PLANNING JUSTIFICATION REPORT August 2019
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PLANNING JUSTIFICATION REPORT August 2019 19, 25, 29, 33, 37, and 41 Mill Street City of Kitchener, Ontario Official Plan Amendment Zoning By-Law Amendment Prepared in Collaboration With: Polocorp Inc. ABA Architects Inc. 379 Queen Street South 101 Randall Drive, Unit B Kitchener, ON N2G 1W6 Waterloo, ON N2V 1C5 519-745-3249 519-884-2711 GM Blueplan Engineering Chung & Vander Doelen Engineering Ltd. 330 Trillium Drive 311 Victoria Street North Kitchener, ON N2E 3J2 Kitchener, ON N2H 5E1 519-748-1440 519-742-8979 RWDI Howe Gastmeier Chapnik Limited 600 Southgate Drive 2000 Argentia Road, Plaza One, Suite 203 Guelph, ON N1G 4P6 Mississauga, ON L5N 1P7 519-823-1311 905-826-4044 Salvini Consulting Inc. CHC Limited 459 Deer Ridge Drive 87 Liverpool Street Kitchener, ON N2P 0A7 Guelph, ON N1H 2L2 519-591-0426 519-824-3210 19-41 Mill Street, Kitchener | 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 2 1.0 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................... 3 2.0 SITE CONTEXT .......................................................................................................................................... 5 3.0 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................................... 14 4.0 CONSULTATION STRATEGY ................................................................................................................... 25 5.0 PLANNING CONTROLS ........................................................................................................................... 27 6.0 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 47 7.0 APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................................... 48 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Polocorp Inc. is proposing the residential redevelopment of the lands municipally addressed as 19, 25, 29, 33, 37, and 41 Mill Street within the City of Kitchener, Ontario. This Planning Justification Report has been prepared in support of the development application for an Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment to facilitate the development. This development will consist of approximately 176 residential units, in an eight and ten-storey mid-rise building along with three-and-a-half storey townhouse unit podium fronting Mill Street and the Iron Horse Trail. To facilitate the proposed development, the proponent will be submitting the following development applications: 1. Official Plan Amendment to amend the Mill Courtland Woodside Park Neighbourhood Plan for Land Use Secondary Plan from ‘Low Density Commercial Residential’ to ‘High Density Commercial Residential’; and 2. Zoning By-Law Amendment to amend the City of Kitchener’s Zoning By-Law 85-1 from Commercial Residential (CR-1) to Residential 8 (R-8) with site-specific provisions. A Planning Justification Report is required as part of the complete Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment applications, as per the Pre-Consultation meetings for the subject lands held on July 17, 2018 and November 20, 2018. This Planning Justification Report will analyze and discuss the following: • A description of the site including its existing physical condition, and its context within the surrounding community; • An outline of the requested Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment applications; • A summary of the proposed Public Consultation Strategy with area residents, City Staff, and the local Councillor; • A summary of the technical studies and reports prepared in support of the development applications; • An overview of the relevant planning policy and regulations that affect the proposed development; and • A planning opinion and justification for the proposed development. The proposed development of the site has been designed to be considerate of the adjacent heritage properties, while providing a residential infill development that provides a variety and diversity of housing types within the Schneider Creek neighbourhood. The redevelopment of the lands has had regard for matters of Provincial Interest, is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2014), and conforms to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2019), Region of Waterloo Official Plan (2015), meets the intent of the City of Kitchener Official Plan (2014) and represents good planning. 19-41 MILL STREET | PLANNING JUSTIFICATION August 2019| 2 1.0 BACKGROUND The following will provide an introduction to the project, an overview of the Pre- Submission Consultation meetings to date, and a list of the required studies for the Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendments. 1.1 INTRODUCTION On behalf of Polocorp Inc., this Planning Justification Report has been prepared as part of the submission of an Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment for the lands municipally addressed as 19, 25, 29, 33, 37, and 41 Mill Street within the City of Kitchener (‘subject lands’). The proposed development will provide a residential infill of the 0.76- hectare (1.88 acre) lands and will include approximately 176-unit residential units within an 8 and 10-storey multiple residential dwelling building, with a three-and-a-half storey townhouse podium. The proposed development will have frontage onto Mill Street and the Iron Horse Trail. To facilitate the proposed development, the proponent is submitting the following development applications: 1. Official Plan Amendment to amend the Mill Courtland Woodside Park Neighbourhood Plan for Land Use Secondary Plan from ‘Low Density Commercial Residential’ to ‘High Density Commercial Residential’; and 2. Zoning By-Law Amendment to amend the City of Kitchener’s Zoning By-Law 85-1 from Commercial Residential (CR-1) to Residential 8 (R-8) with site-specific provisions. This Planning Justification Report is required as part of the complete Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment applications, as per the Pre-Consultation meetings for the subject lands held on July 17, 2018 and November 20, 2018. This Planning Justification Report will analyze and discuss the following: • A description of the site including its existing physical condition, and its context within the surrounding community; • An outline of the requested Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment applications; • A summary of the proposed Public Consultation Strategy with area residents, City Staff, and the local Councillor; • A summary of the technical studies and reports prepared in support of the development applications; • An overview of the relevant planning policy and regulations that affect the proposed development; and • A planning opinion and justification for the proposed development. 19-41 MILL STREET | PLANNING JUSTIFICATION August 2019| 3 1.2 PRE-SUBMISSION CONSULTATION A Pre-Submission Consultation meeting was held on July 17, 2018 to discuss a proposed Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-Law Amendment, and Site Plan application for a 20- storey building with a podium and wrapped townhouses on the subject lands. At the meeting, staff expressed concerns with the height of the building, indicating a preference for a mid-rise building, consistent with the secondary planning being undertaken for the area. Further, staff presented the proponents with a modified design of the site which included an ‘L-shaped’ building, with the massing located along the north and east boundaries of the site. Following the July 17, 2018 Pre-Submission Consultation meeting, the concept plan for the proposed development was modified to reflect City comments relating to height and design of the site. The proposed development was amended as an ‘L-shaped’ design, and the height was reduced from 20 storeys to 8 and 10-storeys, to align with the City’s comments. As supported by City staff, the podium and wraparound townhouses were maintained to allow for an enhanced streetscape along Mill Street and the Iron Horse Trail. A further Pre-Submission Consultation Meeting was held on November 20, 2018 for the modified design. The proposal included 196 residential units and 216 parking spaces, with an FSR of 2.7. Attendees included Polocorp (Paul Puopolo, Michael Puopolo, Joseph Puopolo, Amanda Stellings), ABA Architects (Andrew Bousfield, Pam Tolton, Nadine Nandi), Katie Anderl, Brandon Sloan, Adam Clark, John Barton, Leon Bensason, Victoria Grohn. A copy of the Record of Pre-Submission Consultation record has been included as Appendix A of this report. Following the Pre-Submission Consultation of November 20, 2018, the design of the site was further refined to reflect staff comments, the existing conditions, as well as to incorporate a more refined architectural design. The modifications since the Pre-Submission Consultation include the following: • A reduction in residential units from 196 to 176; • A reduction in parking spaces from 219 to 200 to reflect the reduction in proposed residential units; and • An increase in Floor Space Ration (FSR) from 2.7 to 3.5 to address the removal of one floor of underground parking due to the hydrogeological conditions on site. 1.3 SUPPORTING STUDIES AND MATERIALS A list of technical requirements for the submission of a complete Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment was provided by the City of Kitchener and outside agencies to support