In addition to the above permitted uses, ancillary uses are permitted in the Residential Land Use designation. Neighbourhood Commercial uses (subject to the provisions of section 6.3.2.9) are listed among the permitted ancillary uses in the Residential Land Use designation.

Section 6.3.2.8 of the OP Vol. 1 provides the following as a definition for Neighbourhood Commercial: “Neighbourhood Commercial uses include commercial uses which are intended to primarily serve the day to day needs of residents within the immediate neighbourhood or neighbourhoods”.

There are no specific locational criteria in the OP for neighbourhood commercial uses, which means Council has the ability to identify and determine location(s) deemed appropriate for such uses, based on Administrative input and neighbourhood response to such proposals.

Section 6.3.2.9 of the OP Vol. 1 provides the Neighbourhood Commercial Evaluation Criteria shown below:

“At the time of submission, the proponent shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Municipality that a proposed Neighbourhood Commercial development within a designated Residential area is:

(a) feasible having regard to the other provisions of this Plan, provincial legislation, policies and appropriate guidelines and support studies for uses:

1. within or adjacent to any area identified on Schedule C: Development Constraint Areas and described in the Environment chapter of this Plan;

2. adjacent to sources of nuisance, such as noise, odour, vibration and dust;

3. within a site of potential or known contamination;

4. where traffic generation and distribution is a provincial or municipal concern;

5. adjacent to heritage resources; and vi) where market impact is identified as a municipal concern;

(b) in keeping with the goals, objectives and policies of any secondary plan or guideline plan affecting the surrounding area;

(c) compatible with the surrounding area in terms of scale, massing, height, siting, orientation, setbacks, parking and landscaped areas;

(d) capable of being provided with full municipal physical services and emergency services; and

(e) provided with adequate off-street parking.” 

The applicant’s concept plan shows 43 motor vehicle parking spaces are proposed for the proposed commercial development (retail building) on the subject site. As stated under the ZONING section of this report, only 21 parking spaces would be required for the retail development. It would appear the proposed development does not take into account the residential nature of the surrounding area, north, south and west of the subject lands.

There are significant landscaped open spaces on the residential lands in the subject area, which adds to the quality of life of the residents. The concept plan shows that the proposed development will not have landscaped open space reflective of the residential neighbourhood it is intended to serve.

In my opinion, this amendment does not meet the evaluation criteria set out under 6.3.2.9(c) of the OP with respect to compatibility with the surrounding residential area in terms of parking and landscaped open space.

According to the applicant’s Supplementary Memo of July 3, 2020, the reason for the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment at this time is that “the applicant has had expressed interest from small scale commercial tenants interested in moving into the neighbourhood but into smaller units and sites than the existing plazas in the area.”