MINUTES - Special Council - 19860226MINUTES OF THE. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN THE BOARDROOM AT THE YORK
REGION BOARD OF EDUCATION, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1985 AT 7:30P.M.
Present Were:
Absent Was:
Mayor West; Councillors Barker, Buck, McKenzie, Paivio,
Pederson, Timpson and Weller.
Councillor Jones due to illness.
Mayor West outlined to the public how the Public Meetings are conducted.
Mayor West ad vi sed those present that this meeting had been called as a
Public Meeting with respect to applications for amendment to the Zoning
By-law for Knole Farms, Iona Corporation and Official Plan Amendment for
Knole Farms and Magna International.
The Deputy Clerk advised that the required notices of meeting were mailed on
January 17, 1986 by First Class mail, to addresses within 120 metres of the
areas, as shown on the last revised assessment roll of the Town of Aurora to
which the By-laws would apply. The necessary signs were posted on the
various properties in accordance with the rules of procedure under The
Planning Act (1983}.
Mayor West advised that any persons who wished further notice of the passage
of the By-laws under consideration should sign the forms available before
they leave the meeting.
Mayor West requested S. Seibert to outline Application Number OP-01-86.
Proposal -Application No. OP-01-86 (Knole Farms)
Location
The subject property is located on the south side of Kennedy Street West
between McDonald Drive and Bathurst Street.
Proposal
The applicant proposes to amend the Official Plan from "Rural" to "Urban
Residential" and the Zoning By-law from "H-Holding" to "R1-Detached Dwelling
First Density Residential" and R2-Detached Dwelling Second Density
Residential". A plan of subdivision relating to the property has not been
submitted formally although the applicant has supplied a plan totalling 185
units comprising of 5-1/2 acre lots, 60-80 foot lots, 52-45 foot lots and
34-60 foot semi-detached lots -68 units.
Official Plan
The subject property is currently designated "Rural" in the Official Plan.
The Aurora West Secondary Plan Study made recommendations respecting this
area and the area surrounding it. Since the Secondary Study was completed,
a number of factors particularly in relation to the servicing of the area
have come to light. Because of these factors the Official Plan was not
immediately amended as was originally intended by the Aurora West Secondary
Plan. A number of land owners in the area have now made proposals and wish
to begin development of this area. Heron Homes and Andy Investments are
both approved and will start development soon. Given the commitments made
in these areas, development of the lands in question would be logical.
COUNCIL MEETING ••• WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1986
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Application Number OP-01-86 (Knoles Farms) cont'd ••.
Comment
Council had a property on the north side of Kennedy Street before it at its
public meeting of January 29th. At that time the recommendation was
accepted that an Official Plan Amendment for this area be prepared to
include all the lands surrounding Kennedy Street between McDonald and
Bathurst. This amendment is currently under preparation and should be
available in the near future.
Barker:
Timpson:
Resolved that the Planner be directed to prepare the necessary
Official Plan Amendment for consideration by Council.
CARRIED.
Mayor West requested S. Seibert to outline Application Number Z-03-86 (Iona
Corporation)
Proposal -Application Number Z-03-86 (Iona Corporation)
Location
The subject property is located at the southeast corner of Henderson Drive
and Mclellan Way.
Proposal
The applicants propose to amend the Zoning By-law from "H-Holding" to
"C1-Local Commercial" (specific) to permit the subject site to be developed
for a local commercial service centre.
The concept plan submitted in support of the proposal sets out a building
area of 6,050 square feet in a one-storey building (see attached).
Thirty-six parking spaces would be provided to serve the centre. The total
area of this site is 0.64 acres. The area adjacent to Mclellan Way would be
landscaped, with parking provided at the back of the stores adjacent to the
park.
The applicants have requested that the loading spaces normally required be
waived since they have moved the building as close to the street as is
allowable and not placed any parking adjacent to the street. This is done
to improve the streetscape in the area and apparently limits the flexibility
they have to accommodate the loading spaces.
The current C1 Zone does not permit banks. The applicants have also
requested that specific consideration be given to allowing a small banking
service facility for installation of automatic banking machines.
COUNCIL MEETING ... WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1986
- 3 -
Application Number Z-03-86 (Iona Corporation) cont'd ...
Official Plan
The subject lands are designated ''Urban Residential''. The Urban Residential
1 and use category permits reta i 1 or service stores of a convenience type
only which provide for the daily shopping needs of the immediate residential
area. The location of local commercial uses is to be restricted to arterial
or collector roads and not local roads with the indiscriminate scattering of
these uses being discouraged. Local commercial uses are to be encouraged to
locate in groups and where access to a major road is assured. These uses
are to be sited so as to minimize their effect on adjacent residential
uses. Provisions are to be made to preserve land for buffer planting or
screening between commercia 1 uses and adjacent resi denti a 1 areas. Adequate
off-street parking and off-street loading facilities are to be provided.
The buildings containing the local commercial uses are to be designed and
lighting and signs arranged so as to blend in with the character of adjacent
residential uses. The floor area of any local commercial use is not to
exceed 185 square metres {approximately 2,000 square feet). Preferably 2 or
3 commercial uses should be grouped with a maximum of 550 square metres
(approximately 6,000 square feet) of commercial floor space permitted in any
one group.
The Aurora Southwest Secondary Study recommended a local convenience
facility be located at the intersection of the collector street (Mclellan
Way) and Henderson Drive with an approximate a rea of 0. 2 hectares ( 1/2
acre). The intention of this recommendation was to provide a facility to
serve the Southwest Secondary Plan Area.
Comment
The subject site located at the intersection of two residential collector
roads appears to meet the locational criteria for local commercial uses
within a residential area.
The Aurora Southwest Secondary Plan Area envisages a total of approximately
4,880 persons or 1,300-1,400 households (including the Iona Development
currently underway). This area is to be serviced with parks and a school
and provision of a neighborhood commercial facility appears to be a logical
service to the area which would be in conformity with the policies of the
Official Plan.
In respect to the design, the applicants propose to use the building itself
and a 25 foot landscaped area adjacent to Henderson Drive and Mclellan Drive
to create a buffer from the residential areas on the north side of Henderson
Drive. Parking would be located adjacent to the eastern face of the
bui 1 ding and be shi e 1 ded from Henderson Drive by the building. The
remaining parking would be adjacent to the park and screened by a walkway
from the street to the park located on the southern edge of the site.
In respect to the applicant's request that the requirement for loading areas
be waived, it is suggested that as a minimal requirement, temporary loading
areas should be established. Alternatively, the parking standard could be
reduced to allow for the accommodation of loading in the area. The banking
machine requested, does appear to be a logical use in a convenience plaza.
These have become popular since the by-law was enacted and perhaps
consideration should be given to including these as a general permitted use
in convenience plazas.
It is suggested that the site p 1 an as proposed does address an important
aspect of loca 1 commercia 1 uses; the maintenance of an attractive
streetscape with .. emphasis placed on compatibility with the residential
neighborhood. The Official Plan does require that loading be provided. It
is suggested that some provision be made for this in the site plan even if
it is temporary. Other aspects of the proposal appear to be in conformity
with the Official Plan.
COUNCIL MEETING •.. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1986
-4 -
Application Number Z-03-86 (Iona Corporation) cont'd ••.
Concerns
too many small plazas in Aurora now;
detract from value of homes;
environment altered;
tranquility altered;
not a need for stores less than 3/4 km away and which are open 24 hours
a day;
become a hangout for children;
poor planning-commercial development in the middle of residential.
Buck:
Paivio:
Resolved that the Planner be directed to prepare the Zoning
Amendment for consideration by Council.
CARRIED.
Mayor West requested S. Seibert to outline Application Number OP-04-86
(Magna International (Canada) Inc.)
Proposal -Application Number OP-04-86 (Magna International (Canada) Inc.)
Location
The subject lands are located on the west side of Bayview Avenue between
Wellington Street and Vandorf Sideroad.
Proposal
The applicants propose to re-designate the subject 1 ands from "Rura 1" to
"Industrial" to permit the property which is approximately 145 acres in area
to be developed as an Industrial campus. The concept plan submitted in
support of the amendment indicates a commercial building in the northeast
corner of the property, 5 industrial buildings and one office block along
with outdoor recreational facilities (see attached plan).
The total floor area of the plant proposed is 494,000 square feet. The
office floor area is not specified although it is obvious from the site plan
that the ground floor area is much smaller than any of the industrial
buildings. The office would, according to the app 1 i cants, be used as a
group office for the overall complex. This building would also house
medical, and day-care facilities. The commercial building would be used for
service related facilities such as banks, restaurants and recreational
facilities which would be used by the employees of the industrial campus.
Existing Official Plan
The existing Official Plan would designate these areas as Rural. The draft
Official Plan prepared as a result of the ongoing Official Plan Review
designates the lands as industrial. Concern has been expressed at the
public workshops with this proposed designation.
COUNCIL MEETING ... WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1986
- 5 -
Application Number OP-04-86 (Magna International (Canada) Inc.) cont'd ...
Comment
Responding to this application requires that a major land use planning
decision be made by Council. On one hand we have a major industrial
concern, Magna International (Canada) Incorporated, proposing to construct
an industrial park in the community which will result in at least 500,000
square feet of industrial floor area being constructed, employing
approximately 600 persons. The company has indicated that if approved, they
will begin construction as soon as possible with completion of the campus
within 5 years. Users of the area would be auto parts manufacturers.
Building would likely be similar to those in the Newmarket campus which are
brick. Maximum building height in the Newmarket campus is 25 feet and a
similar height is anticipated in the Aurora campus. This is a pretty
lucrative proposal for a municipality which has so activity sought
industrial development.
On the other hand, we have an existing rural area with an attractive rolling
landscape backing onto a stream area, identified by the Ministry of Natural
Resources as a cold water fishery. The Ministry has expressed some concerns
with the proposal in that regard (see attached). If the decision is made to
permit this land to be designated for Industrial purposes, it is logical
that the lands both north and south should also be ultimately used for
industrial purposes.
It is important that the decision of whether or not this land should be used
for industria 1 purposes be made in the context of the avera ll industria 1
growth strategy for the community (i.e., what proportion of the community
should be industrial, what types of industries are desirable, should the
industrial area be staged and if so what staging is desirable).
As part or the basic land use decision respecting the subject area and those
surrounding it, a number of decisions respecting servicing must be made. It
is understood that the gravity sewer intended to service the industrial area
makes provision to service this area. The Regional Engineering Department
has recently recommended that an additional 1.458 MGD servicing capacity is
available in the York/Durham Servicing Scheme for Aurora. There are,
however, a number of issues respecting water supply which must be answered.
In the short term, an additional well must be developed to supply water for
the development which is already provided for in the Official Plan. In the
1 ong term, an avera ll so 1 uti on is needed to the groundwater demands from
both Aurora and Newmarket. In making the proposed additional allocation of
sewage treatment capacity the Regional Engineering Department has indicated
that the matter of water supply must be resolved before additional
development is approved.
Council has yet to discuss the possible use of any of this additional sewage
treatment capacity. Certainly the approval of these lands would affect the
distribution of the capacity. It also appears none of the sewage treatment
capacity will be available for use until some longer term solutions to the
groundwater supply issues have been found.
That being the case, it is suggested that the most appropriate route to take
with the present proposa 1 waul d be to refer consideration of it to the
Official Plan Review so that the proposal can be reviewed in the context of
the overall servicing and land use issues. If Council, through its detailed
discussions of both land use and servicing determine that the property
should be designated Industrial a separate amendment could be processed to
the existing Official Plan to accommodate the applicants' timing.
Agency Comments
Ministry of Natural Resources -see attached
York Region Board of Education -no objections.
COUNCIL MEETING ... WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1986
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Application Number OP-04-86 (Magna International (Canada) Inc.) cont'd •••
Concerns
quality of life
traffic problems
pieeemeal development
concerns over what the buildings will be used for
preserving rural identities
burden to provide services
factory in this location will change the character of this district
Buck:
Timpson:
ADJOURNMENT
Weller:
Mayor
Resolved that the application be referred to the Official Plan
Review so that the proposal can be reviewed in the context of
the overall servicing and land use issues.
CARRIED.
Resolved that the meeting be adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
CARRIED.
ClerK