Zoning By-Law amendment provisionally adopted for 265 Maidstone Ave. E

by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative

Essex Council provisionally amended the Comprehensive Zoning By-Law for the Town of Essex, which will change the zoning designation for the 3.29-acre property at 265 Maidstone Avenue East in Essex Centre from Development Reserve District 1.1 (DR1.1) to Residential District 1.1 (R1.1).

  The property owners were also provisionally granted relief from Subsection 14.1 b) x. and Subsection 10.3 e) v. of the Zoning By-Law, as requested. This will permit a detached garage that is 232-square-meters in Gross Floor Area, with a building height of 5.8-meters. Permission to move ahead was needed as the Town’s Zoning By-law prescribes a maximum size of 70-sqaure-meters and a maximum building height of four-meters for an accessory structure in a R1.1 Zoning District.

  These decisions were made at a special statutory Council meeting on July 7. The matter will return before Council at the July 21 regular meeting to potentially pass the by-law and request for relief from the Zoning By-Law to permit the detached garage.

  Members of Essex Council learned the property is designated residential in Essex’s Official Plan and zoned Development Reserve District 1.1 under the Town’s Zoning By-Law.

  It currently contains a single-unit dwelling and accessory structures. It does not contain any natural heritage features or items identified under the Ontario Heritage Act, is not located in a floodplain or within the Essex Region Conservation Authority’s limit of regulated area.

  Ian Rawlings, Junior Planner for the Town of Essex, explained the purpose of the statutory public meeting was to present the application, gather comments and answer questions from Council and the public, and hear the merits of concerns for the application.

  The site was granted severance approval previously, allowing the creation of three lots. As a condition of severance, the applicant was required to amend the zoning designation from Development Reserve District 1.1 to Residential District 1.1, Rawlings explained.

  The Development Reserve District 1.1 only permits lawfully existing ag operations and dwellings, and that the lot area and width remain as existing. This would support the severance application and permit the construction of low-density residential development on the lands, which reflects neighbouring residential uses, Rawlings added.

  Rawlings said the applicant explored medium and high-density residential, however, due to servicing constraints, low-density residential development was recommended for the site. This would allow a single-detached dwelling unit, two-unit home, two-unit and detached, and three-unit home, or semi-detached home. The lots could have up to three units per lot meeting Zoning regulations.

  The proposed changes were circulated to all property owners within 120-meters, and no comments were received as of June 26. In addition, there were no objections from Essex’s Infrastructure Services Department and the Essex Region Conservation Authority. In addition, no comments were received from the Town’s Building Services Department or the County of Essex.

  Staff recommended Council provisionally adopt the By-law for two readings, with a final reading at the July 21 Council meeting.

  Council could adopt, provisionally adopt, deny, or defer the decision to the July 21 meeting.

  In answering Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley’s question on if an Additional Dwelling Unit could one day be permitted in the backyard, Rawlings noted it was possible keeping in line with requirements.

  In answering Councillor Katie McGuire-Blais’s question on if the accessory building could one day be used as a shop for a business, Rawlings noted it would not be permitted.