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. 311 Richmond Road, Suite 203 Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 6X3 4 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 311 Richmond Road, Suite 203 Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 6X3 5 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. 311 Richmond Road, Suite 203 Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 6X3 7 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.