Report to/Rapport au :

 

Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

Comité d'agriculture et des questions rurales

 

and Council / et au Conseil

 

20 December 2006 / le 20 décembre 2006

 

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

 

Osgoode (20)

Ref N°: ACS2007-PTE-APR-0031

 

 

SUBJECT:

ZONING - Part of 6010 Knights Drive (FILE NO. D02-02-03-0201)

 

 

OBJET :

ZONAGE - PARTIE DU 6010, PROMENADE KNIGHTS

 

 

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

 

That the  recommend Council approve an amendment to the former Osgoode Zoning By-law to change the zoning of part of 6010 Knights Drive from Rural (RU) and Hazard (HAZ) to Country Estate (Exception XX), CE(EXX) and Open Space 2 (Exception YY), O2(EYY) as shown in Document 1 and as detailed in Documents 2 and 3.

 

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

 

Que le Comité de l’agriculture et des questions rurales recommande au Conseil d'approuver une modification à l'ancien Règlement de zonage d'Osgoode, de manière à faire passer le zonage d'une partie du 6010, promenade Knights de Rural (RU) et Dangereux (HAZ) à Domaine de campagne (Exception XX), CE(EXX) et Espace ouvert 2 (Exception YY), O2(EYY), tel qu'illustré dans le Document 1 et exposé en détail dans les Documents 2 et 3.

 

BACKGROUND

 

The property is located off of Knights Drive which is east of Dozois Road and south of Mitch Owens Road.  The area of the site is 46.69 hectares and is the first phase of development for the recently approved Draft Plan of Subdivision for Rideau Forest – Phases 7 to 11.  This country estate residential development is to the east of Rideau Forest – Phase 6. A Location Map (Document 1) is attached for reference purposes.

 

The subdivision and Zoning By-law amendment application for Rideau Forest – Phases 7 to 11 were filed prior to July 23, 2003 and consequently were reviewed on the basis of the former Region and Osgoode Official Plans and therefore have received certain rights to proceed with development.  The draft plan of subdivision was approved August 25, 2006 and the City received a revised zoning application for only the lands within Phase 7 of the Rideau Forest Draft Approval area on October 17, 2006.

 

Purpose of Zoning By-law Amendment

 

The applicant is requesting a zoning change from Rural and Hazard to Country Estate (Exception XX) and Open Space 2 (Exception YY) to permit the development of 40 country estate lots and a private park within Phase 7 of Rideau Forest. 

 

The CE(EXX) zone will require that the 40 country estate residential lots have a minimum frontage of 47 metres and a minimum lot area of 0.59 hectares.

 

The O2(EYY) zone will recognize the recreational special landscape feature as a private park.  This feature permits the applicant to have a reduced lot size of less than 0.8 hectares provided that the average lot size is not less than 0.8 hectares for lands within Rideau Forest – Phases 7 to 11. 

 

DISCUSSION

 

The Official Plan designates the site as ‘Rural Natural Features’ to protect locally significant natural areas and the city’s tree cover. 

 

Uses permitted in the General Rural Area are permitted on land designated Rural Natural Features. There are policies that support subdivision development provided the residential lots are on larger country estate lots.  The development must be sensitive to the landscape and the environment.

 

Staff is in support of this application as the requested CE(EXX) zone is typical for country estate residential development that has occurred, over the years, in this area of the former Township of Osgoode.  The O2(EYY) zone will ensure that this parcel of land remains a nature reserve.  The zoning will implement an approved subdivision.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

 

The environmental sensitivity of the Manotick Station Natural Area has been documented in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Draft subdivision conditions have been imposed to ensure that appropriate mitigative measures are implemented prior to, during and after the development of the site.

 

RURAL IMPLICATIONS

 

This Zoning By-law amendment application is for lands within Phase 7 of the Rideau Forest Community and meets the intent of the development proposal established with the approval of the Rideau Forest Secondary Plan in 1995.

 

CONSULTATION

 

Notice of this application was carried out in accordance with the City's Public Notification and Consultation Policy. An inquiry was received from Greenspace Alliance and is detail in Document 4. The Ward Councillor is aware of this application and the staff recommendation.

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

N/A

 

APPLICATION PROCESS TIMELINE STATUS

 

The application was not processed by the "On Time Decision Date" established for the processing of Zoning By-law amendments due to the complexity of the issues associated with subdivision draft approval process.

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

 

Document 1      Location Map

Document 2      Details of Recommended zoning

Document 3      Zoning Key Map

Document 4      Consultation Details

 

DISPOSITION

 

Corporate Services Department, City Clerk’s Branch, Secretariat Services to notify the owner, Rideau Forest Development Ltd., 5542 Ann Street, Manotick, Ontario K4M 1A9, applicant, Tim Chadder, J.L. Richards and Associates Limited, 864 Lady Ellen Place, Ottawa, Ontario K2G 6B1, OttawaScene.com, 174 Colonnade Road, Unit #33, Ottawa, ON  K2E 7J5, 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.

 

Corporate Services Department, Legal Services Branch to forward the implementing by-law to City Council

LOCATION MAP                                                                                                  DOCUMENT 1

 

 

DETAILS OF RECOMMENDED ZONING                                                       DOCUMENT 2

 

The following changes are proposed to Zoning By-law 2003-230 of the former Township of Osgoode:

 

The subject lands shown on Document 3 are to be rezoned as follows and that Schedule A – Map 1 of Zoning By-law 2003-230 be amended to reflect the changes:

 

Area A – Rural, RU be rezoned to Country Estate (Exception XX), CE(EXX)

Area B – Hazard, HAZ be rezoned to Country Estate (Exception XX), CE(EXX)

Area C – Hazard, HAZ be rezoned to Open Space 2 (Exception YY), O2(EYY)

Area D – Rural, RU be rezoned to Open Space 2 (Exception YY), O2(EYY)

 

A new CE(EXX) zone to be added to the By-law including the following changes:

 

  1. The minimum lot frontage is 47 metres
  2. The minimum lot area is 0.59 hectares

 

A new O2(EYY) zone to be added to the By-law including the following changes:

 

1. Despite any provisions of By-law 2003-230 to the contrary the only permitted use is a private park.

 

PROPOSED ZONING MAP                                                                                 DOCUMENT 3

 

CONSULTATION DETAILS                                                                                DOCUMENT 4

 

NOTIFICATION AND CONSULTATION PROCESS

 

Notification and public consultation was undertaken in accordance with the Public Notification and Public Consultation Policy approved by City Council for Zoning By-law amendments. 

PUBLIC COMMENTS

 

Greenspace Alliance provided the following comment on December 5, 2006:

In relation to the proposed Zoning By-Law Amendment for a 46.69 hectare site described as "the seventh phase of the Rideau Forest North Development", it is noted that "the land is presently vacant and heavily forested", and it is noted that part of the area whose change to Country Estate (Exception XX) zoning is being sought, is currently designated "HAZ, Hazard zone".

 

One would imagine that the Hazard Zone designation must have been established for some good reason, probably relating to the land's hydrology and/or geology. Given the length of time such land characteristics usually take to develop, one would also imagine that the HAZ zoning and the conditions that led to its establishment pre-date the purchase of the land by the developer intending to build houses on that land.

 

Could you please confirm whether:

 

1. Do the HAZ zoning and the conditions that led to that zoning for that land pre-date the purchase of the land by the developer currently seeking to build homes there?

 

2. Has there been such a change in the hydrology and geology of the land that the reasons for establishing the Hazard Zone designation no longer exist?

 

I eagerly await your response. However, I can advance the comment, for the sake of expediency, that if the answer to the first question is yes and the answer to the second one is no, I would find it alarming to have construction of houses considered for a site with such conditions, and I would expect the City -my City- to turn down the application 'prima facie', without need for discussing any hypothetical eventual changes in zoning and development, and unrelentingly defend such a stand against any possible legal action aimed at overturning it. After all, a developer should bear the responsibility for having purchased a land unfit for building homes; it stands to reason that it is a developer's -or any land purchaser's- responsibility to practice due diligence in a purchase of land, and assume all the rights, limitations and responsibilities associated with the zoning they bought into.

 

Staff Response

The City received the subdivision and zoning applications for these lands in 2003.  Prior to these applications, the former Township of Osgoode had approved the Rideau Forest North lands for country estate lot development (Phases 6 to 11, inclusive) through an Official Plan Amendment in 1995.

 

The Hazard Zone was put in place under the Township of Osgoode's Zoning By-law 16-1971 enacted June 28, 1971. The Hazard Zone implements an organic soil overlay designation identified in the former Township of Osgoode Official Plan.  With the approval of the City of Ottawa Official Plan, the lands are now designated General Rural and Rural Natural Features Area.  The Township of Osgoode Zoning By-law has not been updated to implement the City of Ottawa Official Plan. The Draft Comprehensive Zoning By-law for the City of Ottawa, which implements the City's Official Plan, zones all of the lands within Rideau Forest - Phase 7 as Rural, RU.

 

Draft approval for the subdivision of Rideau Forest 7 to 11 was issued by the City on August 25, 2006. As part of meeting the subdivision draft conditions, the Owner has submitted a Geotechnical Report to provide site-specific detailed information on soil conditions within Phase 7.  This document will be reviewed, revised, if necessary and approved by the City to ensure the lands within Phase 7 are appropriate for development and the subdivision can be approved for registration.