Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 3, 2025 Planning & Development Committee Meeting Minutes February 3, 2025 Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm Chair: Councillor Cook 1 Present: Mayor Kevin Ashe Councillors: M. Brenner S. Butt L. Cook M. Nagy D. Pickles L. Robinson Also Present: M. Carpino - Chief Administrative Officer K. Bentley - Director, City Development & CBO P. Bigioni - Director, Corporate Services & City Solicitor S. Boyd - Fire Chief S. Cassel - City Clerk C. Rose - Chief Planner N. Surti - Division Head, Development Review & Urban Design R. Perera - Deputy Clerk A. Dunne - Principal Planner, Development Review I. Lima - Principal Planner, Development Review L. Crawford - Planner II A. MacGillivray - Council & Committee Coordinator 1. Call to Order/Roll Call The City Clerk certified that all Members of Council were present and participating electronically. 2. Disclosure of Interest No disclosures of interest were noted. 3. Statutory Public Meetings Councillor Cook, Chair, gave an overview of the requirements for a Statutory Public Meeting under the Planning Act. Councillor Cook outlined the order of matters under the Statutory Public Meeting section, as well as the notification process procedures and noted that if a specified person or public body as defined by the Planning Act, or the Planning & Development Committee Meeting Minutes February 3, 2025 Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm Chair: Councillor Cook 2 owner of land to which the Proposed Official Plan Amendment or Zoning By-law Amendment would apply, does not make oral or written submissions to the City before the By-law is passed, that person, public body, or owner of land would not be entitled to appeal the decision of City Council to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). Information Reports 3.1 Information Report 01-25 Zoning By-law Amendment Application A 04/24 Seaton Commercial Developments Inc. Southwest Corner of Taunton Road and Peter Mathews Drive Seaton Community A statutory public meeting was held under the Planning Act, for the purpose of informing the public with respect to the above-noted application. L. Crawford, Planner II, appeared before the Committee via electronic connection to speak to Zoning By-law Amendment Application A 04/24. Through the aid of a PowerPoint presentation, L. Crawford advised that the purpose of the application was to develop a commercial plaza and provided information on the subject lands, conceptual plan, policy framework, requested zoning amendments, public and staff comments, and next steps in the process. S. Volpentesta, Senior Development Manager, M. West, Vice President, D. Pacchiarotti, Vice President, A. Muscat, Development Manager, and C. Ratelle, Korsiak Urban Planning, Fieldgate Commercial Properties Ltd., appeared before the Committee via electronic connection and advised that they would like to have the application move forward as soon as possible and that they were in discussion with the Regional Municipality of Durham for a signalized access point onto the subject site. They further advised that they were looking into the steep grading on the site, and were available for questions from the Committee. A question and answer period ensued between Members of Committee and M. West regarding: • the access points onto the site and whether there would be a left turn or a right turn when exiting the site; • extending Hibiscus Drive to Taunton Road and having traffic signalization there to assist the movement of pedestrian and vendor truck traffic; • concerns regarding vendor trucks coming into the plaza driving through the residential roads in the surrounding neighbourhoods; • the proposed amenities that would be included in the plaza and the need for a grocery store; • residents expressing a need for a gas station in the area; Planning & Development Committee Meeting Minutes February 3, 2025 Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm Chair: Councillor Cook 3 • the availability of public transit to the proposed plaza; • the number of bicycle parking spaces within the proposed site; and, • clarification regarding the concerns pertaining to storefront windows in the proposed plaza. 4. Delegations 4.1 Kristy Kilbourne, Principal, Kristy Kilbourne Consulting Steve Apostolopoulos, Owner, Pickering Developments (Bayly) Inc. Re: Report PLN 04-25 Zoning By-law Amendment A 03/20 (R1) Pickering Developments (Bayly) Inc. Durham Live Lands (Part of Lots 15 and 16, Concession 1) K. Kilbourne, Principal, Kristy Kilbourne Consulting, appeared before the Committee via electronic connection to speak to Zoning By-law Amendment A 03/20 (R1). K. Kilbourne advised that the application seeks to rezone a portion of the Durham Live lands from urban reserve to major tourist destination adding that the lands were removed from a Ministers Zoning Order (MZO) in the spring of 2020. K. Kilbourne stated that they met with the Pickering Pentecostal Church to discuss concerns that were raised by them and worked with staff to remove a number of land uses from the subject property. K. Kilbourne noted that they would continue to have discussions with the Pickering Pentecostal Church on the application and any subsequent applications on the Durham Live lands. K. Kilbourne stated that while the listed permitted uses for the lands were broad, the site was planned to be developed in the near future for a recreational golf facility and food, beverage and entertainment facility. K. Kilbourne advised that any additional comments received through agency circulation would be addressed through a future site plan approval process and that they were supportive of the revised Zoning By-law Amendment and the staff recommendation. A question and answer period ensued between Members of the Committee and K. Kilbourne regarding: • the timelines for the proposed development; • clarification that the focus of the proposed development was on tourism initiatives; • other types of tourism venues that could be added to the proposed development; and, • confirmation that there were ongoing discussions with the Pickering Pentecostal Church. 5. Planning & Development Reports Planning & Development Committee Meeting Minutes February 3, 2025 Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm Chair: Councillor Cook 4 5.1 Director, City Development & CBO, Report PLN 03-25 Streamlining the Development Application Review Process (DARP) R. Baksh, Project Director, M. McCarthy, Project Manager and DARP Transformations Lead, J. Lima, DARP Analytical Specialist, Dillon Consulting Limited, appeared before the Committee to speak to streamlining the Development Application Review Process (DARP). Through the aid of a PowerPoint presentation, R. Baksh and J. Lima provided an overview of the project and benefits of an efficient DARP model. R. Baksh listed several conditions of the City’s current review process which included lack of appropriate staffing levels to efficiently process current and forecasted application volumes, fragmented and inconsistent document management solutions, and lack of corporate-wide technology tools to support DARP. R. Baksh further advised on their findings from engagement sessions regarding role clarity, technology, staffing, workload, and processing capacity and provided information on strengths/weaknesses and opportunities/threats of the current review process. R. Baksh noted several recommendations for DARP improvement and next steps in their implementation plan. A question and answer period ensued between Members of the Committee and R. Baksh regarding: • the basis for the challenge of retaining staff and barriers for attracting new staff; • how the City could achieve the recommendations if the City was low on staff complement; • timelines for implementing the recommendations; • the timelines for processing a development application through the new system and the tasks that would still remain with staff; • the stakeholders that were consulted on the new process; • whether there were any direct benefits to the residents; • concerns that streamlining the process could prioritize the needs of developers over the residents; • whether they were in alignment with the ten principles of the United Nations Global Compact; • clarification that streamlining the process would not remove any legislated steps from the process and that it would provide for a more streamlined efficient processing of development applications; and, • whether there was room for improvement within the current process undertaken by Pickering. Planning & Development Committee Meeting Minutes February 3, 2025 Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm Chair: Councillor Cook 5 A brief question and answer period ensued between Members of Committee and staff regarding the software requirements that would be needed to implement DARP with K. Bentley, Director, City Development & CBO, advising that City Development staff were working with IT staff on the initiative and costs would be funded through the 2025 Building Reserve Fund. Recommendation: Moved by Councillor Nagy Seconded by Councillor Butt 1. That Report PLN 03-25, regarding the City of Pickering Streamlining the Development Applications Review Process, be received; 2. That the City of Pickering Streamlining the Development Applications Review Process Final Report prepared by Dillon Consulting dated December 20, 2024, and provided as Attachment 2, be endorsed; 3. That the Implementation Work Plan prepared by staff, and provided as Appendix I, be endorsed and considered through future budget processes; and, 4. That the appropriate officials of the City of Pickering be authorized to take the necessary actions as indicated in this report. Carried on a Recorded Vote as Follows: Yes: Councillor Brenner Councillor Butt Councillor Cook Councillor Nagy Councillor Pickles Mayor Ashe No: Councillor Robinson 5.2 Director, City Development & CBO, Report PLN 04-25 Zoning By-law Amendment A 03/20 (R1) Pickering Developments (Bayly) Inc. Durham Live Lands (Part of Lots 15 and 16, Concession 1) Recommendation: Moved by Councillor Pickles Planning & Development Committee Meeting Minutes February 3, 2025 Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm Chair: Councillor Cook 6 Seconded by Councillor Butt That Zoning By-law Amendment Application A 03/20 (R1), submitted by Pickering Developments (Bayly) Inc., to permit a range of tourism, commercial, and employment uses on a portion of the Durham Live lands, be approved, and that the draft Zoning By-law Amendment, as set out in Appendix I to Report PLN 04- 25, be finalized and forwarded to Council for enactment. Carried 6. Member Updates on Committees There were no updates from Members on Committees. 7. Other Business 7.1 Councillor Robinson gave Notice of a Motion regarding opposition to the amendments to Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 and referred to the prior Notice of Motion given at the November 25, 2024 Council meeting. 7.2 Councillor Robinson gave Notice of a Motion regarding ending Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). 7.3 Councillor Robinson gave Notice of a Motion regarding playing of the National Anthem before all Council meetings. 7.4 Councillor Robinson gave Notice of a Motion regarding the prohibition of gifts and benefits for Members of Council, City staff, and their families. 7.5 Councillor Robinson gave Notice of a Motion regarding expanding the 50% membership subsidy program, that was not tied to income, from age 65 to 55. 7.6 Councillor Robinson gave Notice of a Motion regarding the City’s Flag Raising Procedure. 7.7 Councillor Robinson gave Notice of a Motion regarding the change rooms at the Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex. 7.8 Councillor Robinson gave Notice of a Motion regarding age restrictions for certain events. 8. Adjournment Planning & Development Committee Meeting Minutes February 3, 2025 Electronic Meeting – 7:00 pm Chair: Councillor Cook 7 Moved by Councillor Nagy Seconded by Councillor Robinson That the meeting be adjourned. Carried The meeting adjourned at 9:06 p.m.