The City of Pickering has announced that it plans to carry out an Official Planning Act (OPA) amendment that will seek to change the designation from low density to medium density – from the current 30 dwellings per net hectare to up to 80 dwellings per net hectare.
This is being done to accommodate a proposed development along Liverpool Road.
“The proposed Official Plan Amendment seeks to re-designate the lands from ‘Urban Residential Areas Low Density Areas’ to ‘Urban Residential Areas – Medium Density Areas’. The maximum permitted density within the Low Density designation is 30 dwelling units per net hectare, whereas the applicant proposes to increase the density to 54 dwelling units per net hectare,” said a city announcement.
It said Plaza 6 Inc. is proposing a residential common elements condominium development consisting of 21 townhouse units.
Two townhouse blocks are proposed to front onto Liverpool Road, while two blocks are proposed to front onto an internal private road. Each unit is proposed to have two parking spaces, in addition to six visitor parking spaces.
Pickering GO Station
The city said Durham Region Transit (DRT) operates four transit routes in the study area. The Pickering GO Station is located on Bayly Street just east of Liverpool Road. The study area is also within an Urban On-Demand Area, which provides an on-demand shared ride service to transit stops within the area.
Brian Moss & Associates Ltd. has been retained by Plaza 6 Inc. to prepare planning applications and obtain the municipal approvals required to implement a proposed medium density development on the lands known as 666 Liverpool Road (including 666, 668, 672, 678 and 682 Liverpool Road) in Pickering.
The subject site is located west of Liverpool Road, north of Annland Street, and south of Commerce Street and east of Pleasant Street. Frenchman’s Bay is located west and south of the subject site, however it does not abut the property.
The Site
The subject site is located on Liverpool Road and is in the Bay Ridges neighbourhood of Pickering; being the community south of Bayly Street, east of Frenchman’s Bay and west of Sandy Beach Road (and associated employment areas to the east) and Lake Ontario. The site area is 0.39 hectares (0.97 acres).
The site is in the southwest portion of the Bay Ridges neighbourhood. Immediately surrounding the subject site on the north, south and west are predominantly one and two-storey single detached houses built from the 1930’s (or earlier) through to new infill development of low and medium density housing forms, most with two to three storey structures. There has been moderate reinvestment in the community.
Most of the community was built in the 1960’s and early 1970’s as one of the first communities in urban Pickering. The development pattern is fashioned from prevailing subdivision patterns of the period.
The Neighbourhood
Four single-detached houses (667, 675, 685 and 689 Liverpool Road) on the east side of Liverpool Road face the subject site. Three houses have one storey and the fourth has two storeys.
Copperworks, a small-scale manufacturer and installer of housing products, siding, eavestroughs, soffit and facia – is located on the southeast corner of Commerce Street and Liverpool Road.
Frenchman’s Bay Ratepayers Memorial Park is located on the north side of Commerce Street, east of Liverpool Road. The park includes nautical-themed playground equipment for children ages 5-10 years old. There is also a basket ball court west of the playground and three benches throughout the park. The balance of the park is open space with a trail system within it.
A recent development by the Madison Group (on Gull Crossing) was redeveloped into medium density housing forms from a surplus school site (just north of Commerce Street).