Newmarket grows Urban Design Imperative

NRU
Sept. 7, 2016
Andrew Cohrs

Concerned with the effectiveness of its zoning by-laws to address urban design issues, the Town of Newmarket has decided to hire a design firm to prepare and implement urban design guidelines. While this will add an additional step to the development review process and may increase fees, it will aid the municipality in creating vibrant streetscapes.

Newmarket planner Ted Horton told NRU that as growth intensifies and Newmarket continues to expand, the town needs an urban design review process.

“The secondary plan speaks to the need for high quality urban design and buildings,” Horton said. “It is our first foray into a dense urban form.”

The town wants to ensure that future development meets the objectives established in its official plan and Urban Centres Secondary Plan. In particular, staff is concerned that urban design issues will not be addressed, such as building orientation, accessibility, façades, building materials and energy efficient technology in the Davis Drive and Yonge Street corridors. Compounding that concern, the current complement of staff does not possess the training and expertise to develop urban design standards. Nor is staff equipped to review development applications from an urban design perspective.

At its meeting June 20 Newmarket Committee of the Whole approved the recommendations of the staff report to retain a design firm to both create design standards and review applications until the volume is sufficient to establish a design review panel of professionals. The options presented in the report range from maintaining the status quo, to hiring a design firm, establishing a professional or volunteer community design review panel, to hiring a full time urban designer.

Horton says the committee’s decision means a gradual transition to a professional design review panel but this does not eliminate the option of having a volunteer panel in the future.

“We looked at Mississauga and Ottawa, which had established successful professional design review panels.” He added that the choice to eventually establish a professional design review panel “does not preclude community membership. But we wanted to recognize that applicants are looking for a high quality review process and timely meetings and responses.”

While urban design standards and additional review processes have the potential to increase the cost and processing times of development applications, Horton says the town is not expecting a signifi cant impact on application fees or processing times. However, the Committee of the Whole directed staff to recoup the costs of design consultants through appropriate fees collected from applicants with an amendment to the fees and charges by-law.

Proposals from design firms will be sought in 2017.