Report to/Rapport au :

 

 

Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

Comitι d'agriculture et des affaires rurales

 

and Council / et Conseil

 

11 April 2012 / le 11 avril 2012

 

Submitted by/Soumis par: Nancy Schepers, City Manager/Directrice municipal-adjointe, Planning and Infrastructure / Urbanisme et Infrastructure

 

Contact Person/Personne-ressource : Richard Kilstrom, Manager/Gestionnaire, Policy Development and Urban Design/Ιlaboration de la politique et conception urbaine, Planning and Growth Management/Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance Ιlaboration de la politique et conception urbaine

(613) 580-2424 x22653, Richard.Kilstrom@ottawa.ca

 

West Carleton-March (5) Cumberland (19) Osgoode (20) Rideau-Gouldbourn (21)

Ref N°: ACS2012-PAI-PGM-0028

 

 

SUBJECT:

OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENT – SECTION 3.7.1.13 - POLICIES FOR DRIVE-THROUGH FACILITIES IN VILLAGE CORE AREAS

 

 

OBJET :

modification au PLAN OFFICIEL – article 3.7.1.13 – politiques concernant les installations de service au volant dans les secteurs centraux des villages

 

 

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee recommend Council approve and adopt Official Plan Amendment No. XX as detailed in Document 3.

 

 

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

Que le Comitι de l’agriculture et des affaires rurales recommande au Conseil d’approuver et d’adopter la modification no XX au Plan officiel, comme il est dιcrit en dιtail dans le document 3.

 

 

BACKGROUND

A drive-through facility, a defined land use in Zoning By-law 2008-250, is a premises used to provide or dispense products or services through an attendant, window or automated machine to persons remaining in vehicles that are in a designated queuing space.  The Zoning By-law regulates where a drive-through facility may be permitted in the city in accordance with policies in the Official Plan.

 

This report proposes amendments to Section 3.7.1.13, policies regarding drive-through facilities in the Village designation. (See Document 1 – Location Map – Lands in the Village designation.)  Current policies in Section 3.7.1.13 do not generally permit drive-through facilities in Village Core areas. These policies will remain in effect.  However, Section 3.7.1.13 directs that a study be done to develop new policies regarding drive-through facilities in the Village Core context,

 

“13.     Consistent with the village and rural character, drive-through facilities shall not generally be permitted in the commercial core area of Villages or along Village mainstreets.

 

Council shall commission a study of the Village core area and Village mainstreets in order to determine where, in extraordinary situations, drive-through facilities may be permitted by site-specific amendments to the zoning by-law. This study shall consider:

 

a.         Reinforcement of the historical character of Villages;

b.         Encouraging pedestrian friendly streetscapes;

c.         Promoting development of a size and scale compatible with other development in the area;

d.         The geographic extent to which each Village requires any special policy on drive-through facilities; and,

e.         Applicable objectives within Section 2.5.1 and policies within 4.11

 

The principles resulting from this study shall be adopted as an official plan amendment. If Council has not adopted an official plan amendment implementing the above study within three years of this policy coming into force, drive-through facilities will be permitted within the Village core areas and along Village mainstreets.

 

Pending the study outlined above and prior to the expiration of the three-year period, the provisions of this Plan in respect of drive-through facilities, regarding Traditional Mainstreets, shall apply with the necessary modifications in respect of the Village commercial cores and Village Mainstreets. [Amendment #84, April 16, 2010][Amendment #76, August 04, 2010]”

 

The new policies will be used as a guide to evaluate where, in exceptional circumstances, a drive–through facility may be permitted in a Village Core through a site-specific Zoning By-law amendment.

 

Purpose of the proposed amendment

 

The purpose of the proposed amendment is to fulfill the requirement in policy 3.7.1.13 to replace the current policies in that section with new policies based on the findings of the study. (See Document 2 – Study - Drive-through facilities in the Village Core context and Document 3 – Proposed Official Plan Amendment.)

Requested Official Plan Amendment

 

The proposed amendment will provide new policies regarding landscape buffers, pedestrian amenities, heritage-related issues and compatibility in the Village Core context.  These policies are intended to support the historical character and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes in Village Core areas and encourage development that is compatible with other development in Village Core areas.  The proposed policies will continue to direct that drive-through facilities in a Village Core will only be permitted through a site-specific Zoning By-law amendment in exceptional circumstances.

 

There will be no changes to the Zoning By-law to permit drive-through facilities as-of-right in Village Core areas as a result of the proposed Official Plan amendment.

 

DISCUSSION

Official Plan

 

The intent of the current framework of policies in the Official Plan is to provide a balanced approach to permissions for drive-through facilities in the city.  Drive-through facilities are permitted as-of-right in many zones, however, the policies recognize that introduction of a new drive-through facility in certain contexts will require a site-by-site review in order to ensure compatibility.  These contexts include the Traditional Mainstreet and Central Area designations and Village Core areas.

 

Currently, if an application to permit a drive-through facility in a Village Core area is received, the policies for the Traditional Mainstreet designation in the urban area regarding drive-through facilities would be used to evaluate the application, as follows,

 

3.6.3.6.           New gas bars, service stations, automobile sales and drive-through facilities will not be permitted on Traditional Mainstreets in order to protect and enhance the pedestrian environment. However, there may be exceptional circumstances where a drive-through facility may be located on a Traditional Mainstreet where the intent of this Official Plan regarding Traditional Mainstreets can otherwise be preserved. In these cases, appropriate means such as coordinated tree planting and landscaping, pedestrian amenities and the dimension, location and number of vehicular accesses will be used to minimize the interruption of the Traditional Mainstreet street frontage and ameliorate the impact on the pedestrian environment.

 

Council-approved Urban Design Guidelines

 

The Urban Design Guidelines for Drive-through Facilities, approved by City Council on May 24, 2006, recognize that drive-through facilities are a successful and popular means of providing services to the public,

 

“Drive-through facilities have proven to be very successful as they target the mobile and car-oriented market. They often operate 24 hours a day and provide convenience for the traveling public and offer a sense of security for users at night... While successful and popular, drive-through facilities present many urban design challenges...” 

 

In order to address these design challenges, detailed guidance is provided in the guidelines regarding the enhancement of the pedestrian environment along the public street, the use of landscaped areas to enhance the site and the design of the building and queuing lanes.

 

Study Process

 

Site visits of Village Core areas were undertaken in the fall and winter of 2010.  Consideration was given to the pedestrian character of Village Core areas, the promotion of compatible development and the particular context in each Village Core.  In order to gain insight into the character and typical forms of development in Village Core areas, the following factors were studied:  the location of the Core area within the Villages; size of Core area; range of lot sizes within the Core area; range and intensity of commercial and other uses in Core area; cultural heritage significance of buildings; architectural character of buildings; presence of landmarks; typical setbacks from lot lines; and, streetscape profile.

 

The Drive-through Facilities study process was introduced to rural Community Associations and Councillors as part of the Rural Review initiative through four ward-based meetings held in February and March of 2011.  Presentation boards and paper copies of materials, including draft policies and a questionnaire, were available at fourteen public meetings held in March and April of 2011 regarding the review of Village Plans, a component of the Rural Review initiative.  The draft policies were provided to generate discussion with interested stakeholders.  Information regarding the Drive-through Facilities study was available on ottawa.ca on the Rural Review web-pages throughout the duration of the study and Official Plan amendment process.  All material was provided in French and English with the exception of the draft study, which was available in French upon request.

 

Staff visited the Core areas of each of the villages again throughout 2011.  The draft policies were once again circulated to rural Community Associations in the winter of 2011 as part of the public consultation process for the Official Plan amendment.

 

Study findings and rationale for proposed policies

 

In keeping with the direction given in policy 3.7.1.13, consideration was given to the following issues. The rationale for the proposed policies associated with each of these issues is described below.

  1. Reinforcement of the historical character of the Village – The cultural heritage significance of the buildings in Core areas and the presence of landmarks in Core areas were observed.  Findings of the study regarding heritage resources indicate almost all of the Villages contain buildings of some heritage interest, however, the age of the buildings, number of buildings and significance of these buildings varies widely.  As a result, flexible policies are needed that address aspects of the design of drive-through facilities within a heritage context, including the location of queuing lanes and the compatible siting and design of the building. 

 

  1. Encouraging pedestrian friendly streetscapes – The architectural character of Core areas, typical setbacks from lot lines and streetscape profile were evaluated.  Findings of the study indicate that architectural character and streetscape profiles vary widely between and within Villages.  Setbacks from front lot lines also varied, however shallow setbacks were common. In order to encourage pedestrian friendly streetscapes, policies are needed that address provision of pedestrian amenities.  In addition, policies are needed to address the need for visual buffers between queuing lanes and public rights-of-way as these buffers will contribute to mitigating the impact of the drive-through facility on the pedestrian environment.

 

  1. The promotion of development that is compatible in size and scale with other development in the area – The size of the Core area, location of the Core area, range of lot sizes and range and intensity of commercial and other uses were studied in order to understand the size and scale of development in Core areas.  Findings of the study with regard to location of Core areas within Villages indicate that these areas are usually located at the intersection of two main roads with larger Core areas expanding along one or both of these roads.  In addition, Core areas are typically surrounded with low density residential uses.  While major roads are the preferred location for drive-through facilities, to ensure compatibility, policies are needed to address the need for visual buffers, such as soft landscaped areas, between the drive-through facility and adjacent uses surrounding the Core area.

 

  1. The geographic extent to which each Village requires any special policy on drive-through facilities - The findings of the Study indicate that Village contexts vary widely.  The Core areas of villages vary in size, intensity of activity, range of uses, architectural character and cultural heritage significance.  In addition, even within a particular village, different locations in the Village Core will vary from other locations in terms of lot size, architectural character, streetscape profile and presence of sensitive adjacent uses.  As a result, design considerations will vary widely, and accordingly, appropriate design solutions will vary on a site-by-site basis from one location to another in the same Core area.  From an urban design perspective, the feasibility of successfully accommodating a drive-through facility in a Village Core area is location dependent and site-design dependent.  Detailed guidance regarding site design and contextual issues are provided in the Council-approved design guideline documents, Urban Design Guidelines for Drive-through Facilities and Rural Village Design Guidelines.

 

  1. Applicable objectives in Section 2.5.1 and policies within 4.11 - Reference to conformity with all other policies in the Plan is mentioned in the proposed policies.

 

Planning Policy Context and Conformity

 

The following policies are proposed to replace the current policies in Section 3.7.1.13,

 

“13. Consistent with village rural character, drive-through facilities and principal use parking lots will not generally be permitted in Village Core areas.  However, there may be exceptional circumstances where these uses may be located in a Village Core through concurrent applications for zoning by-law amendment and site plan control approval where the intent of the policies for the Village designation and all other policies in the Plan can otherwise be maintained.  Under these circumstances, surface parking and drive-through facilities will not be permitted between the building and the street.  When reviewing such applications to permit a drive-through facility or principal use parking lot, consideration must be given to the dimension, location and number of vehicular accesses, and appropriate means such as coordinated landscaping, tree planting and pedestrian amenities must be provided to minimize the interruption of the Village Core streetscape.  The location of driveways and queuing lanes will also be considered with regard to minimizing impacts on adjacent uses, and fencing and landscape buffers abutting property lines will be used to address impacts on adjacent uses. Consideration will be given to the siting and design of buildings or structures and the location of driveways and queuing lanes when a drive-through facility or principal use parking lot is proposed in a heritage context.

 

14. The design of parking areas that are accessory to a permitted use in a Village Core that are subject to site plan control approval will be reviewed according to the same design considerations as a principal use parking lot in policy 3.7.1.13.”

 

These policies address the need to support compatible development in Village Core areas, in particular when the proposed development is occurring in a heritage context.  The policies will provide a framework for evaluating applications for zoning by-law amendment and site plan control in order to determine where a drive-through facility may be permitted in exceptional circumstances.  The proposed policies are also in conformity with the direction given in the current policies in Section 3.7.1.13 in the Official Plan regarding permissions for drive-through facilities; drive-through facilities will continue to not generally be permitted in Village Core areas.

 

Summary

 

Completion of the study and the preparation of policies for drive-through facilities in the Village Core context fulfills the direction given in the current policies in Section 3.7.1.13 of the Official Plan. 

 

RURAL IMPLICATIONS

The proposed amendment will affect lands with the Village Core areas of the 26 Villages that are designated in Schedule A of the Official Plan.

 

 

CONSULTATION

Notice of this application was carried out in accordance with the City's Public Notification and Consultation Policy.  Four responses were received objecting to drive-through facilities being permitted in Village Core areas.  The proposed amendment will not result in drive-through facilities being permitted as-of-right in a Village Core area as no changes are proposed to the zoning for Village Core areas.  One comment was received regarding the wording of the proposed policies.

 

Detailed responses to comments are provided in Document 4.

 

COMMENTS BY THE WARD COUNCILLORS

The rural Ward Councillors are aware of the proposed amendments.  Councillor Blais provided the following comment, “Councillor Blais has received the Official Plan amendment proposal dealing with policies for drive-through facilities in the Village Core areas.  He is aware of the amendment and offers no further comments at this time.”  No other comments have been received.

 

 

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no direct legal implications associated with this report.

 

 

RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

There are no risk management implications associated with this report.

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no direct financial implications.

 

 

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no environment implications associated with this report

 

 

TECHNOLOGY IMPLICATIONS

There are no direct technical implications associated with this report.

 

 

ACCESSIBILITY IMPACT

Drive-through facilities provide an additional means of accessing products and services.

 

 

TERM OF COUNCIL PRIORITIES

GP2 – Apply management controls to achieve Council’s priorities

GP3 – Make sustainable choices

 

 

APPLICATION PROCESS TIMELINE STATUS

This application is a city-initiated amendment and was not processed by the "On Time Decision Date" established for the processing of Official Plan amendment applications.  A deferral was requested by the agent for the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association (ORHMA) in order to provide further time to refine the wording of the policies.

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Document 1  Location Map – Lands in the Village designation

Document 2  Study - Drive-through facilities in the Village Core context (attached separately)

Document 3  Proposed Official Plan Amendment

Document 4  Consultation Details

 

 

DISPOSITION

City Clerk and Solicitor Department, Legislative Services to notify Ghislain Lamarche, Program Manager, Assessment, Financial Services Branch (Mail Code:  26-76) of City Council’s decision.

 

Planning and Growth Management to prepare the by-law adopting the Official Plan Amendment, forward to Legal Services, and undertake the statutory notification.

 

Legal Services to forward the implementing by-law to City Council

LOCATION MAP – LANDS IN THE VILLAGE DESIGNATION                 DOCUMENT 1

 

 


 

PROPOSED OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENT                                                DOCUMENT 3

 

 

Land use

Utilisation du sol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


INDEX

 

 

The Statement of Components … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …  3

 

PART A – THE PREAMBLE

Purpose … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … . 4

Location … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …  4

Basis … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … . 4

 

PART B – THE AMENDMENT

Introductory Statement … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … .  5

Details of the Amendment … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … ….   5

 

 

 


 

 

THE STATEMENT OF COMPONENTS

 

PART A – THE PREAMBLE, introduces the actual Amendment but does not constitute part of Amendment No.  X  to the City of Ottawa Official Plan.

 

PART B – THE AMENDMENT, consisting of the following text and maps constitutes both the actual Amendment No. X to the City of Ottawa Official Plan.

 


PART A - THE PREAMBLE

 

1.0 Purpose

 

The purpose of Amendment No. X to the City of Ottawa Official Plan is to fulfill the requirement in policy 3.7.1.13 to replace the current policies in that section with new policies based on the findings of a study of drive-through facilities in the Village Core context.

 

2.0 Location

 

This report proposes amendments to Section 3.7.1.13, policies for the Village designation regarding drive-through facilities and will affect lands in Village Core areas.

 

3.0 Basis

 

Current policies in Section 3.7.1.13 do not generally permit drive-through facilities in Village Core areas. These policies will remain in effect.  However, policies for the Village designation direct that a study be done to develop further policies regarding drive-through facilities in the Village Core context.  The new policies will be used as a guide to evaluate where, in exceptional circumstances, drive–through facilities may be permitted in a Village Core through a site-specific zoning by-law amendment.

 

3.1 Background

 

While drive-through facilities are not generally permitted in Village Core areas, policy 3.7.1.13 provides for a drive-through facility to be permitted through a site-specific zoning by-law amendment in an exceptional circumstance.  The policies for the Traditional Mainstreet designation would be used to evaluate such an application, however, these policies were drafted to address the urban Traditional Mainstreet context.  The proposed amendment will provide new policies that address the Village Core context when evaluating an application to permit a new drive-through facility.

 

 

 

 

 


PART B – THE AMENDMENT

 

1.0 The Introductory Statement

 

All of this part of this document entitled Part B – The Amendment, consisting of the following text, constitutes Amendment No. X to the City of Ottawa Official Plan.

 

2.0 Details of the Amendment

 

2.1       The City of Ottawa Official Plan, Volume 1, is hereby amended as follows:

 

2.11    Section 3.7.1 - Villages is amended by deleting policy 13 and replacing it with the following text:

 

13. Consistent with village rural character, drive-through facilities and principal use parking lots will not generally be permitted in Village Core areas.  However, there may be exceptional circumstances where these uses may be located in a Village Core through concurrent applications for zoning by-law amendment and site plan control approval where the intent of the policies for the Village designation and all other policies in the Plan can otherwise be maintained.  Under these circumstances, surface parking and drive-through facilities will not be permitted between the building and the street.  When reviewing such applications to permit a drive-through facility or principal use parking lot, consideration must be given to the dimension, location and number of vehicular accesses, and appropriate means such as coordinated landscaping, tree planting and pedestrian amenities must be provided to minimize the interruption of the Village Core streetscape.  The location of driveways and queuing lanes will also be considered with regard to minimizing impacts on adjacent uses, and fencing and landscape buffers abutting property lines will be used to address impacts on adjacent uses. Consideration will be given to the siting and design of buildings or structures and the location of driveways and queuing lanes when a drive-through facility or principal use parking lot is proposed in a heritage context. 

 

14. The design of parking areas that are accessory to a permitted use in a Village Core that are subject to site plan control approval will be reviewed according to the same design considerations as a principal use parking lot in policy 3.7.1.13.

 

 

3.0       Interpretation

Implementation and interpretation of these chapters shall be made having regard to information of all of the chapters of the Official Plan.

CONSULTATION DETAILS                                                                                DOCUMENT 4

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS

 

The consultations for the Drive-through Facility Study were carried out in conjunction with the review of the Village Plans, a component of the Rural Review initiative. The Drive-through Facility Study and the projects in the Rural Review initiative were introduced to the rural community associations at four ward-based meetings held in February and March of 2011.  Presentation boards and paper copies of materials, including draft policies and a questionnaire, were available at the fourteen public meetings held in March and April of 2011 as part of the consultations for the review of the Village Plans.  The draft policies were provided to generate discussion with interested stakeholders.  Information regarding the Drive-through Facilities Study was available on ottawa.ca on the Rural Review e-pages throughout the duration of the Study and Official Plan amendment process.  All material was provided in French and English with the exception of the draft Study, which was available in French upon request.

 

 

SUMMARY OF PUBLIC INPUT

No comments were received from the public during the statutory circulation for the Official Plan amendment.  One comment was received from the agent for the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association (ORHMA).  ORHMA requested amendments to the wording of the proposed policies. These requests were accommodated to the fullest extent possible while still maintaining the objectives of Section 3.7.1.13.

 

Four comments were received from the public during the spring 2011 consultations that objected to drive-through facilities being permitted in Village Core areas.  The proposed amendments will not result in this use being permitted as-of-right in a Village Core and there will be no changes to the Zoning By-law as a result of the proposed Official Plan policies. 

 

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION COMMENTS

None were received.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMENTS

None were received.