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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDTS-07-081 - Glasgow Street Realignment West Of Ira Needles Boulevardii ID ~_ ~... .~ REPORT Report To: Development & Technical Services Committee Date of Meeting: June 18, 2007 Submitted By: Rob Browning, General Manager, Development & Technical Services Prepared By: Tina Malone-Wright, Senior Planner 741-2765 Jeff Willmer, Director of Planning 741-2325 John McBride, Director of Transportation Planning 741-2374 Ward~s~ Involved: Ward 6 Date of Report: June 8, 2007 Report No.: DTS-07-081 Subject: GLASGOW STREET REALIGNMENT WEST OF IRA NEEDLES BOULEVARD RECOMMENDATION: That the ultimate design and realignment of Glasgow Street west of Ira Needles Boulevard be determined through a future Environmental Assessment or Plan of Subdivision process; and That in the interim the City of Kitchener accept the conveyance of the necessary lands from Ira Needles Commercial Centre Joint Venture (INCCJV) to create a `T' intersection at Glasgow Street and Ira Needles Boulevard; and That at such time as the lands required to create a `T' intersection at Glasgow Street and Ira Needles Bouelvard are considered redundant or surplus to the City's needs, the lands are reconveyed back to the owner for nominal consideration; and That the proposed realignment of Glasgow Street as illustrated by the drawing prepared by Stantec Consulting Ltd., dated May 28, 2007, with respect to Project No. 60310579 be considered as one of the alternative road realignments; and further That City Staff be authorized to engage in discussions and negotiations with Hydro One towards acquiring surplus Hydro lands to facilitate the ultimate realignment of Glasgow Street, including engaging an appraiser representing the City's interest at the cost of the Ira Needles Commercial Centre Joint Venture and at no cost to the City. BACKGROUND: The abutting property owner, Ira Needles Commercial Centre Joint Venture INCCJV), proposes to redesignate, rezone and develop their industrial-zoned site with an integrated retail, service, and office commercial centre containing approximately 900,000 square feet of floor area. The realignment of Glasgow Street through the site will be proposed as part of the new development. The opportunity to utilize surplus Hydro land for an alternative realignment of Glasgow Street has arisen, provided that Hydro conveys the land to a municipality and not directly to a private owner. REPORT: Glasgow Realignment Alternative using Hydro One lands: The attached drawing shows one potential alternative for the realignment of Glasgow Street which would involve creating a T intersection at Ira Needles Boulevard, and a rerouting of Glasgow Street to the south of the property, along the southerly boundary of the property, with a crossing of Hydro One lands and ultimately reconnecting with Glasgow Street to the west of the site. Regional staff and Transportation Planning Staff are generally satisfied with this potential realignment of Glasgow Street. It represents a viable alternative and could be considered as an option through an Environmental Assessment (EA) or plan of subdivision process. In order to facilitate this realignment of Glasgow Street it will be necessary to utilize lands now owned by Hydro One. In discussions between INCCJV and Hydro One it is apparent that the lands are surplus to Hydro's needs. Hydro One will consider conveying surplus lands to the municipality but not to a private owner. This report recommends that City staff be authorized to take part in the necessary discussions/negotiations for land acquisition in order to recommend a viable option to permit the realignment of Glasgow Street. The intent is that if the lands are truly surplus to Hydro, they would be conveyed to the City and immediately conveyed to INCCJV, with all associated costs being borne by INCCJV. The required ROW for the potential realignment of Glasgow Street would ultimately be conveyed to the City by INCCJV. City Planning staff and Transportation Planning staff have no initial concerns with the proposed alignment as shown in the Stantec drawing, dated May 28, 2007; however, it is emphasized that 2 the City's cooperation on land acquisition in noway makes any commitment on future land use or road realignment decisions. Related Matters: There are a number of other matters yet to be brought forward for decision but which may affect land use and transportation in the immediate vicinity. These are included in this report so that Council has the benefit of appreciating the overall context. Staff have considered all related matters and advise that that incremental decision-making is both justified and beneficial in the case of this report and Report DTS-07-106. The Regional Municipality of Waterloo will be constructing the last stage of Ira Needles Boulevard Highland Road to Erb Street) in 2007. The existing road allowance for Glasgow Street intersects with the Ira Needles Boulevard Road allowance at an acute angle. In order to construct the new road with a safe and functional intersection with existing Glasgow Street, it would be beneficial to acquire additional land to enable the construction of a "T" intersection. Ira Needles Boulevard is a Regional road. Glasgow Street is a City of Kitchener road. The additional land required is owned by INCCJV. If the additional lands cannot be appropriately secured, the Region will have to proceed to construct this intersection in its current skewed alignment with a left turn prohibition. As a result, the Region would not be able to install a northbound left turn lane on Ira Needles Boulevard at the intersection of Glasgow Street. Instead a raised median would have to be constructed through the intersection to effectively prevent all left turn movements save and except those required for emergency vehicles. Discussions between the Region and INCCJV have been ongoing. Most recently INCCJV has advised that they would be prepared to convey the lands necessary for the realignment of Glasgow Street at Ira Needles Boulevard. This will facilitate a `T' intersection at Glasgow Street and Ira Needles Boulevard in advance of an Environmental Assessment or approval of a plan of subdivision to determine the ultimate realignment of Glasgow Street through the subject lands. The Regional Municipality of Waterloo's Erb Street Waste Transfer Station and landfill property extends south to Glasgow Street and the GEXR main railway line. The Region has an MOE certificate of approval to expand the landfill operations to make use of the south part of the property. It is intended that recycling, composting, hazardous waste, commercial bulk waste carriers and other regular traffic are all to continue to use the Erb Street entrance to the site. In the long term it is intended that traffic generated by the Region's contractor for residential household waste destined for landfill will use Glasgow Street for access to the landfill site. As the landfill site has frontage on Glasgow Street, and the Region owns land on both sides of Glasgow, and the Region intends to use Glasgow Street as the employee access to a proposed maintenance building in the near future, the Region is proposing a land exchange which would smooth out the sharp bend on Glasgow Street and improve the road at the Region's expense. If pursued further this issue would be addressed in a future report. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: All costs related to the appraisal and potential acquisition of land from Hydro One would be borne by Ira Needles Commercial Centre Joint Venture. The costs of potential realignment and reconstruction of Glasgow Street through the INCCJV site will be the responsibility of INCCJV and not the City. Any cost sharing with the Region, related to either the construction of the Glasgow Street /Ira Needles Boulevard intersection in the short term, or road improvements for access to the south end of the landfill site in the longer term, would be negotiated between INCCJV and the Region. 3 COMMUNICATIONS: City staff have met on several occasions with Regional officials and representatives of INCCJV to discuss the issues related to the development of the site, the construction of Ira Needles Boulevard and the plans for the landfill site. The appropriate and necessary communication and public consultation related to the realignment of Glasgow Street will take part as part of the EA or plan of subdivision process. Notification and consultation regarding the surplus declaration of any lands which may be acquired and conveyed will take place at a later date. No further notification is necessary at this time. CONCLUSION: In consideration of the foregoing, the realignment of Glasgow Street as shown in the Stantec drawing, dated May 28, 2007, is a viable alternative to be considered in an EA or plan of subdivision process. It would be appropriate to get that process underway by way of engaging an appraiser to work with Hydro One to establish fair market value of surplus Hydro lands, with the understanding that the potential land acquisition will not prejudice future decisions on realignment of Glasgow Street orfuture decision on land use related to this site. Tina Malone-Wright, MCIP, RPP Alain Pinard, MCIP, RPP Senior Planner Manager of Long Range and Policy Planning Jeff Willmer, MCIP, RPP John McBride Director of Planning Director of Transportation Planning List of Attachments Pre-Development Concept Plan prepared by Stantec Post-Development Concept Plan prepared by Stantec 4 _ ~~rr Da ~ r~ • r ` ~r` m ~ ~ m ° O M ~ ry ° O r ~ NO ~ O O O i £ -o ° ~ a o v ~ ~ E° y .. ~ ° ° ° ~$ o ~ - N ,~ ~ ~~ a ~ N U d~ N~ z m m E ~ y Q n ~ o U ~- ~ n ai m y °~~~ ` m ~ (.,,, j " N a ( I ~ o P ` ~~ o ~ m s ~ J Q U W rr^^ VJ ~ Z Q ° ay v vca vl Ul c~~ ~ f~ a~Y Zr~ s c o ~i° I vo \ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Z 9 Z ~ W 0> n J W ~Z~ a° O ° 1 Z _~ Q U U~ ~ ~ lAJ U7Z m Q O J T Jai o~°p0--= J a a ~, z ~ N ~ J (, J Q U o r ~ o W~ W a z w i ~~v3rpa ~ ~ w ~ ~ N V~ $ a ~ Y WO ~ o ~ w Wg w~ ~ ~ z a o Z~ z Z N ~ W QU= m LL W Z U o 0 z ,,, - ~z~r~° 0 0 U B U Y ~°~ ~~ ~ °' ~ a U Y ~I CO _n i - ~ G7 I l.1A1111./\,l i ~~ `__ ___ -i..Tn_~L1_L~11L!_~ _-- ii 1 - ~~ 1 111-_jj P-_ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~_ W ~ ~ Q D - W m ~ ~ ~ ~/~° r ", ~~.~ N ~ L aN F ~ « u's r~ a (~ °o a.„ `w' ~ U b.u~-U aL Y ~zu~~~a' a ~ 0 0 U Z ~3 ~' o ~o wQ ~w z~ a z U ~ o u ~ ~ ~ ~ m J U ~ Z O x Q Z V w ~~ d ~ W~ w 2 a a Z ~ \w dZ~ U o N ~ U~ m J J~ cnQ cnz ~ wad Wow w o ~ J ~ ~, ~ ~ s ~ az a °a ~W ~ w O ~ww ~ J O L Z w W C W~ N r V= a mZ~ zZm ~ZU ~ o I LL o O n m E a~ O ~ (~ Y ~ O Y .~ ~ ~ ~ m ~ K G rq U ~ ~ c°p ,o ~ ~ r ~ m.~-~'