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3. ZONING - 5338 BANK STREET ZONAGE - 5338, RUE BANK |
Committee
Recommendation
(This application
is subject to Bill 51)
That Council
approve an amendment to the former City of Gloucester Zoning By-law to change
the zoning of 5338 Bank Street from “Industrial Extraction” [Me] and
“Community Institutional” [Ic] to “Community Institutional – Exception”
[Ic(Exx)], as shown in Document 1 and detailed in Document 2.
Recommandation
du comité
(Cette demande
est assujettie au projet de loi 51)
Que le Conseil approuve une
modification au Règlement de zonage de l’ancienne Ville de Gloucester visant à
faire passer la désignation de zonage de la propriété située au 5338, rue Bank,
de « zone d’extraction de minerai » [Me] et « zone institutionnelle
communautaire » [Ic] à « zone institutionnelle communautaire –
Exception » [Ic(Exx)], comme l’illustre le document 1 et le précise le
document 2.
Documentation
1. Deputy City Manager's report (Planning,
Transit and the Environment) dated
2 May 2008 (ACS2008-PTE-PLA-0113).
Report to/Rapport au :
Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
Comité d'agriculture et des questions rurales
and Council / et au Conseil
Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager/
Directrice municipale adjointe,
Planning, Transit and the Environment/
Urbanisme, Transport en commun et Environnement
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Karen Currie,
Manager / Gestionnaire, Development Approvals / Approbation des demandes
d'aménagement
(613) 580-2424, 28310 Karen.Currie@ottawa.ca
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SUBJECT: |
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OBJET : |
REPORT RECOMMENDATION
That the Agriculture and Rural
Affairs Committee recommend Council approve an amendment to the former City of
Gloucester Zoning By-law to change the zoning of 5338 Bank Street from
“Industrial Extraction” [Me] and “Community Institutional” [Ic] to “Community
Institutional – Exception” [Ic(Exx)], as shown in Document 1 and detailed in
Document 2.
RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité de l'agriculture et des questions
rurales recommande au Conseil d’approuver une modification au Règlement de
zonage de l’ancienne Ville de Gloucester visant à faire passer la désignation
de zonage de la propriété située au 5338, rue Bank, de « zone d’extraction
de minerai » [Me] et « zone institutionnelle communautaire » [Ic]
à « zone institutionnelle communautaire – Exception » [Ic(Exx)],
comme l’illustre le document 1 et le précise le document 2.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of the subject application is to request an amendment to the former City of Gloucester Zoning By-law to change the zoning of the property addressed as 5338 Bank Street from “Industrial Extraction” and “Community Institutional” to “Community Institutional – Exception”.
The subject site, which is approximately 3.24 hectares in area, is situated on the west side of Bank Street approximately 850 metres north of Mitch Owens Road within the rural area of the former City of Gloucester (see Document 1). Our Lady of Visitation Church and cemetery occupy the site, which has existed since the mid-19th century. The cemetery, situated behind the church, occupies almost one-half of the site area. The remainder of the property, with the exception of the parking area in the front yard, is devoted to open space and trees. The site is flanked to the north and south by existing rural residential properties, and is surrounded on three sides by a large property on which exists an active open-pit sand and gravel extraction operation.
In 2007, the church parish demolished the original rectory that stood for over a century within the south side yard of the property. The structure was deemed no longer habitable and too costly to rehabilitate. In its place, the parish plans to build a more modest, freestanding rectory within the property’s north side yard. However, it was later realized that the current institutional zone prohibits any rectory that is not part of, or attached to, the main building. Moreover, the northern parcel of the subject site where the new rectory is proposed, and the southern parcel of the site occupied by the cemetery, are not appropriately zoned for institutional uses, but, rather, are zoned for industrial extraction uses notwithstanding both portions have been in the church’s ownership for many years.
The subject application, therefore, proposes to change the current institutional and industrial zoning in effect over the entire subject property to “Community Institutional - Exception” [Ic(Exx)] to permit a rectory that is accessory to and separate from a place of worship, and to correct what appears to be an error in the delineation of the zone boundaries.
DISCUSSION
Official Plan
The Official Plan designates the subject site “General Rural Area”, which is the designation applied to those lands where a variety of uses appropriate for a rural location outside of a village can be accommodated. Limited residential development is permitted in such designated areas provided it does not preclude continued agricultural and non-residential uses. Where changes in use are contemplated within the General Rural Area, the policies state that specific consideration should be given to the potential adverse impacts that the proposed use may have on surrounding land uses, and to whether the proposed development is in keeping and compatible with the surrounding rural character. Consideration also is to be given to whether the proposed use is consistent with the requirements of any applicable environmental protection policies of the Official Plan.
The lands adjacent to the subject site are designated “Sand and Gravel Resource Area” in recognition of the existence of aggregate deposits that may be viably extracted. In this case, a licensed extraction operation abuts the church property to the west. The relevant policies of the Sand and Gravel Resource Area designation state that limited new development may occur on lands within 300 metres of an existing licensed pit or quarry provided such development does not conflict with future mineral aggregate extraction. In such cases, an impact assessment must be completed to demonstrate that the mineral aggregate operation will not be affected by the proposed development.
Details of Proposed Zoning
The details of the recommended changes to the former City of Gloucester Zoning By-law appear in Document 2. The Department is recommending that the “Institutional Community” (Ic) and “Industrial Extraction” (Me) zones that currently apply to the subject site be changed to “Institutional Community – Exception” [Ic(Exx)] to acknowledge and confirm the long-standing current place of worship and cemetery uses on the site, and to permit a dwelling unit accessory to a place of worship as a conditional use. The exception is necessary to remove the current restriction on the location of such conditional use to permit it to be a freestanding structure separate from the place of worship.
According to the new Comprehensive Zoning By-law, the entire subject site, including both the northern and southern parcels, is zoned “Rural Institutional” (RI5). Under this zone, a place of worship, cemetery and a maximum of one detached dwelling accessory to a place of worship are permitted as of right. Therefore, no change to the RI5 zone is necessary to accommodate the existing and proposed uses.
Rationale
A brief overview of the current zoning of the subject property is required. In 1999, the former City of Gloucester adopted Zoning By-law 333-1999, a new by-law that applied to the entire city including the subject property. It is still in force and effect. At that time, the “Institutional Community” (Ic) zone was applied to the church property, but not the whole property. The extreme north and south rectangular parcels of the property, which have been church possessions for more than 25 and 100 years, respectively, were zoned “Industrial Extraction” (Me) despite the fact that the former local and current City official plans do not recognize them for their mineral aggregate potential. Indeed, the church’s cemetery has occupied the south parcel for many years, and prior to 1999, the entire property was zoned to allow a church and cemetery. Staff have investigated this apparent anomaly in zoning and can only conclude that the application of the “Me” zone on both the north and south parcels of the church’s property was done so in error.
Notwithstanding the apparent error in the application of the current zoning, staff are required to evaluate the proposed Zoning By-law amendment both in terms of the appropriateness of the requested uses and their compatibility with the surrounding rural character. Staff also evaluated whether the proposed accessory dwelling and existing cemetery uses would conflict with the future mineral aggregate extraction operation of the adjacent licensed pit.
Staff find that the accessory single-storey dwelling use proposed on the north parcel of the church property, which is effectively screened from the adjacent residential property by an existing stand of trees, would not have any adverse impacts on the surrounding rural residential uses. The potential negative effects that the introduction of a new use typically may have on surrounding uses, such as increased traffic, noise and loss of privacy, were all considered and deemed to be of no concern. The cemetery use on the south parcel has existed for many years on the site and has had no adverse impacts on the surrounding uses. As such, it is concluded that both proposed and existing uses are appropriate and entirely in keeping with the surrounding rural character.
With respect to the potential conflict that the proposed accessory dwelling use and existing cemetery use may have with the future mineral aggregate extraction operation of the adjacent licensed pit, it is staff’s opinion that there would be none. The existing licensed pit operation covers approximately 185 hectares and extracts sand fill and granular “B” aggregates. While the period of the current license is open ended, the pit owner’s long-range plans are to subdivide the lands for rural residential and golf course purposes. In light of such future plans, the proposed and existing uses on the north and south parcels of the church’s property would not have any effect on the current and future pit operations.
It should be noted that the initial application to amend the Zoning By-law filed with the City did not include a request to change the zoning of the south parcel of the church property occupied by the cemetery. However, during the evaluation of the application, staff concluded that it was appropriate to add the south parcel to the lands under consideration for rezoning in order to acknowledge its current and historical use.
The land to which the proposed zoning amendment applies is also the subject of a current application for site plan control approval (File No. D07-12-07-0230). The application requests approval to construct a new 503-square metre, single-storey, parish hall on the site of the former rectory within the south side yard of the subject property, and approval of the new single-storey rectory on the vacant north parcel of the site. The existing parking area within the front yard is also to be reorganized. The adoption of the subject proposed Zoning By-law amendment will be a condition of site plan control approval that must be satisfied prior to the issuance of a building permit for the proposed rectory.
Staff support the proposed amendment and recommend that it be approved.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
As noted, the subject lands abut an existing licensed mineral aggregate extraction operation. In support of the application, a brief assessment and opinion letter was submitted, which letter asserted that the proposed Zoning By-law amendment would not have any effect on the current and future pit operations. Prior to the submission of the formal zoning amendment application, staff also consulted with representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources on the specific site and zoning circumstances.
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
The removal of lands from the Industrial Extraction
zone should not adversely affect the future mineral aggregate extraction
potential of the abutting licensed pit operation. The north and south parcels of the subject property have been
held in the Church’s ownership for many years, and the subject amendment will
allow for the continued growth of this community use.
CONSULTATION
Notice of this application was carried out in
accordance with the City’s Public Notification and Consultation Policy. The Ward Councillor is aware of this
application and the staff recommendation.
The City did not receive any negative comments or opposition to this
application. A letter of support was
received from Newcastle Developments Inc., the owner of the licensed pit
operation adjacent to the subject site.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
N/A
APPLICATION PROCESS TIMELINE STATUS
This application was processed by the “On Time
Decision Date” established for the processing of Zoning By-law amendment
applications.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document 1 Location
and Zoning Key Map
Document 2 Details
of Recommended Zoning
DISPOSITION
City Clerk’s Branch, Council and Committee Services
to notify: the owner, Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of Ottawa (Our Lady
of Visitation Church), 5338 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON K1X 1H1; the applicant, Mr. Joel Massicotte, 1436 Squire Drive,
Manotick, ON K4M 1B8; OttawaScene.com, 174 Colonnade Road, Unit No. 33, Ottawa,
ON K2E 7J5; and Ghislain Lamarche, Program Manager, Assessment, Financial
Services Branch (Mail Code: 26-76), of
City Council’s decision.
Planning, Transit and the Environment Department to
prepare the implementing by-law, forward to Legal Services Branch and undertake
the statutory notification.
Legal Services Branch to forward the implementing
by-law to City Council.
LOCATION MAP DOCUMENT 1
DOCUMENT 2
DETAILS OF RECOMMENDED ZONING
The proposed Zoning By-law amendment affects one section and zone map of former City of Gloucester Zoning By-law 333-1999, as amended. The proposed changes are outlined in general terms below.
1. Subsection 7.8 Exceptions to Institutional Zones is amended by creating a new exception zone, Ic(Exx), which shall apply to the areas shown on Document 1. The new Ic(Exx) zone shall contain the following exception to the Ic zone or one having the same effect:
a. Despite Subsection 7.5.3 1), a dwelling unit accessory to a place of worship may be a separate building.
All other zone requirements of the Ic zone shall continue to apply.