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HomeMy WebLinkAboutInformation Report 02-17 Ce ly 6,01 Information Report to P l C KE Ri N G Planning & Development Committee Report Number: 02-17 Date: March 6, 2017 From: Catherine Rose Chief Planner Subject: Official Plan Amendment Application OPA 2017-001/P Amendment 29 to the Pickering Official Plan City Initiated Proposed Revision to the Residential Density Cap in the Pickering City Centre 1. Purpose of this Report The purpose of this report is to provide preliminary information on a City initiated official plan amendment application. This report contains background information on the existing Official Plan and the purpose of the proposed amendment. This report is intended to assist members of the public and other interested stakeholders to understand the proposal. Planning & Development Committee will hear public delegations on the application, ask questions of clarification, and identify any planning matters. This report is to be received, and no decision is to be made at this time. Staff will bring forward a recommendation report for consideration by the Planning & Development Committee upon completion of a review of the comments received and revisions to the amendment where appropriate. 2. Background The Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe designates Pickering's City Centre as an Urban Growth Centre, and stipulates that it will be planned to achieve, by 2031 or earlier, a minimum gross density of 200 residents and jobs combined per hectare. Building on this Growth Plan directive, the City retained consultants to prepare a planning and urban design study for the redevelopment and intensification of the City Centre. The final planning study culminated in a report entitled "Downtown Pickering, A Vision for Intensification and Framework for Investment", which was endorsed in principle by Council on July 8, 2013. This new City Centre Vision formed the basis for Amendment 26 to the Pickering Official Plan, which was approved by the Ontario Municipal Board on March 4, 2015. Among other matters, Amendment 26: increased the population and employment targets for the City Centre to 13,500 residents and 13,500 jobs by 2031; revised the maximum permitted net residential density in the City Centre from 180, to 570 dwellings per hectare; and, increased the maximum permitted Floor Space Index (FSI) in the City Centre from 3.0, to 5.75 (FSI is the ratio of the total floor area of a building in relation to the site area). The caps on residential density and FSI were set with the understanding that these maximums would not be achieved in all circumstances due to site constraints, zoning, and restrictions imposed on particular sites by adjacent land uses. Information Report No. 02-17 Page 2 On January 9, 2017, Planning & Development Committee endorsed the new City Centre Zoning By-law and Design Guidelines. To implement the provisions of the Official Plan, and the related Design Guidelines, the new by-law includes traditional provisions such as permitted uses, parking standards, and definitions, but also form-related provisions such as minimum and maximum building heights, minimum and maximum FSI, maximum area for a tower floorplate, and minimum building separation. The by-law uses FSI, but does not include provisions related to the minimum and maximum number of residential units per net hectare. FSI and height regulate the form and scale of development regardless of whether the use is residential, commercial, office or other permissible uses. However, as landowners continued to review the draft by-law, concerns were expressed by some landowners about the use of the residential density provisions in the Pickering Official Plan. Certain landowners were concerned that, in the future, staff would check the various site plans against the density provisions in the Official Plan and could determine that a proposal did not comply with permissible residential densities, yet the proposal would still meet the height and FSI provisions of the by-law. The issue is further complicated in that residential density is measured on a "net" basis (excluding lands for public roads, road widenings, parks, open space, and other land for community facilities) whereas FSI does not require the exclusion of such lands. Staff also note that the background work associated with the Vision Document for the City Centre assumed an average dwelling unit size of approximately 100 square metres. By today's standards, this is quite large. Developers, responding to trends to smaller unit sizes, would be able to achieve more residential units within a building of a given height and FSI. Recognizing that the Growth Plan objectives are to plan to achieve a gross density of minimum of 200 jobs and persons per hectare in Pickering's Urban Growth Centre, there is merit in reconsidering how the residential density provisions of the Official Plan are applied in the City Centre. Following discussion with the Chief Administrative Officer, staff was requested to initiate an amendment to the Pickering Official Plan to provide additional flexibility in the allowable residential densities while maintaining the built form vision for the City Centre. Accordingly, staff initiated a formal Official Plan amendment process under the Planning Act to remove the residential density cap of 570 dwelling units per net hectare within the City Centre, and is releasing a draft amendment for comments. 3. What is being proposed? The proposed policy change to the Pickering Official Plan is identified in Appendix I: Proposed Amendment 29 to the Pickering Official Plan. Information Report No. 02-17 Page 3 4. What notice was given? In addition to the standard departments and agencies, written notice of both the Open House and the Statutory Public Meeting was provided to all landowners inside the City Centre, and to landowners within 150 metres of the outer boundary of the City Centre. In addition, the notice was posted on the City's website, and an advertisement appeared in the local newspaper for two consecutive weeks on February 15 and February 22, 2017. 5. Comments Received to Date Manjit Binning (email) expressed concerns related to traffic congestion, the need to maintain green space, and a desire not to become like Toronto. Lisa Gaspar (telephone) expressed concerns related to the pressure new development will have on roads, parks and community services; in particular, expressed a concern related to the loss of ice rinks. Brooks Masterton (email) expressed concerns related to the impact increased densities will have on transportation, recreation, parking, schools, and support services. Keith Ward (email) sought clarification on the wording of the amendment and wanted to be added to the notification list. Clarification was provided, and Mr. Ward has been added to the notification list. 6. Planning Rationale The City's Official Plan and proposed City Centre By-law contain three key performance measures: Residential Density (the number of residential units in relation to the "net" residential land area); Floor Space Index or FSI (the ratio of the total floor area of a building, regardless of the use, in relation to the site area); and, the height of a building. FSI and height are the two main determinants for defining the basic shape or form of buildings, whereas density measures the number of residential units that can be achieved within buildings. Secondary zoning requirements such as building setbacks, building step-backs, on-site parking and landscaping requirements, and urban design guidelines further assist in designing a development proposal that is befitting to a site and its context. City Development staff have identified two potential means to allow further density without compromising the built form vision for the City Centre: changing the calculation of residential density from dwellings per "net" hectare to dwellings per "gross" hectare; or removing the cap for the maximum number of dwellings per hectare. Information Report No. 02-17 Page 4 There are various methods to calculate residential density, e.g., units per hectare, people per hectare, or the number of habitable bedrooms per hectare. Some methods use a "net" land area and some use a "gross" land area. The approach currently used by Pickering, is to measure residential density by the number of units per "net" hectare, treating all units the same, regardless of size. The calculation of"net" land area requires the exclusion of lands that will be required for public uses (such as roads, schools, park sites, or open space). City Development staff have undertaken a cursory review of best practices of other municipalities (see Attachment#1). The majority of municipalities use a net residential density definition, as opposed to a gross residential density definition. However, some municipalities are only using FSI and height within downtown environments. Some of the reasons for moving away from using residential density, and residential density caps include: • Using a single residential density measurement is limited, and does not reflect the complexity and the various dimensions of downtown districts. For example, higher residential density does not always equate to more people or higher buildings, because the number of persons per unit vary for different housing types (e.g., 1, 2, or 3 bedroom units); • Achieving a certain net residential density in the City Centre will not guarantee the desired design outcome. There are various performance standards (e.g., massing, height transition, building setbacks and step-backs, shadow impacts, spacing requirements, sunlight optimization, privacy, and street relation), which assist with creating the desirable urban design and quality of place in the City Centre; • Using a "net" residential density calculation will result in two parcels of the same size eligible to construct different "maximum" numbers of dwelling units, if one parcel has to convey land for public park, public road, road widenings, or land for other similar essential community services and facilities. By contrast, using a "gross" residential density calculation would result in both parcels being eligible to construct the same maximum number of dwelling units and still provide the land for essential community needs; • Measuring activity intensity instead of residential density, is more vital to the long term viability and sustainability of a downtown district (such as the City Centre) that will be undergoing a metamorphosis over time. Removing the density cap allows for a greater number of units to be achieved within the same building envelope, and allows developers within the City Centre more flexibility to provide a greater variety of residential unit sizes, while having consideration for matters such as housing affordability, tenure and market demand. Information Report No. 02-17 Page 5 Either option could address the inequity that arises between those property owners that are required to provide lands to public ownership for essential community services and facilities in the developing areas, and those property owners who do not need to provide such land. While both options could contribute to the desired result of providing further opportunities for intensification, removing the density cap within the City Centre simplifies the calculations to height and FSI. Density can still be calculated on a net basis as in the remainder of the municipality. The use of planning policy tools to create site specific exceptions, such as density bonusing and density transfer, would no longer be applicable or required within the City Centre. Although concerns may be raised with respect to the effects of increased population resulting from greater intensification, on municipal infrastructure and services, such impacts will be closely monitored through the development of individual block plans and the approval of plans of condominium and site plans. This will include, but not be limited to: traffic impact studies addressing necessary transportation improvements; parkland dedication and cash-in-lieu of parkland to address future park needs; and, servicing studies addressing the capacity of infrastructure. The City Development Department will submit a recommendation report after it has received and assessed comments from the circulated departments, agencies and public. 7. Procedural Information 7.1 General • written comments regarding this proposal should be directed to the City Development Department • oral comments may be made at the Public Information Meeting • all comments received will be noted and used as input to a Planning Report prepared by the City Development Department for a subsequent meeting of Council or a Committee of Council • any member of the public who wishes to reserve the option to appeal Council's decision must provide comments to the City before Council adopts any by-law for this proposal • any member of the public who wishes to be notified of Council's decision regarding this proposal must request such in writing to the City Clerk 7.2 Official Plan Amendment Approval Authority • the Region of Durham may exempt certain local official plan amendments from Regional approval if such applications are determined to be locally significant, and do not exhibit matters of Regional and/or Provincial interest • at this time, the Region has not yet determined whether this official plan amendment application is exempt from Regional Approval Information Report No. 02-17 Page 6 Appendix Appendix I Proposed Amendment 29 to the Pickering Official Plan Attachment 1. Table 1: Best practices of other municipalities Prepared By: Approved/Endorsed By: Jeff Brooks, MCIP, RPP, AMCT Catherine Rose, MCIP, RPP Manager, Policy & Geomatics Chief Planner JB:so • Date of Report: February 15, 2017 Copy: Director, City Development & CBO Appendix Ito Information Report # 02-17 Proposed Amendment 29 to the Pickering Official Plan Proposed Amendment 29 to the Pickering Official Plan Page 1 Purpose: The purpose of this Amendment is to delete the maximum residential • density figure from the Pickering Official Plan for lands in the City Centre. Location: The Amendment applies to all lands within the City Centre. Basis: The Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe designates Pickering's City Centre as an Urban Growth Centre, and stipulates that it will be planned to achieve, by 2031 or earlier, a minimum gross density of 200 residents and jobs combined per hectare. The removal of the maximum residential density of 570 dwellings per net hectare, will provide opportunities for greater residential • intensification within the City Centre, allow development to respond efficiently to changing demands in residential unit size, and better enable the acquisition of lands for public purposes necessary to create complete communities through redevelopment. Amendment: The Pickering Official Plan is hereby amended by: 1. Revising Table 6, Mixed Use Areas: Densities and Floor Areas By Subcategories, in Chapter Three — Land Use, so that it reads as follows: (Excerpt from Table 6) TABLE 6 Mixed Use Maximum and Minimum Maximum Gross Maximum Areas Net Residential Density, Leasable Floorspace for Floorspace Index Subcategory (in dwellings per the Retailing of Goods (total building hectare) and Services floorspace divided (in square metres) by total lot area) . a o City Centre over 80 and up to and up to and including over 0.75 and up to including 570 300,000 and including 5.75 Implementation: The provisions set forth in the City of Pickering Official Plan, as amended, regarding the implementation of the Plan shall apply in regard to this Amendment. Interpretation: The provisions set forth in the City of Pickering Official Plan as amended, regarding the interpretation of the Plan shall apply in regard to this Amendment, except as revised by this amendment. 1 Attachment# / to Information Renort# 02- i. Municipality Official Plan policies to calculate and measure residential densities Town of Richmond Hill • The Downtown Secondary Plan expresses densities in terms of Floor Space Index (FSI), e.g., in the Village District, the maximum density of a development block is 2.0 FSI. No definition of net residential densities. • Height limits apply to all lands in the Downtown. City of Waterloo • Net residential densities in the Uptown Waterloo Urban Growth Centre are expressed in their Official Plan (OP) in terms of minimum and maximum bedrooms per hectare (e.g., in the "High Density" designation, a minimum of 150 bedrooms per hectare and a maximum of 750 bedrooms per hectare). • Height limits apply to all lands in Uptown Waterloo. City of Hamilton • OP differentiates between gross and net residential density, and defines net residential density similarly to the Pickering Official Plan. • The Secondary Plan for Hamilton Downtown (an Urban Growth Centre) sets maximum residential densities by housing type (e.g., 300 units per hectare). • Height limits apply to all lands in the Downtown. City of Barrie • Net residential density for medium and high density residential development in the Barrie Urban Growth Centre (UGC), is defined in OP similarly to the Pickering Official Plan. • Height limits apply to all lands in the UGC. City of Vaughan • OP policies specific to the Carrville Centre expresses density in terms of FSI. For example, Policy 11.2.5.4 defines FSI as a ratio of the amount of permitted development (measured as gross floor area) in relation to the size of the development lot. Buffer areas associated with valley and stream corridors and conveyed to the TRCA, may also be included for the purposes of calculating permitted development density (FSI) on adjacent lots. • Policy 11.3.4.13 makes a specific exception for proposed development on lands in the Carrville Centre, in that lands dedicated for the east-west road connecting Jane Street to Keele Street, shall also be included in the area used for calculating permitted density. It also states that, without amendment to the Secondary Plan, consideration may be given to permitting the calculation of density to include the lands needed for any additional parks or surface stormwater ponds. • Height limits apply to all lands in the Carville Centre. Attachment# I to Information Report# O2 — f Municipality Official Plan policies to calculate and measure residential densities City of Cambridge • OP expresses residential densities.in the UGC in terms of FSI. No definition of net residential densities. • Height limits apply to all lands in the UGC. City of Toronto • Certain Secondary Plans, such as the St, George's Campus Secondary Plan, explicitly state that density will not be used as a regulatory tool in the implementing zoning by-law. To be also noted is that density restrictions in secondary plans and zoning by-laws for major regeneration areas, (e.g., King-Spadina Secondary Plan Area) have been removed. No definition of net residential densities. City of Burlington • OP defines net residential density similarly to the Pickering OP. • Sets minimum and maximum residential density in terms of units per hectare by density category (e.g., 51 to 185 units per hectare in the High Density area). • Height limits apply to all lands in the Downtown. City of Oshawa • OP states that "net residential density" shall be calculated on the basis of net residential area, which shall include all of the developable portion of any individual site or lot on which residential development is permitted, after the conveyance of any required road widening. • Sets minimum and maximum residential densities by housing type and land use designation (e.g., in the "High Density II" designation: 150 to 300 units per hectare for any medium rise or high rise apartments). It also stipulates that conformity with locational criteria for the respective density categories contained in OP is determined primarily on the basis of net density. • Height limits not prescribed in OP. Town of Oakville • OP expresses density in terms of minimum and maximum residential units per site hectare. Site hectare is defined similarly to net residential densities in Pickering OP. In the case of development, any public land required to be dedicated or conveyed shall not be included for the purpose of calculating the site hectarage. • Height limits apply to all lands in the Downtown. City of Peterborough • Sets minimum and maximum residential densities by housing type. No definition of net residential densities. • Height limits specific to only certain sites contained in OP.