HomeMy WebLinkAboutPD-329-90 TOWN OF NEWCASTLE
IJ :. A90-082 .GPA REPORT
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METING: General Purpose and Administration Committee
DATE: November 5, 1990
REPORT #: PD-329-90 FILE #:
SUB.ECT: APPLICATION FOR OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENT REGION OF DURHAM -
OFFICE PARRS DESIGNATION
FILE: OPA 90-082/D
RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and
Administration Committee recommend to Council the following:
1. THAT Report PD-329-90 be received;
2 . THAT the Region of Durham be advised that the Town of
Newcastle has no objection to the proposed amendment to the
Durham Regional Official Plan to include policies for the
development of office and business parks in industrial areas
in the Region of Durham (File: 90-082/D) ;
3. THAT a copy of PD-329-90 be forwarded to the Region of
Durham Planning Department.
1. BACKGROUND
1. 1 The Regional Planning Committee is considering an amendment
to the Durham Regional Official Plan to provide policies for
the development of office and business parks in industrial
areas .
The recommendations stemmed from a review of an application
to amend the Regional Official Plan by Westney-Bayly
Developments Ltd. to permit the development of, among other
things, a business park, in the Town of Ajax. Regional
Planning Staff had reviewed the proposal and as a result
REPORT NO. : PD-329-90 PAGE 2
have evaluated the larger issue of office parks in Durham
Regional. The Regional Official Plan currently does not
have provisions for office or business parks . Until now,
the Region has wanted to permit only limited office and
retail development in industrial areas .
1.2 Regional Staff identified a trend in the popularity of
business parks in Durham Region in the Discussion Paper for
the Draft Changes to the Durham Regional Official Plan.
Regional Staff are recommending that this amendment proceed
to accommodate other such proposals, rather than wait until
the Official Plan review process is completed.
2. THE AMENDMENT
2 . 1 The purpose of the amendment is to introduce policies
regarding the development of office parks into industrial
areas . The policy defines office parks as areas comprising
of corporate offices oriented to and serving the business
community. The amendment notes that parks shall be
comprehensively designed and developed to a high
architectural standard, and are to include landscaped open
spaces . The Amendment also notes that the amount of office
space in an office park shall not adversely impact on
Central Area.
Limited floorspace shall be allocated to retail commercial
uses such as personal services and non-corporate office
uses, as part of the corporate office building provided that
not more than 10 percent of the gross floorspace is
allocated for such uses and provided the uses are developed
in conjunction with one another. The proposed amendment is
attempting to protect against widespread commercial
expansion into industrial areas and ensure that corporate
office uses remain the predominant use.
REPORT NO. : PD-329-90 PAGE 3
2 .2 The amendment also specifies the appropriate location of
office parks . Those areas are high profile, with good
proximity to highways and highway interchanges, GO Train
Stations, and transit locations . The use shall also be
compatible with surrounding industrial uses .
2 . 3 The amendment would also permit limited office development
as a minor component of an industrial operation or serving
the immediate industrial area in which they are located.
3. COMMENTS
3 . 1 Staff have reviewed the amendment and generally support the
inclusion of this policy. There is a policy which states
that the overall amount of office development in the office
park shall not adversely impact on Central Areas . While
staff agree with the intention of this policy, it will be
difficult to measure the potential impact of office parks on
Central Areas. It is suggested that Regional Planning Staff
investigate the means of implementing such a provision.
Council is attempting to create a positive economic climate
in the Town to attract a variety of industrial users . The
introduction of these policies in the Regional Plan will
enable the Town to target the higher order industrial uses
and plan for the development of business parks . It is
recommended that the Town support this initiative from the
Region to amend the Durham Region Official Plan.
REPORT NO. : PD-329-90 PAGE 4
Respectfully submitted, Recommended for presentation
to the Committee
Franklin Wu, M.C. I.P. Lawrence E otseff
Director of Planning Chief Admi i trative
and Development Officer
CV*DC*FW*df
*Attach
29 October 1990
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September 20 , 1990 wffi
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S E P 21 1990
r
DURHAM Ts ,.
Mrs. P. Barrie - --- _ ..._._._,_,f
Clerk `
The Regional Town of Newcastle "
Municipality � -
of Durham Municipal Offices '1
40 Temperance Street
Planning Bowmanville, Ontario
Department L1C 3A6
Box 623
1615 Dundas Street E. Dear Mrs. Barrie:
4th Floor
Lang West Buliding
Whitbyy,,Ont ario Res Application for Official Plan Amendment
Ontario
Canada, Li N 6A3 Durham Region File No. : OPA 90-082
(416)728-7731 Applicant: Region of Durham
Fax(416)436-6612 Also Quote Ref. No. : 3Q09&-
M.R.MICHAEL,M.C.I.P.
.amissioner of Planning on September 11, 1990, the Regional Planning Committee adopted the
• recommendation as contained in Commiesioner's Report No. 90-202, a
copy of which is *attached. We would appreciate your comments on the
proposed amendment which has been prepared by Planning Department
staff.
By way of background, we have also attached a copy of Commissioner's
Report No. 90-155 which also dealt with a site specific proposal for
an office park development in the Town of Ajax.
Your early response to this request would be appreciated in order
that we may formulate a recommendation for the consideration of
Regional Council.
If you have any questions or require further information, please do
not hesitate to contact either myself or Mr. John Sharpe of this
Department.
Yours very truly,
Jim Blair, M.C.I.P.
Director
Strategic Planning Branch
:LM
Encls.
cc. t Mr. F. Wu, Planning Director
h:\wp\2-5\durham.jsh .
This paper contains �e�cycl d material.
DURHAM
Planning Department
Commissioner's Report to Planning Committee
Report No.90-202
Date: September 11, 1990
SUBJECT
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE DURHAM REGIONAL OFFICIAL PLAN TO PERMIT BUSINESS AND
OFFICE PARRS, FILE: 2.5
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. THAT the Planning Committee authorize staff to advertise in the
appropriate newspapers that Planning Committee and Regional Council will
be considering an amendment to the .Durham Regional Official Plan . to
provide policy guidance with .idepect: to the development of office and
business parks; and
2. THAT Commissioner's Report No. 90-202 containing a proposed Amendment
Document (Appendix I) be forwarded to the area municipalities and
appropriate circulation agencies for comment.
REPORT
1. On June 19, 1990, Commissioner's Report No. 90-155 was presented to the
Committee recommending that a site specific amendment be approved which
would allow a business park development in the Town of Ajax (Westney-Bayly
Annandale Park, File OPA 88-073) . The recommendations in this Report were
subsequently adopted by the Planning Committee. As part of the review of
this matter, the larger issue of business or office parks was more
generally evaluated. The Durham Regional Official Plan presently does
not, in a general fashion explicitly recognize such uses although smaller
developments have been approved within industrial areas under the
provision that allow certain commercial office, community and recreational
uses within industrial areas.
2. With the overall emergence of business parks within the Region and the
consideration of the Westney-Bayly proposal in Ajax, it has been
considered appropriate that general policies be added to the Regional
Official Plan to accommodate such uses. The proposed "Draft Changes to
the Official Plan for Discussion Purposes" (Commissioner's Report No.90-1)
released in January 1990 also recognizes this trend and proposes a
specific Policy 6.3.2 to address this issue. Rather than wait for the
entire Official Plan Review to reach a conclusion, and as a result deal
with this specific issue, it is proposed that it proceed as a separate
amendment so that other business park proposals can be accommodated.
3. Reference should be made to the related Commissioner's Report on the
Westney-Gayly application (File OPA 88-073) which contains detailed
comments on both the general concept of business parks and the site
specific proposal in the Town of Ajax.
�J J
Commissioner's Report No. 90-202 Page 2
4. The attached Appendix I contains a proposed amendment to the Industrial
Areas Section of the Durham Regional Official Plan. This policy is based
on the suggestion made in Commissioner's Report No. 90-1 with some
modifications to adapt it to the existing Official Plan.
5. Upon completion of the circulation 'of this amendment to the area
municipalities, a further Report will be presented to the Planning
committee.
Dr. M. Michael, M.C.I.P.
Commissioner of Planning
JSH
Attachment:.- Append;:x I - Proposed Amendment Document
RECOMMENDED FOR PRESENTATION TO COMMITTEE
D.R. Evans, P.Eng. , C.A.O.
i8¢
H:\WP\2-5\BOP.JSH
APPENDIX I TO COMMISSIONER'S REPORT NO. 90-202
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE DURHAM REGIONAL OFFICIAL PLAN
PURPOSE: The purpose of this Amendment is to introduce policies with
respect to the development of office parks within industrial
areas.
ACTUAL The Durham Regional official Plan is amended as follows:
AMENDMENT:
1) by deleting the words "professional offices" from the
second sentence of Section 8.4.2.1;
ii) by adding new Sections 8.4.2.2 and 8.4.2.3 as follows:
"8.4.2.2 Office parks are allowed within industrial
areas in accordance with Section 8.4.2.3 of
this Plan subject to appropriate policies
. . detailing lanai, uses and design guidelines for
such office .park$ to be included I ..*the local
official plan(s). ' Office Parka..- s'ball be
defined as areas comprising of corporate
offices oriented to and serving the business
community and shall be comprehensively
designed and developed to a high architectural
standard including landscaped open space
areas. The overall amount of office
development in an office park shall not
adversely impact on Central Areas. As a
minor component to the development of an
office park, a limited amount of retail,
personal service and non-corporate office uses
may be permitted as part of a permitted
corporate office structure provided that the
combined gross floor area of such uses does
not exceed 10% of the gross floor area of the
corporate office building -and such that both
uses are developed in conjunction with each
other. The amount of office uses and amount
of retail and personal service uses as a
component of the office park shall be
specified such that the predominance of
corporate office uses are maintained.
8.4.2.3 Office Parks shall only be permitted in those
locations with close proximity and good access
to Type 'A' arterial roads, highways, highway
interchanges, GO stations and transit
facilities within Industrial Areas. Such
areas shall be compatible with surrounding
Industrial uses and the capacity of the
transportation system including the provision
of public transit.
8.4.2.4 In addition to office parks, limited office
development as a- minor component of an
industrial operation or serving the immediate
industrial area in which they are located
shall also be permitted subject to the
inclusion of appropriate provisions in the
respective restricted area (zoning) by-law."
iii) by renumbering existing Sections 8.4.2.2 to 8.4.2.9
inclusive to reflect the above-noted insertions.
IMPLEMENTATION: The provisions set forth in the Durham Regional Official Plan,
as amended, regarding the implementation of the Plan shall
apply in regard to this Amendment.
INTERPRETATION: The provisions set forth in the Durham Regional Official Plan,
as amended, regarding the interpretation of the Plan shall
apply in regard to this Amendment.
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