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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDTS-07-001 - Zone Change Application ZC 06/25/Q/SR, 400 Queen St SREPORT Report To: Development & Technical Services Committee Date of Meeting: March 5, 2007 Submitted By: Jeff Willmer, Director of Planning X519-741-2325} Prepared By: Sheryl Rice, Development Administrator (519-741-2844) Ward(s) Involved: Ward 6 Date of Report: February 16, 2007 Report No.: DTS-07-001 Subject: ZONE CHANGE APPLICATION ZC 06/25/Q/SR 400 QUEEN STREET SOUTH CATHOLIC FAMILY COUNSELLING CENTRE ADDITION TO EXISTING OFFICE BUILDING s~ ,~~,,,. ,, ~, RECOMMENDATION: 1. That Zone Change Application ZC 06/251Q/SR (400 Queen Street South - Catholic Family Counselling Centre} for the purpose of changing the zoning from Existing Use (E-1) with Special Use Provision 2740 and Commercial Residential Two (CR-2~ with Special Regulation Provisions 1 R and 163R to Existing Use (E-1 } with Revised Special Use Provision 2740 and Special Regulation Provision 460R and Commercial Residential Two (CR-2} with Special Regulation Provisions 1R,163Rand 460R to permit: 1 } an addition to an existing office building where a portion of the addition is located within E-1 zoned lands, 2} to permit a parking reduction for an office building from a minimum of 79 to 71 parking spaces, 3} to locate a portion of the required off-street parking on another lot which is within Hazard Land Zone (P-3} and such parking requirement to be registered on title of the property known as 400 Queen St S, on lands legally described as Part of Lots 168 169 170 171 & 172 ;Subdivision of Lot 17, German Company Tract; and Part of Lot 11, Plan 58 in the City of Kitchener, be approved in a form shown in the attached "Proposed By-law" dated February 16, 2007, without conditions, and; 2. That the site plan to be approved for 400 Queen Street South be based on the concept plans and drawings generally in accordance with those appended to Report DTS 07-001, and; 3. That Recommendations 1 and 2 be deferred until the Council meeting of March 19t", 2007, in order to give consideration to any recommendations of the Heritage Kitchener Committee from its March 6t" meeting. BACKGROUND: The property is located on the west side of Queen St S between Courtland Ave E and Schneider Ave. This portion of Queen St contains office and commercial buildings, as well as single and multiple residential structures. Behind the subject building are low rise residential structures and to the south is Schneider Greenway and Joseph Schneider House. The land was developed with a new office building in 2000 and has split zoning as it is located in a flood plain/flood fringe area that is regulated by the Grand River Conservation Authority. The west side, where most of the parking lot is located, is zoned Existing Use (E-1) with a special provision and the east side, which contains the office building and a smaller portion of the parking, is zoned Commercial-Residential (CR-2) with special provisions. Since 2000 there has been an increased need for additional office space to accommodate a new initiative taken on by the Catholic Family Counseling Centre. The program began over one year ago to address domestic violence and offer support and services to victims of this type of violence. Various agencies use office space in the building to provide a host of services at one location. Some of these agencies include the police, Elderabuse, victim services counseling, the Crown Attorney's staff and outreach workers such as Anselma House. This location is well suited to serving residents in Waterloo Region and the approach has found to be effective in offering support to victims and reducing domestic violence. REPORT: Planning Comments Site description and Proposed development The subject property has an area of 4,305 sq.m. with a frontage on Queen Street of 78 metres. The existing building isthree-storeys in height and has a gross floor area of 1,734.25 sq.m. The applicant is proposing three additions. A 4.3 metre x 15.19 metre one storey addition at the rear to be used for storage. Atwo-storey addition is to be located on top of the existing one-storey 2 portion at the back of the building. Lastly, projecting out from this two-storey addition towards the southwest is a proposed two-storey addition on concrete piers over the existing parking area. The proposed additional area will be 488 sq.m. This creates a total gross floor area of 2,222.25 square metres. Mixed Use Corridor Land Use Policy and Guidelines The site is located in the Queen Street South Mixed Use Corridor and new development is subject to specific guidelines contained in the Design Brief for Mixed Use Corridors. Building elevations will be reviewed and approved through the site plan approval process. A copy of the proposed building elevation facing Queen Street and the proposed site plan are attached as Appendices "A-2" and "A-3". The intent of the Mixed Use Corridor land use is to serve the adjacent residential neighbourhoods and employment areas and allow for intensive, transit supportive development. Design guidelines in the Mixed Use Corridor area encourage compact urban form and promote intensification, achieve high quality building and landscape design that contributes to a sense of place and corridor identity, and create walkable, transit supportive environments. The proposed development meets the general intent of the design guidelines which will be further applied through the site plan approval process. Parking The proposed total office floor area will be 2,222.25 sq.m. Office use requires one parking space per 28 sq.m. of gross floor area. Therefore a total of 79 parking spaces would be required in the current Commercial Residential zoning. Lands along Queen St S from Joseph St to the railway tracks south of Mill St are subject to a city-initiated zone change (ZC 06/6/TC/RM). This zone change will rezone the CR-2 portion of the subject lands to Low Intensity Mixed Use Corridor Zone AMU-1 } and the MU-1 zone will continue to permit the office building. As well, this portion of Queen St istransit-supportive as it is located near the downtown and the main bus terminal. There are four bus routes that use this portion of Queen St and CFCC staff has stated that yearly over 2,000 Grand River transit tickets are given out by the centre and over 4,000 clients use taxis or the bus to the centre. In the proposed new Mixed Use Corridor zones parking reductions based on the level of transit service will be implemented and a 10% reduction is proposed for the whole of the Queen Street Mixed Use corridor. Seventy-one parking spaces would be required once the new Mixed Use zoning has been implemented, which is anticipated to go to Council later this year. Based on this proposed reduction, and the transit-supportive location of the centre, staff recommend the parking reduction from 79 to 71 spaces. The subject lands currently contain 63 parking spaces and this number will remain on the site. The applicant is proposing to lease a nearby parking lot on Mitchell Street which will provide approximately 12 to 16 spaces for the centre, the number depending on the final site plan approval. This will meet the minimum of 8 additional spaces required under the Mixed Use parking reduction. The Mitchell St parking lot will require site plan approval in order to ensure adequate lighting, fencing and landscaping and the applicant will be applying for site plan approval in the near future. The proposed by-law also contains a special regulation which states that a parking agreement for a minimum of 8 off-site parking spaces be registered on title of 400 Queen St S only. Although the Mitchell St lands are owned by the City they have been given over to the Region for use. The Region in turn has leased out the lands since the 1980's for a parking lot. The Region will not permit an off-street parking agreement on title of the lands, but will lease for an 3 initial three year period and review the lease for renewal. If the applicant loses the use of the parking land at any time in the future, they will immediately be required to obtain parking elsewhere or discontinue use of the building floor area equal to the parking spaces that are lost. At this time it is not anticipated that the parking lot will cease use as the lands are in a floodplain and no new buildings would be permitted. Site Plan Approval Site plan SP 07/04/Q/SR, attached as Appendix "A-2", went to the Site Plan Review Committee on February 7, 2007, and was approved in principle and conditional on Council approval of the Zone Change and Heritage permit, as well as final site plan approval for the parking lot on Mitchell Street. Heritage District The site is located in the Victoria Park Heritage Conservation District and new development is required to be compatible with the district. The Heritage Planner has written that "the new construction will match the existing building in design, height and materials and will not have an adverse impact on the heritage character of the surrounding area." He has no concerns with the subject Zone Change application as the proposed addition meets the intent of the Victoria Park Area Heritage Conservation District Plan and he recommends approval of the Heritage Permit HPA 2006-V-018. This permit application was discussed at the Heritage Kitchener Committee meeting on February 6th, 2007 but was deferred to the meeting of March 6th in order that the members may make a site visit to the property before they make a decision. Planning Opinion As noted above, the proposed addition and existing building conform to the Mixed Use Corridor land use policy as well as the Heritage guidelines. The City's Environmental planner has stated no concerns from a natural heritage/environmental planning perspective with the zone change. In planning staff's opinion the proposed development is considered compatible with the surrounding uses given its scale, building massing and design features. The existing building is three-storeys high and the proposed addition will be no higher than what exists. The addition meets all setbacks required as well as the floor space ratio requirement. The proposal provides for an appropriate transition between the Queen St mixed use corridor, and the E-1 zoned residential lands to the north on Hilda Place and David Street. Department/Agency Comments The application was circulated to all applicable agencies and internal departments and the City received twelve responses which are provided in Appendix "D". The Region of Waterloo noted that they are proposing to make upgrades to this portion of Queen St in 2008 but that a Transportation study is not required. Regional staff advised that the existing access is acceptable and they have no concerns with this application. The Grand River Conservation Authority noted that this site is within reach of the Schneider Creek and is a Two-Zone Floodplain. The office building in the CR-2 lands is located in a flood fringe which does permit development of buildings provided certain criteria are met. The parking lot is located in the E-1 lands which are located in a floodway. Generally new development is not permitted within a floodway however the two-storey addition to be built on concrete piers will be permitted by the GRCA as it is to be elevated on piers and will not hamper flood storage or the passage of flood waters. 4 The remaining agencies and internal departments indicated that they did not have any concerns or objections with this application. Property Owner Comments There were sixteen responses received from the public, which consisted of property owners, neighbours, people who have lived in the area in the past, as well as a consultant hired by landowners located adjacent to the subject property. Concerns were expressed over vandalism, loitering and noise; as well as fencing and landscaping. It was acknowledged by CFCC that some of the fencing was not installed as required by the original landscape plan in 2000 and that will be rectified. CFCC explained during an information meeting that portions of the required fencing were not installed as neighbours did not wish the existing trees to be removed or damaged. Site Plan approval for the proposed addition will require a fence along the easterly side lot line and a portion of the rear lot line and this should address trespassing and some privacy concerns. As well, a safety audit will be undertaken for the subject property by City staff and the police. Another concern expressed about privacy was that people using the offices at the back can look into the houses on Hilda PI. CFCC has offered not to put windows on the rear elevation should the neighbours wish. Some of the letters noted problems with drainage from the property. The applicant will be required to provide and implement engineering studies and appropriate drainage. Residents have noted concerns with the proposed one storey addition at the rear. This portion of the addition is to be used for storage and will have one door and one window. The residents acknowledge that the one-storey addition complies with the zoning by-law for setbacks and could be constructed without a zone change, however they do not wish for any structure to come closer to the lot line. Staff is of the opinion that the one-storey addition will soften the massing effect of the three-storey building. Some neighbours were also concerned about the loss of sunlight because of the addition. It is acknowledged that some sunlight will be lost, however the proposed addition is no higher than what currently exists and is permitted in the by-law. The existing CR-2 zoning has no height limit. Also mentioned in a community letter were concerns with overnight parking. Special provision 2740 states "nooff-street parking shall occur overnight". The applicant acknowledged that staff vehicles are parked overnight on the property. The domestic violence program operates 24 hours a day and there are police in the building overnight. The intent of the overnight parking prohibition was to ensure no parking associated with residential use on the property. There would be concerns with parked vehicles if flooding occurred and the owners were not aware of it and therefore could not move their vehicles. The police in the building overnight are working and can monitor their vehicles. This neighbourhood concern has been addressed in the proposed by-law by clarifying that no parking associated with residential use is permitted. There were comments that the addition could be located at the front of the property closer to the Queen St lot line. Although it is noted this would put the addition totally within the CR-2 zone and out of the E-1 zone, it would create other issues. The interior corridor system of the building does function adequately with the addition at the front and the need for office space is at the rear. As well, there is an existing one storey portion of the building that has always been intended to have two-storeys on top of it. Placing the addition at the front also would hide the entrance to the building which is at the side of the building. This is not an ideal design from a 5 safety perspective. Staff is of the opinion that the proposed addition at the rear creates a "cradle" effect ,presenting the entrance to the street, which works well in addressing the streetscape in the Mixed Use Corridor. CFCC wishes to meet all the requirements of any site plan conditions, as well to hear from the neighbours on an ongoing basis if they have concerns. Many of these issues are related to the site plan approval and can be addressed through the current site plan application. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: No capital expenditures are required as part of the zone change on these specified lands. COMMUNICATIONS: Notice of the subject application was circulated by mail to departments, agencies and property owners within 120 metres of the subject lands on November 6, 2006. Staff received 16 written comments from property owners/neighbours and the responses were summarized and discussed in the Community Comments section of this report and are attached as Appendix "E". All those who responded to the original circulation or signed in at either of the January neighbourhood meetings will be sent a copy of this report, along with notice of the public meeting, prior to the meeting. Notice of a Neighbourhood Information meeting that was held on January 19t", 2007 was circulated by mail on January 4, 2007 to property owners within 120 metres. At that meeting it was announced that a second neighbourhood meeting was to be held on January 24th, 2007. Notice of the public meeting was advertised in The Record on February 9th, 2007 and is attached as Appendix "C". CONCLUSION: In summary, the Department of Development and Technical Services recommends that Zone Change Application ZC 06/25/Q/SR be approved in the form shown in the Proposed By-law. Sheryl Rice, CPT Development Technician Jeff Willmer, RPP, MCIP Director of Planning List of Attachments Della Ross, MA, MCIP Manager of Development Review Appendix "A" -Aerial photo, Proposed site plan, Proposed elevation drawing Appendix "B" -Proposed Zoning By-law Appendix "C" -Newspaper Advertisement Appendix "D" -Agency Circulation Comments Appendix "E" -Community Circulation Comments 6