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Report To: Planning and Development Committee
Date of Meeting: November 14, 2016
Report Number: PSD-065-16 Resolution:
File Number: A2016-0059 By-law Number:
Report Subject: Decision of the Committee of Adjustment on Minor Variance
Application A2016-0059 by Newcastle Holdings. Inc.
Recommendations:
1.That Report PSD-065-16 be received;
2.That all interested parties listed in Report PSD-065-16 and any delegations be advised
of Council's decision.
Municipality of Clarington
Report PSD-065-16 Page 2
Report Overview
This report has been prepared to inform Council of a decision made by the Committee of
Adjustment on an application for Minor Variance regarding the proposal for a LCBO store in
Newcastle. The minor variance application was for a reduced minimum exterior side setback
from 1.25 metre to 0.0 metres on Church Street and relocating the building entrance from
Church Street to the interior of the lot. The minor variance application was submitted in
advance of a full review of the Site Plan application. Staff recommended denial of the
reduced exterior side yard because of the potential for the impact on the municipal road
allowance and mature trees on Church Street. Staff also recommended denial of the
location of the building entrance because it does not comply with Official Plan policies or
Newcastle Village Centre Urban Design Guidelines. The Committee of Adjustment did not
support Staff’s recommendation. Council has the option of appealing the Committee’s
decision or not. While staff is not recommending an appeal of the minor variance application,
this difficult site will have a significant impact on the downtown. Staff are therefore bringing
some of these issues to Council’s attention, highlighting the complexities of proposal that
arose through the Minor Variance application.
1. Background
1.1 Newcastle Holdings Inc. submitted applications for site plan approval and minor
variance for a proposed 968.5 square metre LCBO store on the west side of Church
Street north of Emily Street in Newcastle. Site plan review is in progress. The
proposal is on an oddly configured land assembly with proposed parking area on 91
King Avenue West and the store on 1036 Church Street (see Figure 1 below).
Figure 1: Subject property as well as neighbouring lands to be added as part of the
proposed development
Municipality of Clarington
Report PSD-065-16 Page 3
1.2 The proposed front façade of the LCBO building faces the rear parking areas of two
buildings located on the south-west corner of Church Street and King Avenue West.
The proposed site plan provides for a walkway only across the front façade of the
building joining Church Street on the east to the parking lot on the west. Patrons
would not have direct access to the store from the parking spaces immediately in front
of the store. The parking spaces would be fenced but could be accessed via the
laneway easement.
1.3 These properties within the Newcastle Village Centre have been vacant for many
years. There are a number of mature trees which are located within the municipal
road allowance on Church and Emily Street. The surrounding area is a mature
neighbourhood (See Figure 2 below).
Figure 2: View of the existing street trees facing north on Church Street
1.4 The current draft site plan is shown on Attachments 1 and 2.
2. Application
2.1 The minor variance application was for the following:
Reducing the minimum, exterior side yard setback from 1.25 metres to 0.0 metres;
and
Relocating the building entrance from Church Street to the interior of the lot.
Municipality of Clarington
Report PSD-065-16 Page 4
Figure 3: Illustration of the proposed variances
2.2 Exterior Side Yard Setback
Maintaining the proximity of the building to the street is integral to supporting an active
and interesting streetscape. Therefore, the exterior side yard setback includes both a
minimum (1.25 metres) and a maximum (3.0 metres) requirement.
The intent of minimum exterior side yard setbacks for new buildings in the downtown is to
provide space between the building and the public right-of-way for building elements (i.e.
awnings, pillars, lighting), private landscaping, signage and other promotional activities
which may occur from time-to-time (i.e. sidewalk sales, etc.). Providing space for these
items on private property prevents the encroachment of these items into the boulevard or
sidewalk.
The layout of the proposed building within the Site Plan, neglected to take into account
the 1.0 metre road widening requirement along Church Street. As a result, the current
siting for the building is located 0.25 metres from the exterior side yard setback on
Church Street. Within this 0.25 metres, the Applicant still has to account for the awnings
and columns that will project out from the building face. The Applicant has requested a
Municipality of Clarington
Report PSD-065-16 Page 5
reduction of the minimum exterior side yard setback from 1.25 metres to 0.0 metres to
accommodate the desired location of the proposed building.
As can be viewed from the photo in Figure 2 on page 3 of this report, a number of mature
trees are within the Church Street road allowance. Staff raised concerns that moving a
building any closer to Church Street will negatively impact the survival of the existing
street trees.
The Engineering Services Department did not support the reduction of the minimum,
exterior side yard setback to 0.0 metres for the following reasons:
It could result in the construction of foundation footings in the municipal road
allowance; and
It would, undoubtedly, result in the destruction of the mature trees on Church Street.
All excavation associated with the construction of the proposed buildings should be
located outside of the drip line of all trees or, if this was not possible, the proponent
must submit an arborist’s report providing guidance as to what an appropriate offset
should be to ensure no detrimental impact to the mature trees on Church Street.
The Committee of Adjustment raised questions about the variance request with respect to
the impact of the trees on the development potential of the property. The key input
required was the need for an arborist’s report to provide guidance on what the
appropriate offset should be. Further, the Committee asked questions as to whether the
footings for the foundation wall could be constructed without encroaching onto the road
allowance. If was noted that it would be possible with an L shaped footing.
Based on the answers provided, the Committee of Adjustment approved this variance.
2.3 Building Entrance Location
The Official Plan policies state that new development must provide active ground floor
uses and avoid blank façades. The intent of this policy is to create attractive
streetscapes that are appealing at the pedestrian scale for people to walk to and past.
One of the ways to achieve this objective is to locate main building entrances on the
street and beside public sidewalks.
This is further reinforced by the Official Plan policy which states that sites with frontages
on more than one street shall orientate the public entrance toward the street with the
greatest pedestrian activity, or in the case of a corner site, the entrance shall face the
intersection of both streets.
The Newcastle Village Centre Urban Design Guidelines emphasizes this point further by
stating that in commercial areas, active street life will be promoted by locating building
entrances and transparent windows facing public streets and publically oriented open
spaces.
Municipality of Clarington
Report PSD-065-16 Page 6
There is a concern from Planning staff that without locating the entrance on Church
Street, the contribution of the building to a pedestrian friendly street environment would
be diminished, particularly given the height and size of the building.
The relocation of the building entrance was not supported by staff as the site plan
process was still ongoing with respect to the design elements that would be undertaken
to address the “large blank wall” presence beside the street.
The Committee of Adjustment had a number of questions regarding the improvements
that staff were seeking through the site plan process and their importance. In the end,
the Committee approved the requested variance.
2.4 Other Issues:
There are a number of issues under consideration through the site plan process, which
are identified here for Committee’s information.
Loading Area
The loading area is located off Church Street near the intersection with Emily Street.
Engineering Services has identified public safety concerns related to the delivery bay
design and the requirement for tractor trailer trucks to reverse on a public street. The
required backing movement would take place along roughly 65 metres of Church Street
and in an area that is in close proximity to an intersection. This design creates an undue
hazard for both pedestrians and motorists regardless of the anticipated traffic volumes
and was not supported.
The applicant is now committing, on behalf of LCBO that smaller trucks will be used,
reducing the need to pave the boulevard area and remove an additional tree.
Engineering Staff will be ensuring that the design of the boulevard will contain features
that prevent this use of the boulevard area for large truck turning movements.
Relationship to Properties to the North
The configuration of the merged lots is an awkward development site isolating the parking
area from the store. There are parking spaces in front of the store façade and entrance
but they are not part of this development. However the use of parking spaces
immediately in front of the LCBO store will be hard to prevent. Ideally the landowners
should make appropriate arrangements for the shared use of the parking areas. Without
such an arrangement, it is anticipated that there will be ongoing issues and complaints.
3. Concurrence
This report has been reviewed by the Director of Engineering Services who concurs with
the recommendations.
Municipality of Clarington
Report PSD-065-16 Page 7
4.Conclusion
This was the third meeting of the Committee of Adjustment on this application. One
variance was approved at an earlier meeting but the other requested variances were
deferred to allow time for the applicant to advance the site plan process and provide a
suitable design. Staff would have preferred for the site plan process to be further
advanced so that all potential variances could be covered and the outstanding issues
addressed. The applicant did not want further deferral of their application and requested
that the Committee approve the application. The applicant provided 7 letters of support
for the application.
The Committee of Adjustment did not support staff’s recommendation to deny the two
variances. In these circumstances, if the matter is significant enough, staff will bring the
matter to Council. Council has the option of appealing the Committee’s decision or not.
While staff is not recommending an appeal of the minor variance application, this difficult
site will have a significant impact on the downtown and it was appropriate to bring some
of these issues to Council’s attention.
5. Strategic Plan Application
Not applicable.
Submitted by:Reviewed by:
David Crome, MCIP, RPP, Curry Clifford, MPA, CMO
Director of Planning Services Interim CAO
Staff Contact: David Crome, Director, Planning Services, 2402 or dcrome@clarington.net
The list of the interested parties to be notified of Council's decision is available in the
Planning Services Department.
I:\^Department\LDO NEW FILING SYSTEM\Application Files\A Committee of Adjustment\2016\A2016-0059 Newcastle LCBO\Staff Report - Appeal\PSD-065-16 - LCBO Appeal.docx
Attachment 1 to
Municipality of Clarington Report PSD-065-16
Proposed Development Plan
Attachment 2 to
Municipality of Clarington Report PSD-065-16
Proposed Building Elevations