Appendix 'A' MARKHAM ROAD MOUNT JOY SECONDARY PLAN STUDY Interim Report April 2021 ADFDF Prepared by: SvN Architects + Planners Inc., in partnership with HDR Inc., Counterpoint Engineering and Jonathan Tinney Submitted to: City of Markham INTERIM REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS MARKHAM ROAD - MOUNT JOY SECONDARY PLAN STUDY INTERIM REPORT Executive Summary 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Study Purpose and Overview 1 1.2 Study Process 3 1.3 Study Area 4 1.4 Report Purpose and Structure 6 2.0 Policy Context 8 2.1 Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 8 2.2 Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2019 8 2.3 Greenbelt Plan, 2017 9 2.4 Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) (O. Reg. 104/72) 11 2.5 York Region Official Plan, 2010 12 2.6 City of Markham Official Plan, 2014 16 2.7 Other Relevant Plans, Programs and Studies 19 3.0 Existing Conditions Assessment 22 3.1 Overview 22 3.2 Land Use and Urban Design 22 3.3 Transportation 43 3.4 Municipal Servicing 50 4.0 Consultation and Engagement 53 4.1 Overview 53 4.2 What We Heard - Key Themes 55 Contents INTERIM REPORT i TABLE OF CONTENTS MARKHAM ROAD - MOUNT JOY SECONDARY PLAN STUDY INTERIM REPORT 5.0 Vision and Guiding Principles 58 5.1 Overview 58 5.2 Vision 58 5.3 Guiding Principles 59 6.0 Draft Demonstration Plan 64 6.1 Overview 64 6.2 Population and Employment 66 6.3 Framework Elements 68 6.4 Other Planning and Design Considerations 80 7.0 Key Policy Guidance and Recommendations 92 7.1 Land Use and Urban Design 92 7.2 Transportation 106 7.3 Municipal Servicing 108 7.4 Phasing and Implementation 108 8.0 Next Steps 112 ii INTERIM REPORT Contents Executive Summary Study Purpose and Overview SvN Architects and Planners (SvN) was retained by the complete transit-oriented community. This approach City of Markham to lead a team of multi-disciplinary aligns with Provincial policy, which directs population consultants, comprising of HDR Inc., Counterpoint and employment growth to Major Transit Station Areas Engineering, and Jonathan Tinney, to undertake a (MTSAs). Study that will inform the development of a vision and Potential exists to transform Markham Road from comprehensive planning framework for the Markham a car-dominated, generic arterial road into an Road - Mount Joy Secondary Plan (MRMJSP) Area. The attractive, tree-lined street that will encourage active purpose of the Study is to prepare a Demonstration Plan transportation. This transformation will be bolstered by and Policy Guidance that will inform the development of the establishment of a new street and block framework, a Secondary Plan for the MRMJSP Area. which will introduce a new network of connector The Secondary Plan Area is currently dominated and local streets, as well as active transportation by large tracts of single-use lands. This pattern of connections and infrastructure. This will be provided development is not sustainable, nor will it serve a in tandem with new land use policies, which set the growing, transit and pedestrian-supportive community. stage for mixed-use development, a series of new parks The MRMJSP presents a significant opportunity to and open spaces, and new community facilities and leverage existing assets, including but not limited to the infrastructure. existing Mount Joy GO Station, the Greenway System The main considerations of the Study are land use & and Mount Joy Creek, the Mount Joy Business Park, the urban design, transportation and municipal servicing. Markham Museum, surrounding neighbourhoods, parks Policy guidance will be developed based on these and open spaces, and the adjacent Markham Village considerations, with multiple opportunities for main street. stakeholder and community consultation integrated As a City-led policy initiative, the Secondary Plan at key milestones. The Study process will include Study makes reference to Metrolinx’s ‘Market Driven engagement with City officials, reviewing agencies, Strategy to Delivery Transit Infrastructure’ (2018). This area landowners, and the public with the ultimate goal strategy establishes the planning and spatial conditions of developing a Vision and Guiding Principles for how necessary to drive local real estate market conditions in the MRMJSP Area will evolve and mature from a car- order to spur public and private investment and promote dominated, arterial corridor to a more dynamic and collaboration to maximize opportunities for transit pedestrian oriented environment. investment. This is necessary in order to ensure the creation of a sustainable, resilient, vibrant and Executive Summary INTERIM REPORT iii The Study will culminate in recommendations Study Area for structuring growth in a manner that will be transformative for the Secondary Plan Area as a whole, The MRMJSP Area is situated in the northeast portion with a focus primarily related to the existing Mount Joy of the City, south of the northeastern limit of Markham’s GO Station Area and Markham Road corridor. As well, Urban Area. Cumulatively, the Secondary Plan Area the Study will investigate the opportunity for siting a is 92.2 HA in size. It is comprised of the lands along second GO Station at Major Mackenzie Drive East. Markham Road between 16th Avenue and Major The Study is being conducted over six phases, as Mackenzie Drive East. The westerly limit is generally follows: defined by the extent of the commercial properties on the west side of Markham Road. The easterly limit of » Phase 1: Project Kick-Off and the Establishment of a the Secondary Plan Area is generally defined by the Project Management Plan; Stouffville GO rail corridor. Through the evolution and » Phase 2: Background Review, Data Collection and review of this work, the Metrolinx-owned parking lot Assessment; east of the Stouffville GO rail corridor, on the south side of Bur Oak Avenue was deemed appropriate for » Phase 3: Development of Vision, Guiding Principles, Demonstration Plans, Policy Guidance, and a series inclusion within the future MRMJSP Area as well, due its of Design Charrette events with the public; potential for redevelopment. » Phase 4: Presentation to Development Services Committee and Community Consultation, including Existing Land Use & the refinement of the Demonstration Plans; Urban Design Assessment » Phase 5: Transportation and Municipal Services Analysis and Recommendation; and, Recent and ongoing development activity within the » Phase 6: Final Study Report. future MRMJSP Area has shown that in relation to the stable residential areas to the east and west, the This report is the culmination of the third phase Secondary Plan Area has seen an increasing interest in of the study. It provides an assessment of the proposals for intensification, especially in proximity to existing conditions, as well as an overview of the key the Mount Joy GO Station at Bur Oak Avenue. A mix of opportunities and constraints within the MRMJSP residential, commercial and employment uses currently Area. The report also presents the Vision and characterize the Secondary Plan Area, and a growing Guiding Principles that have driven the Study, and demand for residential and mixed-used redevelopment summarizes the public consultation events which have has been gaining momentum. Proposals have included taken place to date. Lastly, the report introduces the residential uses in more compact, denser forms, and an recommended draft Demonstration Plan which forms employment land conversion request is currently being the basis for policy guidance and recommendations considered to facilitate additional residential uses in for the Secondary Plan. Refer to Section 1.1 for more proximity to the Mount Joy GO Station. A new Secondary information. Plan is needed to direct growth comprehensively and in line with the City’s intensification strategy. This is also relevant as two existing Secondary Plans flank the MRMJSP Area on its east and west. iv INTERIM REPORT Executive Summary The report summarizes key findings associated with Existing Transportation Assessment the assessment of natural heritage features, land use and built form, community infrastructure and facilities, The MRMJSP Study Area is supported by a network of cultural heritage, public realm, economic activity, and Regional Roads, major collector roads, minor collector affordable housing. The prevalence of physical barriers, roads, and local roads. Markham Road is a major by way of the Stouffville GO Rail corridor, prevent the collector road which traverses the entire Study Area, ease of east-west movement of pedestrians between the in a North-South direction. It provides local access and Secondary Plan Area and community amenities that exist a connection between Main Street to the south and to the east of the railway. In its current format, Markham Highway 48 to the north. At Major Mackenzie Drive Road detracts from the pedestrian experience given the East, Markham Road becomes Highway 48, which is great distances between signalized intersections, relative a Provincial Highway that provides connections to vehicular speed, and high traffic volumes. Gaps along northern York Region, including the Town of Whitchurch- the streetscape as well as the prevalence of extensive Stouffville, Town of East Gwillimbury, and the Town surface parking lots mean little frontage “activation”, and of Georgina. Major Mackenzie Drive East and 16th in general a sparse public realm. Flood-impacted, vacant Avenue are the two major east-west Regional Roads properties impede site functionality and add challenges within the Study Area and provide connections to the to redevelopment. City of Richmond Hill and Highway 404 in the west, and the Region of Durham to the east. The MRMJSP Markham Road has the potential to be transformed into Study Area is served by two GO Transit Bus Routes, a main street that would define and reinforce a hierarchy Rail service connecting to Union Station in Toronto, of distinct places in its transition from the Markham and by 8 different York Region Transit (YRT) routes. Village Heritage Conservation District (HCD) to the The Stouffville GO Rail Line crosses the Study Area and south, to existing and future destinations within the limits east-west connectivity between the MRMJSP Area Secondary Plan Area and to the north.