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HomeMy WebLinkAbout74-45e REPORT NO. 2 REPORT ON SUBDIVISION APPLICATION 1. Ministry of Housing File No. - 18T ®24104 2. Applicant Ii. J. Gascoigne 3. Location w SE quadrant of Hamlet of Solina 4. Proposed Use - 36 Single family dwellings 5. Status of Official Plan (s) ® Approved. 6, Conformity With Official Plan(s) m This proposal conforms with the Approved Official Plan for Darlington Township where the lands are designated Suburban Residential. This proposal conforms in land use with proposed Amendment No.8 to the Official Plan, but the studies required in Sections (i) and (ii) of the Ceneral Policies for Hamlet Areas have not yet been carried out for Solina (Secondary Plan and Pre - engineering Study). 7. Status of Zoning By -laws Approved By-law No. 2111 8. Conformity with Zoning By -laws - This site lies within the Development Zone where lots for single family detached dwellings must have a minimum frontage of 150 feet and a minimum area of 37,500 square feet. This proposal does not conform to exist- ing zoning. 9. By-law Provisions b (1) Permitted uses - single family dwellings & various others. (2) Minimum frontage 150 ft. (4) Minimum side yard 20 ft. provisions NONE. (3) Minimum area 37,500 sq.ft. (5) Other relevant 2 REPORT NO® 2 10® Tax Arrears - None, 11. Site Characteristics (1) Slope and topography ® moderate slope to the east, flat terrain with a few gently sloping gullied areas. (2) Drainage - good, natural drainage to Black Creek. (3) Soil ® Bondhead Loam, good agricultural land, (4) Vegetation ® scrub grass and pasture, some neglected. apple trees. Mature deciduous trees along farm drive and around house. Row of attractive conifers in front of house (5) Existing uses and buildings ®,field steno farn huuso ® barn and accessory buildings, 12. Proposed services d Piped water, Above ground electricity and and telephone, Paved roads® 13® Municipal Services Recommended (not proposed by applicant) Storm sewers, Underground electricity and telephone, curbs and gutters, Sidewalks, Street Lighting. 14. Agencies Making Significant Comments 1. Board of Education 2, Health Unit 3e Regional Works Department 4. Parkway Belt Task Force 15. Resume of Agency Comments 1, Board of Education - They are reviewing possible need for a school site within the subdivision® 3 - REPORT NO, 2 2, Health Unit - They are reviewinb their comments. 3. Regional Work Dept, - They have not yet commented on the acceptability of the proposed water supply, 4® Parkway Belt Task Force ® This land ;;ay lie within the "Complementary Land Use Area" adjacent to the proposed Parkway Belt and as such the subdivision would not be permitted. 16. Recommended Modifications - All valley lands including Block A and Lot 115 below the top of the tank should be conveyed to the municipality plus 5% in a central location on level ground for park purposes if this subdivision is approved. The plan should be revised to keep the fieldstone farmhouse and to preserve the mature trees around the house and along the driveway. Perhaps the old farmhouse could form part of the 5% dedication and bo used for sozie community purpose such as a day care centre. Lot 111 in the small gully should be elem- inated unless the Health Unit consider it satisfactory for a septic tank, lea Summary and Recommendations ® My comments on this application are similar to those submitted on the proposed Jeffrey Subdivision In Enniskillen because the situation here is virt- ually identical. There are two major issues arising out of the review of this subdivision and the corresponding rezoning application. The first concerns the servicing policy of the Region in its smaller villages and hamlets. The acceptance by the Region of a large number of small water systems (and there 4 - REPORT NO. 2 could eventually be more than one of these in many villages and hamlets) would impose high administrative and maintenance cost on Regional taxpayers. In addition, the presence of such communal systems could affect the water supplies of adjacent older dwellings in the hamlets, requiring ultimate servicing of all parts the hamlet at the expense of households who did nothing to create'the need for such systems. Remembering that many of the inhabitants of the municipalitys' villages and hamlets are older people living on modest incomes, Council should avoid passing on to these people, the costs of solving problems which these people did not create. At present any .system which is installed in a village or hamlet should be capable of extension or connection to include the whole of the community and subdividers should be regulred to pay the cost of servicing existing buiidings as well as their own developments. The estimation of such costs would require the completion of a pre - engineering study as is already required by Amendment No,8. In any cases before any action is taken regardin a roval of subdivision or the rezonintz of land In ' _S _ ®, the Region must advise us on what its noli y will be on servicIng in rural communities and whether they are nr,2L)ared to accept the DrgDQsed water system in this subdivision. Both the Regional Commissioner of Works and the Regional Commissioner of Planning were asked to advise us on this guestion before, but they have not replied to our enquiry. I recommend that we should press them main to deal with this issue. ® 5 m REPORT NO. 2 A more general question also deserves some attention at this time. Solina is presently a small hamlet containing a small general storey an old country schoolhouse (probably 2 rooias), a community hall, and approximately 30 houses, This small size indicates both the stability of the community and the lack of modern urban amenities to be found there. The proposed hnendment No. 8 designates enough land in Solina to accomodate approximately 340 new dwellings or 1000 people in 4 suburban type subdivisions similar to the present proposal. The occupants of these dwellings would almost cebtainly be mainly comm- uters from Oshawa and other urban centres )and would be mostly be families with young childre. Given that the Town of Newcastle must accept some obligation to provide a share of the housing needs of the Region over the next 20 years, Council and its Planning Advisory Committee should consider carefully whether Solina and the other small hamlets in the municipality are really the best locations for such urban types of development. There exists a danger that much that is desirable in the character of the rural settlements could be lost without gaining a satisfactory environment for the urban based population which would be used to a full range of amenities and services. The drafting of a )ollcy for the hamlets in the munlcipali should receive high priority from the consultants in the District Plan work program, with this work to be closely co-ordinated with the Region's servicinf policies. In the interim Council has already adopted the policy that all am-)l� lcation for 1arye scale development relative to their present size in the hamlets should be deferred 6 ® REPORT NO. 2 -until a definite gollcy has been established This policy clearly applies to this proposal and I recommend that the Ministry be so advised. Some small amounts of development should be permitted in the meantime if they are in the nature of infilling or rounding off of the existing settlement. It is recommended that a copy of this report be forwarded to the Ministry if thb contents thereof are approved by Council Respectfully submitted, � 4 F f ! l• fT j � /�l � l � George F. Howden, Plafining DLrucLor.