1
Planning Rationale in Support of Application for Zoning By-law Amendment
5254 Bank Street City of Ottawa
Prepared by:
Holzman Consultants Inc. Land Development Consultants
March 17, 2020 Amended October 2, 2020
311 Richmond Road, Suite 203 Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 6X3 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION 3
1.1 BACKGROUND 3
1.2 PROPOSED LAND USE AND ZONING BY-LAW AMENDMENT 5
2.0 APPLICABLE PLANNING POLICIES 6
2.1 PROVINCIAL POLICY STATEMENT (PPS) 6
2.2 CITY OF OTTAWA OFFICIAL PLAN (OP) 7
2.3 CITY OF OTTAWA ZONING BY-LAW (ZONING BY-LAW) 9
3.0 CONSISTENCY AND COMPATIBILITY 12
4.0 CONCLUSION 12
LIST OF EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT A Google Maps Street View of the Subject Property 3
EXHIBIT B GeoOttawa Air Photo Showing the Subject Property 4
EXHIBIT C Conceptual Site Plan 5
EXHIBIT D Excerpt from Rural Policy Plan (Schedule A) of the OP 7
EXHIBIT E GeoOttawa Map indicating the Current Zoning 11
311 Richmond Road, Suite 203 Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 6X3 3
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Holzman Consultants Inc. (“HCI”) was retained by Denzil and Sandra Reaney (collectively the “Applicant”) to prepare a Planning Rationale in support of an application for Zoning By-law Amendment for 5254 Bank Street (the “Subject Property”), legally described as:
PT LT 28 CON 4RF GLOUCESTER AS IN GL76777 (PIN: 043270082)
The intention of this application is to amend the zoning designation of the Subject Property from Rural Countryside Subzone 2 (RU2) to Rural General Industrial Subzone 3, Exception XX (RG3 [XXr]). To demonstrate that the requested amendment represents good land use planning, while also being consistent and compatible with planning policy and site context, this report contains an analysis of the following:
Provincial Policy Statement; City of Ottawa Official Plan; and, City of Ottawa Zoning By-law. 1.1 Background
A pre-application consultation meeting with City Staff was held in April of 2019 to review submission requirements to advance an application for Zoning By-law Amendment for the Subject Property. In addition to this Planning Rationale, the Applicant engaged LRL Engineering to prepare the following reports:
Phase I Environmental Site Assessment; Geotechnical Investigation; Serviceability Report; Terrain Analysis and Private Sewage Disposal System Impact Assessment.
Exhibit A: Google Maps street view photo of the Subject Property.
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The Subject Property, as depicted in Exhibit A, consists of a rectangular-shaped parcel of land, 1,715 square metres in area with 22.86 metres of frontage on the west side of Bank Street. It is improved with a single detached dwelling with a detached garage and storage shed serviced by a private septic system, natural gas, and piped municipal water. The Subject Property is tenanted.
The improvements, as they exist today, are evident in an air photograph from 1991 as available on the GeoOttawa website. The GeoOttawa website provides an air photograph from 1976 which also provides evidence of a house and detached structures at the Subject Property, but the image is of low resolution and details are difficult to discern. No earlier air photographs are available on the GeoOttawa website. Based on our search of title, the Applicant took ownership of the Subject Property in 1965 for nominal consideration and we are given to understand that prior to this the Subject Property was owned by the parents of Mr. Denzil Reaney, reportedly dating back to the 1940s.
In any event, it is evident from a survey of the Subject Property that some of the existing structures have no setbacks at all and it is our position that while the Subject Property enjoys legal non-complying rights with respect to its existing use, it is our expectation that once the zoning is amended that the existing improvements will be demolished and the Subject Property will be developed with structures that are more appropriate for the ultimate land use.
The existing land uses surrounding the site, some of which are depicted in Exhibit B, are as follows:
To the north: Grandor Lumber
To the east: Camp Hither Hills RV Park, forested lands and a licensed quarry owned by R.W. Tomlinson Limited
To the south and to the west: A licensed pit owned by Newcastle Developments Inc, of which a significant portion is forested, and a licensed pit owned by Pomerleau Sand and Gravel Inc.
Exhibit B: GeoOttawa Air Map showing the Subject Property (outlined in red) and surrounding land uses
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1.2 Proposed Land Use and Zoning By-law Amendment
The Applicant intends to offer the Subject Property for sale once it has been rezoned. It is the Applicant’s view, as confirmed by their realtor, that the narrow range of uses permitted by the existing zoning designation, Rural Countryside Subzone 2, are not appropriate for the Subject Property, nor are they compatible with the existing land uses in the vicinity which largely consist of commercial and industrial operations as well as pits and quarries. At the time of the pre-application consultation meeting with City staff, the Subject Property was under contract to a purchaser whose intended use of the site was as an automotive repair facility. Unfortunately, this purchase contract did not proceed.
That being said, it is still the Applicant’s desire to seek an amendment to the Zoning By-law to permit a more appropriate range of uses for the Subject Property, such as automotive and light industrial uses as set out in more detail in Section 2.3 of this report. The zoning designation being sought is Rural General Industrial Subzone 3, as outlined in Table 1, with certain exceptions with respect to performance provisions.
Table 1: Draft Zoning By-law Amendment for the RG3 [XXr] Zone
III – Additional IV – Land I – Exception II – Applicable Land Uses Uses V – Provisions Number Zones Permitted Prohibited
- minimum interior side yard setback 3 m
XXr (By-law - minimum lot area of 1,715 sq. m RG3 [XXr] None None 2020-XX) - minimum lot width of 22.86 m
In order to demonstrate that the Subject Property can be developed in a reasonable manner, a conceptual site plan was prepared as illustrated in Exhibit C. A 250 m2 building can be comfortably accommodated along with an “Ecoflo” septic system with a tank of approximately 6.1 m by 3.0 m and an absorption bed of approximately 5.0 m by 6.6 m.
Exhibit C: Conceptual Site Plan
311 Richmond Road, Suite 203 Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 6X3 6
Based on correspondence with Seana Turkington, Planner, at the City of Ottawa the Planning Department requested that a holding provision be imposed on any amended zoning for the Subject Property. The holding provision will be lifted subject to the receipt of the following at the time of an Application for Site Plan Control:
Phase II ESA; Stormwater Management Report; Transportation Impact Assessment; and Mineral Resource Impact Assessment.
2.0 APPLICABLE PLANNING POLICIES
2.1 Provincial Policy Statement (PPS)
The PPS is issued under the authority of Section 3 of the Planning Act. It provides direction on matters of provincial interest related to land use planning and development, while promoting the policy-led planning system. According to the PPS, the vision for Ontario’s land use planning system is to carefully manage land to ensure appropriate development to satisfy current and future needs. In addition, land planning must promote efficient development patterns, which promote a mix of housing, employment, open spaces and multimodal transportation. The PPS ultimately aims to encourage communities that are economically strong, environmentally sound, and that foster social wellbeing. The PPS sets a time horizon of up to 20 years during which time there should be a sufficient supply of land for housing, employment opportunities and other uses to meet the demand of communities. The supply of land is to be controlled through three mechanisms: redevelopment, intensification and designation of growth areas.
Per Section V Policy 1.1.1 (b):
Healthy, liveable and safe communities are sustained by accommodating an appropriate range and mix of residential (including second units, affordable housing and housing for older persons), employment (including industrial and commercial), institutional (including places of worship, cemeteries and long-term care homes), recreation, park and open space, and other uses to meet long-term needs.
Per Section V Policy 1.1.3.4:
Appropriate development standards should be promoted which facilitate intensification, redevelopment and compact form, while avoiding or mitigating risks to public health and safety.
Per Section V Policy 1.3.1 (c),
Planning authorities shall promote economic development and competitiveness by encouraging compact, mixed-use development that incorporates compatible employment uses to support liveable and resilient communities.
It is our opinion that these policies, as well as the PPS overall, are respected through the proposed application for Zoning By-law Amendment.
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2.2 City of Ottawa Official Plan (OP)
The Subject Property is currently designated General Rural Area, as depicted in Exhibit D, which stated purpose is as:
A location for agriculture and for those non-agricultural uses that, due to their land requirements or the nature of their operation, would not be more appropriately located within urban or Village locations.
It is our view that given the modest size of the lot, the location along a busy arterial roadway and the surrounding commercial, industrial and mineral aggregate uses that a rezoning to permit uses under a Rural General Industrial zone are in keeping with the character of the area and will meet the needs of the travelling public. Furthermore, we are of the view that such uses would not be better located in a village or the urban area.
Please note, the Subject Property is over 1 km from the urban boundary and over 1 km to the Greely village boundary; therefore, it is not subject to Section 3.7.2.12 – Development near Village and Urban Boundaries.
Exhibit D: Excerpt from Rural Policy Plan (Schedule A) of the Official Plan, with a red arrow pointing to the Subject Property.
According to Schedule I of the OP, Bank Street is considered a scenic entry-route to the City and according to Section 4.6.4:
While respecting the primary function of the road, the [Guidelines for Scenic-Entry Routes] will promote:
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a. The creation of a safe and attractive environment for travellers including, where appropriate, such amenities as lay-bys, scenic lookouts, information, and directional signs to important urban and rural cultural, heritage, environmental and tourism destinations; b. Attention to such matters as building orientation, outside storage, access and egress, landscaping, fencing, lighting and signage to create an aesthetically pleasing streetscape; c. The protection of views to natural and cultural heritage features, mature trees, and roadside vegetation along and beyond the right-of-way; d. Coordination of landscaping, berming, pathways and other features within the rights-of- way with the creation of such features on adjacent land, including the potential to locate these features on adjacent property; e. Any other items determined by the City.
The above noted policies can be enforced during the Site Plan Control process as part of any redevelopment for the Subject Property.
Additionally, per Annex 1, Bank Street, from Rideau Road to Mitch Owens Road, is to be a 40 m rural arterial protected right-of-way. Based on aerial photo analysis on GeoOttawa, the existing right-of-way is approximately 46 m wide with a widening already taken from the Subject Property; therefore, no additional lands are expected to be taken.
Given that the lands abutting the Subject Property are designated Sand and Gravel Resource Area and that some of the lands on the east side of Bank Street are designated Bedrock Resource Area, it is critical to consider the policies of the OP in Section 3.7.4 with respect to the development restriction on lands within the vicinity of mineral aggregate resources.
Policy 10 of 3.7.4 provides that:
“New development will not be approved within 500 metres of a Bedrock Resource Area or within 300 metres of a Sand and Gravel Resource Area, unless it can be demonstrated that such development will not conflict with future mineral aggregate extraction.”
The OP cites examples of conflicting land uses such as the creation of new lots, rezoning to permit dwellings or lodging places and farming or small-scale business uses where animals, equipment or employees are affected by pit or quarry activities. The Applicant’s proposed rezoning does not contemplate any of the above-noted land uses.
Policy 11 of 3.7.4 provides that:
“New development may be approved within 500 metres of an existing licensed bedrock quarry or within 300 metres of an existing sand and gravel pit if it can be demonstrated that the existing mineral aggregate operation, and potential future expansion of the operation in depth or extent, will not be affected by the development.”
Furthermore, the policies of 3.7.4 provide that consultation with the Ministry of Natural Resources will be carried out and that the City “may impose conditions to ensure the development provides adequate buffering and/or separation between the new proposed use and the mineral aggregate area/operation.”
It is our opinion that the rezoning of the Subject Property to a Rural General Industrial, which will facilitate the repurposing of the lands and improvements for automotive or light industrial use, will be far less sensitive to the operations of neighbouring mineral aggregate resource operations. That being said, the
311 Richmond Road, Suite 203 Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 6X3 9
proposed holding provision will require the preparation of a Mineral Resource Impact Assessment at the time of Application for Site Plan Control.
Therefore, it is our opinion that the policies of the OP are respected through the application for Zoning By-law Amendment. 2.3 City of Ottawa Zoning By-law (Zoning By-law)
The Subject Property is zoned RU2 - Rural Countryside Subzone 2, and the intent is to rezone to RG3 [XXr] – Rural General Industrial Subzone 3 Rural Exception XX. Refer to Exhibit E. The stated purpose of the RU2 zone is to,
[Accommodate] agricultural, forestry, country residential lots created by severance and other land uses characteristic of Ottawa’s countryside, in areas designated as General Rural Area, Rural Natural Features and Greenbelt Rural in the Official Plan.
The permitted uses in the RU2 zone are limited to the following:
agricultural use, excluding livestock-related food production artist studio bed and breakfast detached dwelling group home home-based business home-based day care on-farm diversified use, limited to a place of assembly retirement home, converted secondary dwelling unit
Due to the limited number of uses outlined above, the purpose of this application for Zoning By-law Amendment is to rezone to the RG3 zone, which has a wider range of permitted uses along with the following stated purpose:
[Permit] the development of light industrial uses in areas mainly designated as General Rural Area, Village and Carp Road Corridor Rural Employment in the Official Plan.
The permitted uses in the RG3, as per Section 219 (1) are: animal care establishment animal hospital automobile body shop automobile dealership automobile service station Cannabis Production Facility, and contained within a building that is not a greenhouse drive-through facility dwelling unit (limited to a caretaker) gas bar heavy equipment and vehicle sales, rental and servicing kennel leaf and yard waste composting facility light industrial uses
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parking lot printing plant retail store limited to the sale of agricultural, construction, gardening or landscape-related products, equipment or supplies; service and repair shop storage yard truck transport terminal warehouse waste processing and transfer facility (non-putrescible)
As per Section 219(2) the following uses are conditionally permitted subject to being located on the same lot as the use listed in Section 219(1) retail store is limited to the sale of goods, service or materials provided by a use permitted in Section 219(1); bank machine bar (ancillary to a permitted brewery, winery or distillery) car wash convenience store personal service business restaurant retail store
Notwithstanding the aforementioned permitted uses in RG3, the Applicant is seeking a narrower range of permitted uses which we feel are suitable for the Subject Property. These are as follows:
animal care establishment animal hospital automobile body shop automobile dealership automobile service station Cannabis Production Facility, and contained within a building that is not a greenhouse heavy equipment and vehicle sales, rental and servicing kennel light industrial uses parking lot personal service business printing plant retail store limited to the sale of agricultural, construction, gardening or landscape-related products, equipment or supplies; service and repair shop storage yard warehouse
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Exhibit E: GeoOttawa map, with a red arrow pointing to the Subject Property, indicating the current RU2 zoning.
Table 2: Existing and Proposed Zoning Performance Provisions in Relation to the Subject Property
Provision: Existing RU2: Standard RG3: Proposed RG3 [XXr] Min. Lot Width 30 m 30 m 22.86 m Min. Lot Area 2,000 sq. m. 2,000 sq. m. 1,715 sq. m.
Farm Produce Outlet
Min. Front Yard (28 sq. m. or less): 6 m; 15 m 15 m Setback
Other Uses: 10m
Min. Rear Yard 10 m 15 m 15 m Setback
Min. Interior Side Abutting RG, RH, or 3 m 5 m Yard Setback RC zones: 3 m;
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Provision: Existing RU2: Standard RG3: Proposed RG3 [XXr]
Other cases: 8 m Max. Principal 12 m 15 m 15 m Building Height Max. Lot 20% 50% 50% Coverage
3.0 CONSISTENCY AND COMPATIBILITY
This amendment is required to allow a wider variety of permitted uses on the Subject Property, in keeping with the policy and site context. As previously outlined, the current RU2 zoning has a limited number of uses which, in our view are not compatible or consistent with the character of the surrounding area. The RG3 zoning, which offers a wider scope of permitted uses, is more suitable as it would be more in keeping with the specific land uses in the vicinity of the Subject Property and generally more compatible with the site context. As shown in Exhibit E, the abutting properties are zoned ME2 and RG1[290r], with RC zones and subzones across the road.
The proposed rezoning includes a rural exception for the pre-existing undersized lot’s area and width. New development will be subject to the standard setbacks of the RG3 zone, with the exception of the interior side yard setback which is proposed to be 3 m regardless of the abutting zoning due to the narrow lot. Furthermore, all other provisions of the proposed RG3 [XXr] zoning are more restrictive than the existing RU2 zoning, aside from the permitted uses. Therefore, the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment is consistent with the planning policies, while also being compatible with the site context.
As noted above, the assessment of any future redevelopment of the Subject Property will be subject to a Mineral Transportation Impact Assessment and Transportation Impact Assessment to ensure the appropriate controls are in place to facilitate land uses that are complementary to the surroundings. 4.0 CONCLUSION
The proposed rezoning will permit the Subject Property to be developed with a broader range of uses that are consistent and compatible with the surrounding land uses and the nature and character of the site context. Furthermore, with respect planning policy, an RG3 Exception would be an appropriate use in the General Rural Area and, in more general terms, conforms to the polices of the PPS.
Accordingly, it is our professional planning opinion that the application for Zoning By-law Amendment represents good land use planning. We trust that you will process this application expeditiously by circulating to the relevant commenting departments/agencies. If you require any additional information, please contact the undersigned.
Yours truly,
Holzman Consultants Inc. Jonah Bonn
Per: Jonah Bonn, MCIP, RPP
311 Richmond Road, Suite 203 Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 6X3