winter time than is the case for sites further from the lake. These factors act to reduce the site's desirability as a residential environment, particularly for older people, (d) Soils, Topography and Lgriculture: The proposed Pine Ridge development would be situate on primarily Newcastle Loam soils. These soils are graybrown clay and silt loam over light brown loam underlain by weak reddish brown clay and silt loam which are high in lime content. There are some stones prevalent in the soil. This type of soil is lain over undulating or slightly rolling 6 REPORT N0,4 (d) (cont'd,,,) topography gently sloping about 5% with sporadic knolls. On the knolls some sheet erosion occurs. Water may accumulate between these knolls and swells of land after a heavy rain or in the spring. Otherwise there is fair-to-good drainage. The area along the Wilmot Creek in the east portion of our site boundaries is Bottom Land, Bottom Land iS considered a complex soil condition, containing a variety of soil materials. This soil type is usually poorly drained, subject to flooding and thus stream erosion. The Ganaraska Conserva- tion Authority recoimnended this land be purchased as an Authority Forest for erosion protection. The topography, being gently sloping, is suitable for farm production. Because the soil is above average in nutrients and naturally fertile as well as being of a loose, friable consistency which allows for deeper root penetration and more than adequate drainage, the Newcastle Loam soil is considered a better soil. This is in fact one of the best agricultural areas in the municipality. Orchards and nurseries are how the land is being used now, (e) On-Site Vegetation and Wildlife ?eatures: Along the Wilmot Creek in the Pine Ridge development area, the land has been left in its wooded state of scrub willow trees. The rest of the area is open farmer's fields. The willow trees have a shallow root system. Therefore, in the 7 ® REPORT NOB4 (e) (cont'd....) development of sewage and water systems one must consider the possibility of interference and disruption in these underground workings due to their wander roots. The root system spreads quickly and widely through the upper horizons portion of the soil, not downward into the soil. This is an especially essential consideration as to the location and construction of the proposed dewage hookup pipe from the development through the woodlot and creek area to the Ministry of the Environment's Sewage treatment plant. The wander root system could cause damage to the pipe unless laid deep enough. The willow trees themsleves should survive construction well, as long as their water 6ource is not drastically altered. They need and must receive a sufficient amount of water which they get from the nearby Creek and its occasional flood. The water flow in the lower portion of Wilmot Creek, and its mouth are on the proposed development site. This water course is presently suitarle for the production of rainbow, brook and brown trout, lass and pike. These fish species may be depleted or alienated from their present environment if the proposed development takes place. Therefore, studies should be made to determine the quality and carrying capacity of the water and its ability as well as the fish's ability to withstand possible changes resulting from development. The water temperature changes and increased suspended solids which could be caused by construction may interfere with the 8 9 REPORT NO, 4 (e) (cont'do „) normal movement of migratory fish species. Effective stream bank erosion control is essential for the preservation and enhancement of a quality water flow. Proper stream manage- ment of the Wilmot Creels would be necessary in relation to any development. I do not believe that these environmental problems are insurmountable, but a proper solution could be very expensive. (f) Water and Sewerage Systems: Originally, the site was to have been served by separate water and sewer systems including only the proposed retirement community, The Official Plan kmendment still reads this waym The water was to come from Lake Ontario to a pumping station located near the centre point; of the shoroline boundary of the development. Filtration and chlorination would be pro- vided, It is not clear whether or not the water and sewer system, were to remain private or to be taken over by the Region. In the best interest of the proposed residents such water and sewer systems should be Regional to insure a high quality of service. However, there arises the problem of scattered systems throughout the area that could become a headache and unjustifiable expense to the Region. The retire- ment park now proposes to utilize the sewage treatment plant now completed approximately ,85 miles to the east of their development, within the former Village of Newcastle, The 9 - REPORT N0, 4 (f) (cont'd ... ) developers also propose to expand the proposed water filtra- tion plant to also provide the Village of Newcastle with needed water from Lake Ontario. However, a filtration plant site has already Keen acquired within the Village and the proposed route to the Lake for the water intake from this site would be much shorter than that envisioned by the retirement park proponents, (This water intake would likely be ruled out if a sewage treatment plant went into the retirement park site). It is the proposed water and sewer pipes from the retirement park which create the environment- ally hazardous crossing of Wilmot Creek referred to above. The connection of the retirement park to the Village sewer system has been advocated as a moans of solving the problem of an unbalanced servicing; system in the area, The former Village has a fairly unique servicing problems They have pipes in the grouted, north of Highway #401, capable of servicing 7,700 persons. They have a plant that can handle 5,000 persons and is expandable to handle 10.,000 persons. They also require piped water from Lake Ontario, but to do so would i- equire a 10,000 population to make their scheme econom- ically feasible. However, the natural and logical location for growth to occur is adjacent to the built -up portion of the former Village, ."ls they nave the pipes available they should logi- cally grow to 5,000 in the first stage and 7,700 in the -- 10 =, REPORT NO. 4 (f) (cont'd) second stage, when the plant has been expanded. The second logical location for development and utilization of the remaining capacity of the expanded plant would be south of Highway #401 adjacent to the already established development. Should the development utilize the treatment plant on the opposite side of Wilmot Creek, the construction of the force main, as mentioned above, will have to cut through the "Environmental Protection Area ", This, in all likelihood, will upset the ecological balance of this environment, changing the drainage pattern and thus the flow of the creek, causing the probable destruction of the fish , and wildlife population, opening up an ewtablished forest that is unaccustomed to its exposure probably resulting in the trees destruction, and perhaps even being ruined by damage being done to the trunk line pipe itself from the wandering root systems of the trees. The great expense sustained for all this extension of services may cause an increase in the Monthly fees the occupants must pay, thus negating any low -cost aspects of the development, It should be noted that for every "modular retirement home" connected to the sewage system in 14ewcastle Village, a conve- ntional house already approved in the Village's Official Plan will have to be subtracted. When the retirement home is thus seem properly as an alternative to conventional housing, the supposed assessment surplus to be derived from it disappears - 11 - REPORT NOg4 (f) (cont'd,o because each modular home would provably pay less than 1/2 the taxes per year which a conventional house would pay. There also exists the probability that this differential would increase in time, because a conventional house apprec- iates in value over the years while there is evidence that the proposed modular homes depreciate in value, (g) Access-. Perhaps the greatest drawback to this site for development purposes is its poor accessibility. In order to somehow alleviate this situation, the Clarke Township Official Plan Amendment No,1 allowed for a new road to be built to arterial standards and it would appear that an overpass was proposed over the C.N.R. lines and highway No,401. There was no indi- cation in the text of the iimendment nor on the legend of Schedule "X" as to an overpass being required. However, this concept is found in the backup report that does not form a part of the jmendment. The new road was also to connect with Highway Noo35 ®115 north of the X01 and south of highway No,2 and it was intended that the new road be used as t'ne main access to the Retirement Park, I understand tha, the proposed access has been rejected by the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, a dec- ision with which I concur below. - 12 - REPORT N0.4 (g) (cont'd...) The existing access, Cobbledick Road, and its crossing of the C.N.R. tracks is to be upgraded to serve as a secondary or emergency access. I feel that, although a second access is essential, this particular proposal of the new road and the use of Cobble - dick as an emergency access is not suitable for the following reasons: (a) recess to highway #35-115 at this location and for this size of a development would not appear to be desirable. Highway ;735-115 is a high speed arKrial and the prop- osed location lies midpoint between its highway #2 interchange and its Highway W 401 interchange which are only a 1/2 mile apart. Considering the speed and the volume of cars already using Highway #35 -115 and the age of the people and volume of cars being proposed to enter and exit the community from such an access point, a serious traffic hazard would be created. (ii) With 1000 units there would be at least 1000 cars. De-- spite the fact that this is a retirement park, this does not mean that the people will stop living and, consider- ing the isolation of this community, it would appear to be safe to estimate a minimum of 2,000 cars per day using this new road and tho proposed access to highway #35 -115 as they must leave the community when desiring anything more than convenience goods. 13 - REPORT NO.4 (g) (cont'd..,) (iii) It is suggested in the backup report of the .Amendment that Cobbledick Road will be used as a secondary or emergency ,9ccess. Gs this is the road giving the most direct access to Newcastle Village, I feel that it will require improvements to arterial stand,nrd, including an overpass over the C.N.R. tracks. This was not indicated in the Amendment, (iv) The two roads to service this development basically come out in the same general area, thus providing a very awkward and limited choice in movement. The cost of constructing an overpass over highway #401 and four tracks of the C.N.R. would have been enormous, even if a second overpass over the tracks were not required. I doubt whether this would have beon economically feasible unless federal and provincial taxpayers were expected to contribute substantially to the cost of these structures. The proposed western access has now Leen modified to connect with the south service road of 401 near the Kennett Road interchange. This eliminates the hazardous entrance to highway 115 and the need for a new overpass over highway 401, but it requii,es construction of an additional 4500 feet of arterial road. l�n overpass or underpass at the CNR tracks would still be needed, In addition, since much of the traffic using the western access would probatly be destined to Central 14 - REPORT NOo4 Boi,rmanv illo, the Bennett road from the 401 interchange to Hwy< 2 would also have to to improved to arterial standards. Altogether the project, if It is to have access as recommended herein, would require the construction of .85 miles of new arterial road, the impr- ovement of a further 1,6 miles of existing road to arterial standard and the construction of two railway grade separations. The cost of all this further negates the intended low cost aspect of the develop- ment, 4, Durham Retirement Park (a) General Description: The Durham Park development is supposed to provide housing for 1,582 people in 791 units at a density of 305 units per acre (2 people per unit) over a 22.6 ®acre site. This applicant has not given detailed cohsideration to servicing or the overall implications of his development. Therefore, it is difficult to assess the merits of the proposal other than by examining existing characteristics and restriction. (b) Location: The Durham Park proposal is bisected by Lakeshore Road running east and west and two municipal gravel roads running north from Lakeshore. Road, i�ccording to the developer, plans to construct a }Zydro facility in 14esleyvllle may mean the upgrading of Lake- shore Road to a Regional Road or perhaps a Provincial Highway, If so, the construction and maintenance costs will be borne by the Regional or Provincial Government. Granted this may be a (h) (cont'd000) IEI PORT NO .4 beneficial factor in considering the overall net return of tax revenue to the new Regional Viunicipality, but it will also increase traffic floras and patterns along with the disruptiveness of the noise and inconvenience, This may have si,;nificant impact on the viability of the project, especially since it involves retire persons° iJe have as yet received no indication that Lakeshore Road will be upgraded by an external agency, and Ontario Hydro have advised that thoy have no intention of devel- oping it as a iaeans of access to the proposed Wesleyville Power Station, The power station will have a direct link northward to Hwy, 401 and Hwy, 2, Possibly there will be another link from the station eastward to the nearly Town of Port Hope. No provision was made for upgrading; the two municipal gravel roads abutting the site, I,'Iaintenance costs per Dale for gravel roads is two tries greater than those for paved roads, which would Have to be borne by the Municipality. Paving must be considered because of the size of the proposal involved. Also access or connection to other highways (i.e. 401) and roads from both sites must be considered in respect to the cost' financing and iaaintenance of these externalities, Perhaps future hookups and extraneous roadways unforeseen now may have to be _financed by the Municipality. Nevertheless, it is possible to make some reasonably safe predictions about the road improvements which would be required to serve this devel- opment, and I have done so below. 16 - REPORT NOo4 (c) Soil, Topography and ,.griculture: The Durham P,Lrk site is in an area compised partly of Darling- ton_Sand®y_Loam which is light gray- brown, sandy lam over yellow brown sandy loam underlain by gray compact stoney loam. The topography is moderately undulating (3 -s8% slope) with steep slopes and a ravine (usually above 30%) in the upper section, which tends to interrupt proper drainage flows The steep area is Otonabee Loam Steed Phase which is a shallow soil over gray calcareous stony loam with variable surface text- ure. This type includes very steep till soil that, because of excessive runoff and severe erosion when cleared, should be left in permanent pasture or bush. This general area, other than on the steep slopes, with proper management practices, is suitable for general farming or truck farming. Both these areas are classified by the Official Plan and aRDj, as having prime (class 1 & 2) capability for agrloulture. Rill these soil types are generally organic silts, being In lowlying areas. Therefore they tend: a) to have poor -to -fair stability when loaded or when frozen; b) to be poor as a bearing for foundations or for a road, c) to be unsuitable as a base course for permanent roads or as a material for light roads if stabilized. These silts are well- drained, so they are stable when dry or damp, although they will compress under a load. It is treoch- erous and unstable when wet, j,s they swell up and heave badly 17 - REPORT NO.4 when frozen, roads must be deep enough to prevent this from happening, or strong and elastic enough to cope with them, The erosion and slumping of silt is likely to be severe, It should be pointed out that while some portions of the site are too steep for cultivation, the same are probably also too steep for building. The Durham Park development would be next to, but not incorpor- ating, a white cedar -sugar maple -beech forest, but it will have a white cedar forest on its east boundary line. The relationship of the trees to their environment should be studied to identify the effects of development. Particular attention must be paid to white cedars and their water source and watertablo. Develop - went may change the pattern or quantity of runoff, thus altering the drainage pattern and thus disrupting the existing ecological balances to which cedar trees are especially sensitive. This forest system of w,iite cedars is fragile, as regeneration and rehabilitation attempts usually produce only fair results. The Durham Park site does not have any defined water channel and is primarily open fields. Therefore, there is Little vegetation and v irtlially no wildlife other than small animals such as squirrels and groundhogs. They may not be of too much concern over the proposed development. (d) Water and Sewerage Systems: The Durham Park site has not given any consideration as to its source of water or destination of its sewage. It is too far to connect to Newcastle's sewage system to make the connection 18 o REPORT NO,4 justifiable, It should be noted that most of the site north of Lakeshore Road does not drain naturally towards the lake. It drains toward a swampy area in the northeast which is part of a drainage system entering the lake in adjacent Hope Township. If an on site sewage treatment plant is proposed, it will probably be necessary to pump the sewage to the plant from a large number, possibly a majority of the units. This could be very expensive, and at the same time unacceptable to Regional and Provincial authorities. The developers are Znvesti;;ating the possibility of obtaining water from the proposed Wesleyvilie Power Station, but this would require pumping the water between 1/2 and 1,1/2 miles, (e) Access: This proposal has similar difficulties of access to the Pine Ridge proposal, only in this case thc; distances to nearby urban commun- ities and mayor arterial roads are considerably greater. In my opinion the following roads would have to be upgraded to arterial standard to provide suitable access to the proposed development. (i) Lakeshore Road west to Newtonville Road ® l.% miles. (ii) Hope - Clarke Boundary Road north to highway 2 m 2.3 miles. (iii) Lakeshore Road east to Wesleyville Power Station - 1.5 miles. An overpass may be required where the hope - Clarke Road crosses the C.N.It. and C.P.h. main lines. In addition, it should be noted that Lakeshore Road is essentially a surfaced over stage coach road and its alignment is in many places unsua_ table for reconstr -a - 19 REPORT NO , 4 uction, requiring a totally new alignment to be acquired, It appears also to be considerably less than 66 feet wide in many places, In siunmary, the road improvements and servicing costs, if charged to the developer as I believe they properly should be, will reduce if not eliminate the intended low cost aspect of this proposal. 5. GeeUal- Considerations Up to this point in this report I Have been considering the two pro- posed sites as separate proposals. Yet they are obviously the same in general character and propose a different type of residential project which is still new in Ontario and thus far unknown in the Town of Newcastle. There are a nwnber of aspects which are common �o both developments which I would like to consider before I come to my summary and recommendations. (a) Retirement Communities° Generally speaking, many studies have shown that isolation from younger age groups is not a desirable feature which is sought by older people. Indeed, such isolation in today's society is one of the most common problems of older people, These proposals constitute isolation on the grand scale. It is true that there are established retirement com,nunities In the U.S., particularly in the south, but these represent a deliberate choice by their residents of this particular climate and environment as an alternative to living in a more conventional community. In Ontario' I suspect that such retirement communities would be L0 REPORT N004 attractive only to retired people who were unable to afford more conventional housing in l,iore conventional communities. If a majority, or all., of the occupants are senior citizens, perhaps expenses would lie reduced for education, recreation, and maintenance,although suitable types and levels of these services may be difficult to determine. However., this type of development may incur greater costs for health and other social services. (b) Proposed Housing Units: The type of housing unit proposed in both developments has not been in existence long enough to enable an estimate to be made of its life expectancy. Because of the low cost feature of the unit tlils type of house deserves serious consideration as an acceptable means of housing certain portions of the population, but it must be expected to have a considerably shorter life span than conventional housing. This shorter life span arises From three factors: (A the inherent construction of the unit and the materials used, (ii) the lacy of flexibility in design. (Conventional housing can be modified updated and extended in a way which is not possible with the Proposed units. The proposed units are fixed in their design for life at the time of manu- facture and can be altered very little to accomodate changes in lifestyle or technology. They may be said thus to contain a planned obsolescence factor), - 21 - REPOA NO a4 (iii) the tendency of the units to depreciate in value over time which makes it uneconomic to modernize them even where it is technically feasible. (iv) the low space standards incorporated in the dwellings® Despite their modern decor the units provide little more than basic shelter. There is no space for recreation rooms, storage rooms, workshops or Lobby rooms etc, which normally are provided for in the basements of con- ventional houses. There is also no space for garages or for visitor parking in excess of the two car spaces provided for each unit. (Note that the narrowness oC the streets precludes on street parking). It is questionable whether this type of development will be considered ade- quate accomodation in 15 years time, particularly for retired people who spend more time at home than younger working people do. (c) Tenure: The proposed tenure of the housing units is one of the most disturbing features of this ddvelopmento The units are intended to be sold but will be placed on site,which remain in the owner- ship of the developer, A ground rent and service charge will be paid by each owner, The rent will presumably be subject to periodic revision by the developer, and this revision will leave the occupants at the mercy of the landowner, whoever he may be at the tiYe. The occupants will not even have the normal recourse open to tenants of rented property, namely to - 22 =- REPORT NO e Z} move elsewhere, because in this case the occupant would have to take his house with him when he moved. This would be very expensive if possible at all, because these so called "mobile homes" are not really easy to move once erected. It alight even be impossible to move such a unit if no other site were available within a reasonable distance to move it to, It seems more likely that occupants will w:mply have to stay where they are and absorb whatever rent increases the landowner wishes to impose, In addition to rent increases the occupants and the municipality would face the uncertainty of a mass eviction at the end of the proposed 21 year lease. The landowners at that time may find it more profitable to use the land for some other purpose even if that purpose is only the replacement of the proposed units with the current model of 21 years hence. This danger is doubly serious because the length of the proposed lease may correspond fairly closely with the expected life span of the units. There is no way in which the municipality can guarantee that it will not be faced with a, mass eviction of 2,000 households at the end of twenty years, The problems associated with the proposed tenure could be resolved by changing the form of landholding, possibly to a condominium development, Lot this would probably elmminate the low cost aspect of the development. The units are now proposed to sell for $19,000 to 05,000 and site rental and service charges are being estimated at 680 per month exclusive of electricity. 23 - EEPORT W0 0 4 This cost includes payment fors �) capital works including external roads and fridges., inter- nal street, storm drainage,, water distribution, sewage collection and disposal, site development, street lighting, the proposed community centre, and profits and debt charges. ii) operating costs including maintenance and operation of the facilities listed above plus grass cutting; and general landscape maintenance, garbage collection, street cleaning, snow ploughing and general administration. I consider the current estimated charge of $80 per month to be a deceptively low _figure, and I expect the actual charge to be much higher. In fact, the total cost of this type of housing is not likely to be substantially less than more conventional housing types offerring similar standards of accomodationo Indeed, considering; the high cost of external roads and services by these proposed developments, the actual cost projected over the life or the project is likely to be higher than more con- ventional types of housing offering similar accomodationo The real economy is this proposed development lies in the leasehold rather than freehold tenure of the land. In this way the householder is able to postpone the .initial payment for land and services which is normally required as a part of any house purchase. In this case the retired person, living on a reduced income, as attracted to the project, to put it bluntly, by his ability to postpone the normal initial payment to a time when he no longer expects to A in the housing market, 24 - REPORT NO & If the proposed tenure arrangements were replaced by an owner- ship scheme, either subdivision or condominium, the low initial cost aspect of the scheme word disappear and, in my opinion, it would no lonber to attractive to the same sector of the housing market. It thus seems unlikely that changes can be made to eliminate the dangers inherent in the leasehold scheme. (d) Control: I believe that we have the means to control the construction of the proposed developments adequately under the terms of a zoning amendment and a site plan agreement entered into under the pro - visions of Section 35A of the Planning Act. Nevertheless, there are three aspects of the development after completion which I do not think we can adequately control: i) Maintenance of Units: Municipalities do have the power to pass maintenance and occupancy by -laws, but the experience of those which have them has not been very good. We have no less powers to control maintenance of tAe proposed modular dwellings than we do of conventional dwellings, but the likelihood of more rapid deterioration mattes maintenance of the modular dwelling potentially a more serious problem. ii) Eaintenance of the Site In the case of a subdivision, maintenance of most of the site including streets, parks, services etc. is a municipal responsibility and the municipality has complete control, 25 - DEPORT NON In the case of a condominium, the municipality has little control over Maintenance but the upkeep of the development is in the control of a corporation made up of the individ- ual owners chose interest it is to maintain the value of their proptrtya In the two presegt proposals maintenance is in the hands of landowner snose interest it is to spend as little as possible on maintenance especially since the tenants are more or less captive and a vacancy can only arise if an occupant moves his house off the property, This we have already noted could be difficult, expensive, and maybe impossible to do, iii) Occupancy: The two proposed developments have been advanced by their promoters on the basis of tight controls on occupancy being in effect. The proposed development has been put forward as an assessment benefit because there would supposedly be few or no children living within it. With the coming of regional government, the assessment factor, plus or minus, is no longer as significant as it once was, but the restric- ted occupancy is still being put forward by the proponents as a positive factor. Therefore the effectiveness of occupancy controls must be evaluated. In the Pine Ridge proposal occupancy is to be controlled through a clause in the lease which would restrict occupancy to a certain number of persons (unspecified) without the permission of the landlord. This leaves it entirely to the landlord 26 iii) (cont'd o o „ ) REPORT NOo4 to enforce occupancy controls and gives no guarantee to the municipality. Even if the terms of the lease were tighten- ed up and the landowner were required to enforce the lease under the terms A his agreemFnt with the municipality, in my opinion such controls would not be workable. The owner~, ship of the housing units in the project is bound to fall from time to time into the hands of younger families, even if only ly inheritance. If this happens, as it is bound to eventually, the landowner would have to take action to evict an owner ratifier than merely a tenant, and that could be a difficult legal procedure. Even the gathering of evidence of improper occupancy could be difficult because the land- owner would not have a landlords usual rights of entry. If the landowner showed an unwillingness to take action to evict improper occupants and their units, then the municipa- lity would have to take the landowner to court to compel him to take the unit owner to court. This ib clearly an unworkable procedure. Consider the following theoretical case as the kind of problem which could anise. An elderly widow is ocAupying a unit alone. Her daughter with two young children is deserted by her husband and come to live with her mother. Would the landowner be willing to play the villain and evict granny, a deserted wife, her two children and their housing unit? Would the municipality be willing to take - 27 - iii) (cont'd...) action against them? I doubt it. REPORT NO A The above short story may be a little melodramatic, but it illustrates the kind of problem which could arise, Any atteopt by the municipa- lity to enforce occupancy controls would likely lead only to 20 years of constant litigation in which the municipal- ity was usually the villain and usually the loser as well. I think that it would soon become apparent to everyone that occupancy controls were totally ineffective. Initially the projects are almost certain to be occupied primarily by retired people, but I do not think that there is any effective way in which the municipality can guarantee the continuance of that situation. I can only add that on my visits to both Sandy Cove and the unit set up in the Village of Newcastle, I noted a number of young families with children who were interested in the project. Particular pressure will be brought against the Durham Park develop- ment when the construction workers for the Wesleyville Power ;station move into the area with their families. In my opinion if these projects are approved, it should be on the basis of no guarantee that they will remain as exclusively retirement communities. (d) Licensing: The proponents of the fine Fridge development have suggested that the municipality should pass a licensing bylaw as a means of controlling the development. They say that "such a licensing 28 (d) (cont'do,00) hEPORT NO 0 4 by -law gives the municipality full control of the operation of the mobile home park FOR EVER ", I do not agree with this. The by-law to which the proponents refer is presumably a trailer licensing by-law passed under sections 354 (1) 86 and 87 of the Municipal Act. I do not consider the proposed units to be "trailers" as defined in the Act, The Provincial Assessment Office have indicated that they would assess the proposed units as buildings and the Town's Building Department would consider them subject to the Buildin" By -law. I do not think that these units could be assessed and regulated as buildings and yet licensed as trailers under the Municipal Act, Even if it were possible to license the proposed two develop- ments under the Municipal Act, I do not consider that a very effective means of control over developments of the scale proposed. The proponents have stated that "tae real purpose of tae legislation is that should the owner fall short of prop- erly maintaining the facility, his license would be revoked by the municipality. The threat of license cancellation which would force him to maintain high standards ". This may be true in the case of a small operator having 10 or 20 trailers in a camp, but can anyone seriously envisage the municipality sending its by -law enforcement officer down to close up 1000 modular homes? The effect of any license revocation in these cases would only serve to make further financing of the projects more 29 hEPORT NO , 4 (d) (cont'd .... ) difficult, and if such revocation remained in effect it would only encourage further deterioration of the projects, The municipality should not expect any licensing by-law to have any significant effect on the future conditions existing, in either of the two proposed projects. In sum, I do not believe that there is any way in which the municipality could effectively control maintenance or occup- ancy of these projects after completion and they should be evaluated on that basis. (e) Economic: The proposed two projects flay appear initially to be advantag- eous to the munlcipallt,but there are a number of factors which affect this initial advantage. Although the projects initially will make less demands on municipal tax supported services (especially education), over the years these; costs could go up while the revenue from a depreciating assessment goes down. It must also be borne in mind that even initially the proposed units will pay less tax than conventional housing. In addition there are very high servicing and access costs associated with these proposed developments. I suspect that the proponents of these projects would like to pass some of these costs on to municipal, regional, provincial, and federal taxpayers. However, if the developers are made to pay the full cost of both internal and external works, as I believe they 30 -a REPORT NO.� should, then the viability of the whole project from the marketing viewj)olnt becomes doubtful. It is not, of course, the municipality's concern whether or not the developer makes a profit; but if the costs of the project prove to be excessive there will be a tendency to keep charges to the occupant unrealisticly low until the project is completed. This would inevitably be followed by a some- what shattering rent hike at the first opportunity under the terms of the lease. This sort of thing has happened in many condominium developments, and I think that, since the proposed occupants would be mainly older people living on fixed incomes, and savings, the municipality has a public obligation to ensure that this would not happen in this case. For this reason, before either of these projects were approved, I would like to see a, full independent econoiaic analysis of the pro- posals,, (f) Scale: One of the main concerns lies with the magnitude of both pro- posals. The scale of the developments is such that they cannot be considered as "mobile home parks ", but rather must be viewed as "new towns" or "communities". If these "communities" dev- elop some of the problems envisaged herein, they will be very large problems indeed. As the Legion has already pointed out, these proposals are of an urban density and magnitude, and yet they are being proposed for a predominantly rural setting, Regardless of the fact 31 - REPORT N0.4 (f) (cont'd ..... ) that they are for "modular units" or for "retirement people ", all urban residential amenities must be present. A modular home i5 a residence, and a modular home development is a residential use. It is not advisable, from a planning point of view, to isolate such permanent residences from the existing communities. A development of the nature proposed in Clarke Township should be well situated within a community, so that there is case of access to shopping, recreation and other community facilities. One of the CMHC Mobile Home Site Planning Standards states that this type of development should be large enough to be econom- ically viable and title to provide community .facilities, yet not too large to affect their integration into the surrounding community. CMHC goes on to state teat to achieve the above, they recommenJ a minimum of 2; lots on 3 acres, and a maximwn of 150 -200 lots on 20 ®25 acres. The scale of both proposals hardly falls within this category. (g) Priorities: Because the proposed Pine Ridge project would use the sewage treatment facilities in the nearby Village of Newcastle, it must be regarded as competing for sewage capacity with other forms of housing. The approval of the proposed project would require a corresponding reduction of the amount of development planned for the village itself. n 32 REPOhT NO X (g) (cont'do,00) At the moment Newcastle Village has about the only sewage treat- ment plant in the Region of Durham with significant uncommitted capacity to spare, Municipalities are currently under some pressure from the Province to speed up the development of family housing throughout the Toronto Centred Region and it would seem to me to be in conflict with Provincial priorities to allocate such a large portion of the available sewage capa- city in Newcastle to a retirement comaunity at this time. This is especially so vhen it is considered that tnere are undoubt- edly many sites in the recreational parts of the Province which are more suitable for this kind of development and, at the some time, outside the area of .intense pressure for family housing. In summary, I believe the two proposed developments should be rejected for the following reasons to There was inadequate public participation in the original approval of the proposals, 2. The proposed locations have no particular advantages and several disadvantages such as isolation., poor access and exposure to noisy; and advise microclimatic conditions, 3. There are unresolved environmental hazards associated with each proposal particularly with regard to Wilmot Creek. 4, The servicing systems for the proposed developments have not been fully analyzed but seem likely to be unduly expen- sive based on available information. 33 REPORT No,4 5o The access to the proposed sites is presently inadequate and apparently can only be made cdegpate at considerable expense to the ratepayers of the Town or the Region, or by placing unconscionable costs on the shoulders of the intended occupants. Go Both proposals would unnecessarily tape large amounts of good agricultural land out of production. 7. The proposals constitute an undesirable segregation of one age group from the mainstream of the life of the community, with 1 the tanblble benefit In return. 8o The proposed housing units probably have a shorter life; expectancy than conventional housing, and pose potential future social problems when concentrated In such large numbers. 9. The proposed tenure is unsatisfactory, cveating possibilities o.i economic hardship in the short run and mass evictions in 20 years time, 10. The proposed control; on occupancy and maintenance are in practice unworkable and these is no guarantee that the type of population will remain as intended. 11. The assessment benefits which have been forecast for the proposals are likely to prove exaggerate -land may even in the long run turn cut to be negative, especially if the Town and the Region have to assume maintenance of addi- tional roads and services. 34 v REPORT NO o 1+ 12, There has not been a full economic analysis of the proposals and there are °rounds for believing that the full costs of the proposed developments may exceed the financial capa- bilities of the intended occupants. 13. The scale of the two developments is so large that, if physical or social problems do arise, they are likely to be beyond the caliability of local government to deal with them, 14. The proposed Pine Midge development is not consistant with Provincial priorities for the provision of housing in this area. This recommendation should not be taken as a total rejection of the proposed type of housing in the Town of Newcastle. I believe that this type of unit could form .a useful part of tho total dousing stock if it were part of an existing community and conformed to CMHC recomm- ended Mobile home Site Plannin„ Standards. It is the scale and location of the two l)ropotials which, I feel, necessitates their rejec- tion. If this Comtiiittee concurs with my recommend )tion above, then it should recommend to Council that the matter be finalized by the repeal of the by-law of Clarke Township which originally adopted the proposed Amendment No,lo Respectfully submitted, i George F. Ilowden, Planning Director.