31 Huron Street Inc. v. Collingwood (Town), 2022 CanLII 30157

Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: April 13, 2022

CASE NO(S).: OLT-21-001181

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: 31 Huron Street Inc.

Subject: Application to amend Zoning By-law - Refusal or neglect to make a decision

Description: To permit the development of a six storey commercial-residential building with 130 condominium apartment units and ground floor commercial

Reference Number: D14320

Property Address: 31 Huron Street

Municipality/UT: Collingwood/Simcoe

OLT Case No.: OLT-21-001181

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-21-001181

OLT Case Name: 31 Huron Street Inc. v. Collingwood (Town)

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 41(12) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant/Appellant: 31 Huron Street Inc.

Subject: Site Plan

Description: To permit the development of a six storey commercial-residential building with 130 condominium apartment units and ground floor commercial

Reference Number: D111320

Property Address: 31 Huron Street

Municipality/UT: Collingwood/Simcoe

OLT Case No.: OLT-22-001927

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-22-001181

Heard: April 5, 2022 via video hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties	Counsel
31 Huron Street Inc.	Leo Longo
Town of Collingwood	Eric Davis

DECISION DELIVERED BY C. HARDY AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

1The matter before the Tribunal is an appeal filed by 31 Huron Street Inc. (“Applicant”) pursuant to s. 34(11) of the Planning Act (the “Act”) arising from the Town of Collingwood’s (“Town”) failure to make a decision within the statutory timeframes regarding an application to amend Zoning By-law No. 2010-040 (“ZBL”). The Applicant also filed an appeal pursuant to s. 41(12) of the Act from the Town’s failure to make a decision on the Site Plan application within the prescribed timeframe.

2The Applicant proposes to rezone the property municipally known as 31 Huron Street, Collingwood (“Subject Property”) from a Deferred Commercial (DC) Zone to a Downtown Core Commercial Zone – Exception (C1-X) with exception provisions.

3The applications will facilitate the construction of a six-storey residential-commercial mixed-use building with ground floor commercial space, 130 residential condominium apartment dwelling units located in storeys 2 through 6, 2 levels of underground parking, surface parking, bicycle spaces and landscaped areas (“Proposed Development”).

SITE CONTEXT

4The Subject Property has an area of 0.47 hectares, with approximately 73 metres frontage on Side Launch Way, 60 metres frontage on Heritage Drive and 72 metres frontage on Huron Street.

5The land to the north of the Subject Property is the site of a proposed mixed-use development (“Perfect World Site”). The Perfect World Site has received zoning by-law approval from the Town and will be 27 metres in height.

6Located to the east of the Subject Property is an existing 23 unit townhouse development, to the south is the Town of Collingwood Museum and to the west are commercial uses.

7The Town of Collingwood Official Plan (“OP”) designates the Subject Property Shipyards Special Policy Designation – Mixed Use which permits commercial and residential uses in buildings of up to six storeys, generally limited to 130 residential units and requires ground floor commercial adjacent to the Huron Street frontage.

8The ZBL current designation of the Subject Property as DC Zone is an acknowledgement that commercial development of land is being deferred until Council is satisfied with what the final zone classification of the land should be and pending the enactment of an amendment to the ZBL.

BACKGROUND

9Following 2 pre-consultation meetings on December 18, 2019 and February 5, 2020, the Applicant’s original submission on the ZBL Amendment (“ZBLA”) and Site Plan application (“SPA”) was made to the Town in July, 2020 and was deemed complete on December 17, 2020.

10With respect to the SPA, first submission review comments were received by the Applicant in the spring of 2021, including comments from a statutory public meeting which was held on May 17, 2021. A full second submission of the SPA was filed with the Town in August, 2021.

11These matters were originally set for a third case management conference (“CMC”) to be held on April 5, 2022. Shortly before the CMC, the Parties notified the Tribunal that a settlement had been reached and requested that the CMC be converted to a one-day settlement hearing in accordance with the Minutes of Settlement presented and entered as Exhibit “2”.

12The proposed ZBLA is attached as Schedule “A” to the Minutes of Settlement. The ZBLA proposes site specific amendments to change the zoning of the Subject Property from the current DC Zone to “C1-10” Zone to permit the Proposed Development and permit the following exceptions:

• A minimum of 60% of the ground floor shall consist of commercial uses which shall also be the predominant uses fronting onto Huron Street and the Town Piazza.
• The maximum gross floor area of any single retail commercial establishment shall be 465 square metres.
• The following zoning exceptions shall apply: i. Maximum number of dwelling units: 130 ii. Maximum number of storeys: 6 iii. Minimum landscape open space: 15%
• The building shall be located within the building envelope as depicted on Illustration 13 attached hereto as Schedule “B”. The maximum height of the building shall be as depicted on the aforesaid Illustration 13 (height to be measured from the Canadian Geodetic Datum elevation of 179.47 metres).
• Notwithstanding s. 4.28.7, a canopy may project in its entirety into a yard or setback along the southern and western property lines and the eastern property line immediately adjacent to the eastern end of the building.
• The minimum front yard and exterior side yard setback for an underground parking garage shall be nil and the depth below grade of its roof structure shall be nil.
• The minimum parking requirements for the residential uses shall be 1 space per unit plus an additional 0.25 spaces per unit for visitor parking.
• The minimum parking requirement for the commercial uses shall be 4 spaces per 100 square metres of GFA.
• Required visitor and commercial parking spaces may be permitted in a paid commercial parking lot.

13The Proposed Site Plans and Site Plan Agreement are attached as Schedules “B” and “C” respectively, to the Minutes of Settlement.

14The Applicant and the Town are jointly requesting that the Tribunal approve the ZBLA, Site Plan Agreement and related Site Plans and withhold its Final Order pending notification from the Parties that the Site Plan Agreement and related Site Plans are complete and in their final form and that either the Town has exempted the Appellant from the Town’s Interim Control By-law or the Interim Control By-Law ceases to be in force or effect.

15Following some discussion, the Parties agreed that final forms of the planning instruments would be completed on or before April 25, 2022. The Town noted that the Interim Control By-Law may require additional time to resolve and that this was addressed in the Minutes of Settlement.

SETTLEMENT HEARING

16Planning evidence and opinion to support the ZBLA and Site Plans was provided by Andrew Pascuzzo. Mr. Pascuzzo is a Registered Professional Planner and a full member of the Canadian Institute of Planners, the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and the Georgian Triangle Development Institute. Mr. Pascuzzo was qualified without objection by the Tribunal to provide independent expert land use planning evidence.

17The Tribunal had the benefit of Mr. Pascuzzo’s oral testimony in addition to his sworn affidavit which was presented and entered as Exhibit “3”. Mr. Pascuzzo reviewed the Minutes of Settlement, ZBLA, Site Plans and Site Plan Agreement. It is Mr. Pascuzzo’s professional opinion that together they constitute good planning and conform to all appliable planning policies.

18In considering these appeals, the Tribunal must determine whether the Proposed Development:

• Has regard for matters of provincial interest – s. 2 of the Act;
• is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 (“PPS”) pursuant to s. 3(5) of the Act;
• Conforms with A Place to Grow, Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe 2020 (“Growth Plan”);
• Conforms with the upper tier Simcoe County Official Plan (“SCOP”); and
• Conforms with the Town of Collingwood Official Plan (“OP”).

19The ZBLA, Site Plans and Site Plan Agreement have had appropriate regard to matters of Provincial interest and are consistent with the PPS. Mr. Pascuzzo noted that there are no natural hazard concerns, archeological concerns nor are there any environmental hazards on the Subject Property. The Proposed Development is within the Town’s settlement area and density is encouraged in these areas. Mr. Pascuzzo opined that the Proposed Development is a good re-use of the Subject Property as it is located close to the downtown area, is fully serviced and close to existing public transportation. Mr. Pascuzzo is of the opinion that this represents appropriate infill and intensification in a settlement area.

20The ZBLA, Site Plans and Site Plan Agreement conform to the Growth Plan and the SCOP. The Proposed Development is located within a settlement area on what is currently vacant land with existing access to local roads and sidewalks. The Proposed Development directs growth and intensification within a settlement area. Mr. Pascuzzo opined that the Proposed Development is appropriate infill on underutilized lands which can be serviced with municipal infrastructure.

21The ZBLA, Site Plans and Site Plan Agreement conform to the OP. Mr. Pascuzzo noted that the Proposed Development conforms to the Mixed Use designation of the Shipyards – Special Policy Area which permits a 6-storey building, 130 residential units and retail commercial establishments that are less than 465 square metres. Mr. Pascuzzo testified that the Proposed Development has been designed in accordance with The Shipyards – Special Policy Area Architectural Design Guidelines and in his opinion it represents good planning.

22The Tribunal received written statements from Participants who held concerns related to height, traffic and design guidelines. Mr. Pascuzzo addressed these concerns in his testimony. The Proposed Development will be a maximum of 26 metres which he noted is consistent with new builds in the area. He also noted that the Perfect World Site to the north has been approved by the Town and will be 27 metres in height. With respect to traffic, Mr. Pascuzzo testified that both Town staff and a traffic engineer have reviewed the proposed entrances and the Proposed Development and neither have any concerns. Mr. Pascuzzo provided the Tribunal with a background on the process that the Proposed Development has undergone to date. The Site Plan has undergone various revisions to address staff and third party comments and the version before the Tribunal meets the Town’s Urban Design Guidelines.

23It is Mr. Pascuzzo’s opinion that the ZBLA, Site Plans and Site Plan Agreement that will facilitate the construction of the Proposed Development are consistent with the land use planning framework established in the PPS, conform with the Growth Plan, SCOP and OP.

FINDINGS AND DISPOSITION

24The Tribunal accepts the uncontroverted planning evidence and opinions of Mr. Pascuzzo in whole in the disposition of the appeals.

25The ZBLA, Site Plans and Site Plan Agreement are consistent with the policy direction of the PPS and conform to the directives of the Growth Plan and the policy intents of the SCOP and OP. They have appropriate regard for matters of Provincial interest and represent good planning that is in the public interest.

26The Tribunal notes that the draft order set out an arrangement that has been made with respect to costs in relation to this matter. This represents a private agreement between the Parties and, as such, will not form part of the Tribunal’s order.

ORDER

27THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS as follows:

• that the Appellant’s appeal pursuant to s. 34(11) is allowed in part and the Zoning By-law Amendment entered as Schedule A to Exhibit 2 is approved in principle subject to a final version being submitted to the Tribunal on or before April 25, 2022.
• that the Appellant’s appeal pursuant to s. 41(12) is allowed in part and the site plans entered as schedule B to exhibit 2 are approved in principle, subject to execution of the site plan agreement entered as schedule C to exhibit 2.

28The final Orders will be withheld pending confirmation from the Parties on or before April 25, 2022 that the site plan agreement and related site plans are complete and in their final form.

29The final Orders will be withheld pending confirmation from the Parties that either the Town has exempt the Appellant from the Town’s Interim Control By-law or the Interim Control By-Law is no longer in force or effect.

30The Member will remain seized and may be spoken to concerning matters relating to this Order and the issuance of the Final Order.

“C. Hardy”

C. HARDY MEMBER

Ontario Land Tribunal Website: olt.gov.on.ca Telephone: 416-212-6349 Toll Free: 1-866-448-2248

The Conservation Review Board, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Mining and Lands Tribunal are amalgamated and continued as the Ontario Land Tribunal (“Tribunal”). Any reference to the preceding tribunals or the former Ontario Municipal Board is deemed to be a reference to the Tribunal.