updated planning report updated planning report - City of Guelph

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Updated Planning Report September 2008 Proposed Lafarge/Silvercreek Development In our opinion, all of the foregoing goals are served to varying degrees by the subject proposal and the subject site. This proposal entails the productive re-use of vacant lands which enjoy a relatively central location in the City’s urban area, and have sat in a derelict state for well more than a decade. Services are available, and infrastructure can be upgraded to meet functional requirements. Further, the key natural feature on the site, Howitt Creek and its associated valleylands, is being recognized, protected and recommended for enhancement through the redevelopment process. The subject development concept includes a mix of retail and service commercial uses to meet a variety of needs, including both large-format retail – most notably a warehouse membership club, which is a new offering in this market -- and a “village square” complex intended to help re-urbanize this area of the City. Lastly, the proposal will not, in our opinion, represent any threat to the primacy of the C.B.D., in terms of its focal role in the City’s urban structure. The Plan’s relevant objectives and policies related to community form and urban design are quoted in Section 3.3.3 of this report, and reflect the following key principles: • ensure compact, orderly and sustainable development; • encourage compatible intensification and redevelopment to optimize efficient use of municipal services; • promote mixed uses in appropriate locations; • promote re-use/revitalization/redevelopment of under-utilized or disused commercial and industrial sites; and, • adhere to urban design principles which respect natural features/processes, and which encourage excellence in design through guidelines. Again, the subject proposal is generally a positive gesture toward these urban form principles, particularly given the current disused, neglected state of the site, and the clear and desirable opportunity to achieve practicable redevelopment which makes better use of both municipal servicing infrastructure and urban land. As discussed in greater detail later in this section, the proponent commissioned a design brief of the revised development concept which takes its cue from the Plan’s urban design directions. In addition, the “mixed” aspect of the current concept is limited to a range of retail and service commercial uses of various sizes; nevertheless, in our view, the market square component and the neighbouring grid pattern of private roadways does, subject to economic/market factors, offer the potential for offices as a second floor use in the near-term, and longer-term potential for intensification with other uses in the blocks adjacent to the market square -- including medium density residential in mid-rise buildings with underground parking, if the City’s comprehensive review provides a basis to support conversion. From a development staging perspective, the site is located within the Plan’s “Stage 2” area, which anticipates development as soon as services are available, as is the case with the subject site. In the Plan’s policy regime on community improvement (as summarized in Section 3.3.5 of this report), and in the related “Brownfield Redevelopment Community Improvement Plan”, there is clear planning recognition that the subject “Junction” precinct (including 38
Updated Planning Report September 2008 Proposed Lafarge/Silvercreek Development the site) is one of the City’s priority areas for community improvement. The related Community Improvement Plan is intended to focus attention on environmental clean-up and redevelopment of brownfield sites, one of which is the subject property. Beyond the City Official Plan, that encouragement of brownfield redevelopment also finds policy support in the PPS, based upon a series of economic, environmental and social public benefits. In a related vein, the Plan directs policy attention to contaminated properties, as discussed in Section 3.3.6 of this report. These policies, among other things, require documentary proof of site clean-up, prior to any development approvals. In the subject case, that clean-up has occurred, and Records of Site Condition have been filed with the MOE for both the east and west portions of the property. The Plan’s policies on natural heritage and environmental impact and the accompanying Schedule 2 (discussed in Section 3.3.7 of this report) identify Howitt Creek as a “Natural Heritage Feature”. The related requirement for environmental impact studies for development proposals potentially affecting natural heritage features has been addressed by a comprehensive EIS, supplemented by a series of addenda addressing the revised development concept and particular agency comments and concerns as they have arisen in the application review process. The primacy of the Central Business District in Guelph’s urban structure is reflected in the Plan’s description of the C.B.D.’s higher-order planned function, “…as a vibrant multiple use, multiple function district…” accommodating a full range of urban uses, including a variety of commercial facilities. Based in part on the conclusion of the updated market study that the subject proposal will not be detrimental to the C.B.D.’s planned function or economic vitality, it is our opinion that the Plan’s intent to foster the continued, multi-functional primacy of the C.B.D. will not be threatened in any way by the proposed mixed commercial development. The Plan’s policies on commercial and mixed use areas are particularly germane, given the requested land use designation of the site as a Mixed Use Node, and are discussed in detail in Section 3.3.9 of this report. The key objectives which govern the Plan’s commercial policy structure include the following: • ensure an adequate commercial/mixed use land supply to meet needs and to distribute commercial uses at appropriate locations; • promote nodes (as mixed use areas) forming major concentrations of commercial activity; • promote continued economic viability, intensification and revitalization of the CBD and other designated commercial/mixed use areas; and, • promote a high standard of design, and cohesive development. Guelph’s planned commercial structure resulted from the findings and recommendations of the approved Commercial Policy Review, implemented through OPA 29. The key components are as identified on Schedule 1 – Land Use Plan, which is replicated on Figure 3 included in this report. The companion policies clearly require that any proposal for a new (or expanded) commercial or mixed use area requires an Official Plan amendment, and related impact studies meeting the stated requirements of the Plan. 39
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