HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 1, 2023 Planning & Development
Committee Meeting Minutes
May 1, 2023
Hybrid Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm
Chair: Councillor Pickles
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Present:
Mayor Kevin Ashe (left the Meeting at 8:21 p.m.)
Councillors:
M. Brenner
L. Cook
M. Nagy
D. Pickles
L. Robinson
Absent:
S. Butt
Also Present:
M. Carpino -Chief Administrative Officer
K. Bentley -Director, City Development & CBO
P. Bigioni -Director, Corporate Services & City Solicitor
S. Cassel -City Clerk
C. Rose -Chief Planner
D. Jacobs -Manager, Policy & Geomatics
N. Surti -Manager, Development Review & Urban Design
R. Perera -Deputy Clerk
P. Wirch -Principal Planner, Policy
I. Lima -Planner II
1.Roll Call
The City Clerk certified that all Members of Council were present and participating in-
person, save and except Councillor Butt.
2.Disclosure of Interest
No disclosures of interest were noted.
3.Statutory Public Meetings
Councillor Pickles, Chair, gave an overview of the requirements for a Statutory Public
Meeting under the Planning Act. He outlined the notification process procedures and also
noted that if a person or public body does not make oral or written submissions to the City
before the By-law is passed, that person or public body are not entitled to appeal the
Planning & Development
Committee Meeting Minutes
May 1, 2023
Hybrid Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm
Chair: Councillor Pickles
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decision of City Council to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), and may not be entitled to be
added as a party to the hearing unless, in the opinion of OLT, there are reasonable
grounds to do so.
Catherine Rose, Chief Planner, appeared before the Committee to act as facilitator for
the Statutory Public Meeting portion of the meeting, explaining the process for discussion
purposes as well as the order of speakers.
3.1 Information Report No. 04-23
Zoning By-law Amendment Application A 01/23
Pickering Valley Developments Limited
1525 Pickering Parkway
A statutory public meeting was held under the Planning Act, for the purpose of
informing the public with respect to the above-noted application.
Isabel Lima, Planner II, appeared before the Committee to speak to Zoning By-law
Amendment Application A 01/23. Through the aid of a PowerPoint presentation,
Ms. Lima outlined the subject lands and stated that the application intended to
facilitate the construction of a 40-storey residential condominium building, with a
podium ranging between 4 and 6 storeys. She provided details of the development
proposal, planning policy framework, public and city staff comments, and next
steps in the application process.
Robert Lyon, Pickering Resident, did not connect via audio connection to the
Committee Meeting to provide their delegation.
Michael Testaguzza, Partner, The Biglieri Group Ltd., appeared before the
Committee to speak to Zoning By-law Amendment Application A 01/23 and noted
that Grieg Bumstead, Transportation Engineer, WSP, was also connected to the
meeting via audio connection and was available for questions. Mr. Testaguzza
commented on the number of studies completed to date for the application and
noted that the studies were publicly available on the City’s website. Through the
aid of a PDF presentation, he spoke to the proposed development, amenity
spacing, and the planning applications submitted in relation to the proposed
development, and the next steps in the process.
A question and answer period ensued between Members of the Committee, staff,
Mr. Bumstead, and Mr. Testaguzza, regarding:
•whether comments included in the Committee’s supplementary package
would be taken into consideration during the next steps of the application
process;
•whether the 40 storeys included the podium base;
Planning & Development
Committee Meeting Minutes
May 1, 2023
Hybrid Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm
Chair: Councillor Pickles
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•clarification that the proposed development included accessible units;
•rationale for requesting a reduction in parking spaces;
•clarification regarding the number of visitor parking spaces and whether
the proposed development had any commercial/retail components;
•the rationale behind one tower in this application, as opposed to the two
towers proposed by the previous owner of the subject lands;
•ensuring that the proposed development included opportunities for
affordable housing;
•ensuring that the proposed development provided net benefits to the
community;
•whether the applicant would be collaborating with CAPREIT to ensure
there was cohesion with the development and the Pickering City Centre;
•the green features included in the proposal;
•whether previously expressed concerns from the public open house had
been addressed;
•whether there were any grocery stores within a 10-minute walking distance
from the proposed development;
•how the Province’s directive of creating a major transit area in the subject
lands impacted the proposed development;
•whether there were any plans to use Valley Farm Road from the south of
Pickering Parkway as an access point or a fire route to the property;
•impacts of shadowing from the proposed tower; and,
•summarizing the comments received by the public and the Planning &
Development Committee during the next stage of the application process.
3.2 Information Report No. 05-23
City Initiated Official Plan Amendment 49
Changes to additional dwelling unit policies and regulations in response to
Bill 108, the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019: Ontario’s Housing Supply
Action Plan, and
Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022
Files: OPA 23-002/P and A 04/23
A statutory public meeting was held under the Planning Act, for the purpose of
informing the public with respect to the above-noted application.
Paul Wirch, Principal Planner, Policy, appeared before the Committee to speak to
City Initiated Official Plan Amendment 49. Through the aid of a PowerPoint
presentation, Mr. Wirch stated that Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs) were small
residences that were constructed inside a house, in a yard, or over a garage. He
further spoke to Bills 108 and 23, which now permitted two ADUs on a lot, and
commented on restrictions on ADUs in rural areas, the provincial regulations,
Planning & Development
Committee Meeting Minutes
May 1, 2023
Hybrid Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm
Chair: Councillor Pickles
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parking regulations, sizing and access requirements for ADUs, and public
comments. In conclusion, Mr. Wirch stated that next steps of the process included
finalizing the proposed amendments and bringing forward a recommendation
report to a future Planning and Development Committee meeting.
Muhammad Hussein, Pickering Resident, appeared before the Committee to
speak to Official Plan Amendment 49. He requested that Council implement the
amendments as quickly as possible to ensure the process to implement ADUs
was an easy and affordable process for landlords. He spoke to the amendment
being a tool to address the need for affordable housing and asked that the
Committee consider having an East bound access on Highway 401 at Liverpool
Road to mitigate any traffic congestion in the area.
A Pickering Resident, appeared before the Committee to speak to Official Plan
Amendment 49 and asked whether a gas meter or window well would be
considered an obstruction to the required minimum 1.2 metre path of travel to
access the ADU.
An Ajax resident, appeared before the Committee to speak to Official Plan
Amendment 49 and expressed concerns regarding the ADUs potential to be used
as short-term rental units.
A question and answer period ensued between Members of the Committee and
staff regarding:
•tools that would be implemented by staff to mitigate the use of ADUs as
short-term rentals and other non-permitted uses;
•ensuring that landscaping space was still prominent in residential lots with
ADUs;
•whether the ADUs could be placed anywhere on a yard and whether they
could be placed on the front yard;
•how ADUs differed from ‘granny flats’ and whether the ADUs allowed for
family members to reside in the units;
•whether the official plan would include any parameters on aesthetic
features of an ADU;
•whether the requirement for Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) only applied
to rural areas;
•the minimum and maximum size for an ADU; and,
•whether a double garage could be converted into an ADU provided that it
met the requirements under the Building Code.
4.Delegations
Planning & Development
Committee Meeting Minutes
May 1, 2023
Hybrid Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm
Chair: Councillor Pickles
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There were no delegations.
5.Planning & Development Reports
4.1 Director, City Development & CBO, Report PLN 12-23
City Initiated Official Plan Amendment 46
Changes to development review procedures and fees in response to Bill 109, the
More Homes For Everyone Act, 2022
File: OPA 22-003/P
A question and answer period ensued between Members of the Committee and
staff regarding:
•how comments from the Committee and the building industry had been
addressed;
•whether there were provisions for fee recovery from the applicant for the
extra circulation that would be done during the notification process of the
first public meeting;
•clarification that the amendments were a result of Bill 109;
•whether there would be instances where the statutory public meeting and
the staff recommendation report would be presented at the same meeting;
and,
•concerns that public comments received at a statutory public meeting may
not be incorporated into the staff recommendation report during meetings
where both the statutory public meeting and staff recommendation report
was presented at the same time.
Recommendation:
Moved by Councillor Cook
Seconded by Councillor Robinson
1.That Official Plan Amendment Application OPA 22-003/P, initiated by the City
of Pickering, to amend existing policies and introduce new policies related
to the review of Planning Act applications, as set out in Exhibit ‘A’ to
Appendix I to Report PLN 12-23 be approved;
2.That the Draft By-law to adopt Amendment 46 to the Pickering Official Plan,
to amend existing policies and introduce new policies to the Pickering
Official Plan with regard to the review of Planning Act applications under
Bill 109, the More Homes For Everyone Act, 2022, as set out in Appendix I
to Report PLN 12-23, be enacted;
Planning & Development
Committee Meeting Minutes
May 1, 2023
Hybrid Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm
Chair: Councillor Pickles
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3.That the revised Draft Pre-consultation By-law, as set out in Appendix II to
Report PLN 12-23, be enacted;
4.That, in response to legislated changes arising from the enactment of Bill
109, the More Homes For Everyone Act, 2022, the City Development
Department – Planning Fees be approved, effective July 1, 2023;
5.That an amendment to Schedule “I” to By-law 6191/03, the General
Municipal Fees and Charges By-law, as amended, by deleting the pages
for City Development Department – Planning, and substituting the updated
pages for City Development Department – Planning, as set out in Schedule
“I” to the Draft By-law provided as Appendix III to Report PLN 12-23, be
approved; and,
6.That the revised Draft By-law to amend Schedule “I” to the General
Municipal Fees and Charges By-law 6191/03, as set out in Appendix III to
Report PLN 12-23, be enacted.
Carried
6.Other Business
There was no other business.
7.Adjournment
Moved by Councillor Robinson
Seconded by Councillor Nagy
That the meeting be adjourned.
Carried
The meeting adjourned at 8:54 p.m.