HomeMy WebLinkAboutPD-32-92 THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF NEWCASTLE
DN:MCA.GPA REPORT
Meeting: General Purpose and Administration Committee File #
tr,
Date: Monday, January 20, 19 9 2 Res' # C� i
By-Law#
Report#: per- 32_-9 ile #: PLN 12 . 6
Subject: SECONDARY PLAN STUDY FOR THE BOWMANVILLE MAIN CENTRAL AREA
Recornm1 erndations:
It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and
Administration Committee recommend to Council the following:
1. THAT Report PD- 32 -92 be received for information.
1. PURPOSE
1. 1 The purpose of this report is to advise Committee and Council of
the status of the Secondary Plan Study for the Bowmanville Main
Central Area.
2 . BACKGROUND
2 . 1 Report PD-96-91 was considered by Committee at its meeting of April
22 , 1991. The Report noted that a number of factors had
necessitated a planning study for the Bowmanville Main Central
Area. These factors included Amendment No. 40 to the Town's
Official Plan which extended the boundaries of the Main Central
Area, designated lands at the southeast corner of Green Road and
Highway No. 2 as 'Commercial' (Markborough) , and designated other
lands in the extended Main Central Area as ' Special Study Area' .
Another factor noted was the proposed Draft of the new Durham
Regional Official Plan as it related to the Bowmanville Main
Central Area, in particular the allocation of 200, 000 sq.m. (2 . 15
million sq. ft. ) . of retail and personal service floorspace.
2 . 2 The Report further noted that, given the amount of work involved,
the Secondary Plan Study should be undertaken jointly by the
Planning Department and a consultant. The consultant's portion of
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REPORT NO. : PD- 32 -92 PAGE 2
the Study would be funded by various development interests with
land holdings within the expanded Main Central Area. However, the
consultant would be retained by and work under the direction of the
Town. On April 29, 1991, Council authorized Staff to proceed with
the selection of a consultant.
2 . 3 The consulting firm of Berridge Lewinberg Greenberg was selected
to undertake the planning study for the Bowmanville Main Central
Area. The marketing component was subcontracted to Price
Waterhouse, and the engineering and transportation components to
Cumming Cockburn Ltd. The total cost of the study is $183 , 075 plus
G. S.T. ($12, 815) . An extract from the Study Proposal is attached
hereto.
3 . STUDY PROGRESS
3 . 1 The Study commenced in the last week of September 1991 with the _
consultant's participation in the CAUSE Weekend for Downtown
Bowmanville. The consultants are currently in the first phase
(Overview) of the Study. This phase involves compiling background
information on the study area and identifying opportunities and
constraints to be addressed and built into the proposed development
strategy for the Main Central Area. Price Waterhouse has conducted
a telephone survey to determine residents' shopping habits and is
completing the market assessment portion of the Study. Cumming
Cockburn has completed an inventory of parking and an assessment
of the existing road network in the Main Central Area.
3 . 2 The consultant has indicated that Phase I will culminate with a
Working Paper summarizing the findings of the analyses related to
planning, urban design, market forces, transportation and servicing
issues. The Paper will provide a comprehensive description of the
existing conditions in the Study Area, and identify the
opportunities, strengths and deficiencies in the Town's Official
Plan as it relates to the Main Central Area. The Working Paper will
also outline the General Principles on the future development of
the Main Central Area as recommended by the consultant.
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REPORT NO. : PD- 32 -92 PAGE 3
3 . 3 The consultant has indicated that this Working Paper should be
completed by mid-February 1992 . The consultant has recommended
that the General Principles outlined in the Working Paper should
be reviewed with Council, the community and relevant government
agencies in order to gain consensus on the basic objectives for
future development in the Main Central Area. A Public Information
Session will be held in' order to present the General Principles and
development options to the public. The date and location of this
Open House has not yet been established.
Respectfully submitted, Recommended for presentation
to the Committee
Franklin Wu, M.C. I.P. � LawrV E. Kotseff
Director of Planning Chieinistrative
and Development Offi
JAS*DC*FW*df
8 January 1992
Attachment: Extract of PRoposed
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ATTACHMENT
TOWN O. F NEWCASTLE
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MAIN CENTRAL AREA STUDY
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Berridge Lewinberg Greenberg Ltd.
Price Waterhouse
Cumming Cockburn Limited
July 11, 1991
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1. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
1 I. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
1 Since its inception in the mid 19th century, the Town of Bowmanville has
played an important role as the historic, administrative and commercial centre
1 for the surrounding community.
The historic town centre, now part of the Bomanville's Main Central Area,
has been retained and continues to function as a civic focus for the Town of
Newcastle and surrounding area. Rapid residential growth in the 1980s has
1 brought the concomitant expansion of commercial areas, much of it to the east
of the historic downtown.
1 Now, again, Bowmanville stands at the threshold of significant population
increases brought on by anticipated market demand and forecast future growth
1 as envisaged in the Durham Regional Plan. Concurrently, there is increasing
existing and projected demand for additional retail and commercial
development, community facilities and housing. To that end, the boundaries
of the existing Central Area have been extended. The optimum land use
within both the old and new parts of the Central Area is the subject of this
study.
The form of the new development within the Main Central Area within the
context of its adjacent communities will have tremendous implications on the
future evolution not only of Bowmanville's physical urban structure, but of
its social structure, as well.
This raises a number of issues which must be addressed in this study:
• How can the new expansion area (study area 1) be designed and
designated so as to complement the existing Central Area and
provide a community focus for the existing and emerging
residential community of Newcastle?
• To what extent can existing and projected demands be satisfied
within the existing central area boundaries?
• What measures can be taken to safeguard and enhance the vitality
and economic viability of the historic centre in view of the
proposed significant expansion of the main central area?
The challenge of this study is to create opportunities for new development to
be accommodated in such a way as to enhance and complement the unique
character of Bowmanville's Main Central Area and to provide a focus for the
emerging community, which incorporates the positive characteristics of the
traditional "town centre" within a modern context.
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2. STUDY APPROACH
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2. STUDY APPROACH
We have summarized below the major focus of our proposed study, the issues
which we see as most relevant and our proposed approach for the overall
study.
2.1 Focus of the Study
As defined in the Terms of Reference, there are two study areas within
Bowmanville's Main Central Area:
1) Study area 1 comprised primarily of undeveloped lands, located to
the west of the existing Main Central Area:
2) Study area 2 comprising the developed portion of the Main Central
Area, including the historic downtown, the Bowmanville Mall and
strip commercial development.
The focus of the work on the existing part of the Main Central Area will be
to assess its strengths and weaknesses, evaluate mechanisms to enhance it
from an economic and design point of view, and ensure that new development
will not adversely impact its strength and vitality.
The new study area poses different issues. It is physically separate from the .
historic downtown and will effectively represent a sub-area within the larger
Main Central Area. How should this sub-area evolve?What should its role be
for its adjacent and emerging residential area and for the Town of Newcastle
as a whole? Should it try to achieve some of the characteristics of the historic
downtown, such as pedestrian orientation, relationships between buildings and
the street, linkage with adjacent residential neighbourhoods or will it
inevitably resemble the newer strip malls on the east side of the Central Area?
What are the implications of the proposed new developments for achieving
these objectives?
The exercise that must be undertaken is essentially one of creating a "vision"
for Bowmanville that will carry it into the next century. Therefore, we have
placed great emphasis in this proposal on the qualitative evaluation of
Bowmanville's existing urban structure and the forces that shape it, and on the
determination of development concepts which will ensure that the new Central
Area complements and enhances Bowmanville's existing urban structure.
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2.2 Study Approach
We propose to undertake the study in three phases:
■ Phase I, Overview is essentially comprised of collection, review and
analysis of existing physical, economic and land use characteristics for the
two study areas in order to gain an understanding of the character of the
urban structure, the interrelationships between its component parts and the
parameters required to guide future development. Emerging from this
analysis will be a series of General Principles which will act as guidelines
for the elaboration of land use options in future phases of the Study.
■ Phase II, Land Use Options & Development Strategy will build upon
the information gathered in the first phase to create a series of land use
options and development strategies for both study areas which implement
the General Principles agreed upon and the opportunities and constraints
identified in Phase I.
It is proposed that a series of land use options be created and be subjected
to a predetermined list of evaluation criteria in order to arrive at a
preferred development option for each study area.
. ■ Phase III, Implementation will address the steps required to implement
the preferred development concept, from the perspectives of land use,
urban design, marketing, and infrastructure requirements. In the case of
study area 1, the preferred concept will be translated into Secondary Plan
policies and an Urban Design Plan to guide future development.
Our approach proposes that a working paper be produced upon completion of
each of the individual phases of the study. The papers can then be distributed
for immediate review and feedback to relevant Town staff, government
officials or residents groups as appropriate. The division of the work
program into phases also provides natural intervals at which public
participation would be most beneficial.
The public participation process is an essential element of an assignment of
this nature. This process must permit a two-way exchange of information so
as to inform the public and special interest groups of the direction of the
study, provide the study team with important information as to the
communities' desires and aspirations, and, most important, gain consensus on
basic principles and directions for future growth. By acting upon and
incorporating the view of the public and key stakeholders from the outset of
the study through to the final recommendations, the chances of developing a
plan that will be readily adopted and implemented are greatly increased.
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