U BRAMPTON bramptonca FlOWef City EIH Report Planning, Design and Development Committee Committee of the Council of The Corporation of the City of Brampton Date: File: Subject: Wednesday, September 04, 2013 P44-ACC PLANNING, DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE date: Se.pfetches 23, 2ol3 ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMPLIANCE PROGRAM STATUS REPORT Contact: Anthony Wong, Manager, Urban Design Services, 905-874-3444 OVERVIEW: • The purpose of this report is to present the current status of the City of Brampton's Architectural Control Compliance Program. • Council passed By-Law 177-2008 in August 2008, establishing an Architectural Control compliance role for the City and to collect an associated fee. The By- Law was further amended by By-Law 110-2010, to collect the fee on a per unit basis. • The Architectural Control Compliance Program provides the City with oversight of the Control Architects who review and approve ground-related residential dwellings within subdivisions, for conformance with approved Community Design Guidelines (CDG's) and Brampton's city-wide Development Design Guidelines. • The quality of residential development has generally improved across a variety of building types from live/work townhouses to executive housing. • In 2012, $286,500.00 in Architectural Control Compliance fees were collected. Currently the Control Architects' activities, relating to nearly 7,000 units in 87 sub-divisions, that are planned, under construction or completed are being monitored. • Staff will continue to dialogue with the development industry to refine the Program and will report back to Council on an annual basis. • With the success of the Architectural Control Compliance Program, it is the intention that an Architectural Control Review fee for individual custom homes and home additions be implemented in the future. The specific details of the fee and a custom homes and home additions Architectural Control Review Program will be subject to a separate fees report. Page| 1
Transcript
U BRAMPTONbramptonca FlOWef City
EIHReport
Planning, Design andDevelopment CommitteeCommittee of the Council of
The Corporation of the City of Brampton
Date:
File:
Subject:
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
P44-ACC
PLANNING, DESIGN &DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
date: Se.pfetches 23, 2ol3
ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMPLIANCE PROGRAM
STATUS REPORT
Contact: Anthony Wong, Manager, Urban Design Services, 905-874-3444
OVERVIEW:
• The purpose of this report is to present the current status of the City ofBrampton's Architectural Control Compliance Program.
• Council passed By-Law 177-2008 in August 2008, establishing an ArchitecturalControl compliance role for the City and to collect an associated fee. The By-Law was further amended by By-Law 110-2010, to collect the fee on a per unitbasis.
• The Architectural Control Compliance Program provides the City with oversightof the Control Architects who review and approve ground-related residentialdwellings within subdivisions, for conformance with approved CommunityDesign Guidelines (CDG's) and Brampton's city-wide Development DesignGuidelines.
• The quality of residential development has generally improved across a varietyof building types from live/work townhouses to executive housing.
• In 2012, $286,500.00 in Architectural Control Compliance fees were collected.Currently the Control Architects' activities, relating to nearly 7,000 units in 87sub-divisions, that are planned, under construction or completed are beingmonitored.
• Staff will continue to dialogue with the development industry to refine theProgram and will report back to Council on an annual basis.
• With the success of the Architectural Control Compliance Program, it is theintention that an Architectural Control Review fee for individual custom homes
and home additions be implemented in the future. The specific details of the feeand a custom homes and home additions Architectural Control Review Programwill be subject to a separate fees report.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
THAT the report from Anthony Wong, Manager, Urban Design, DevelopmentServices, to the Planning Design and Development Committee of September 23,2013, titled "Architectural Control Compliance Program - Status Report" bereceived.
THAT staff be directed to initiate a separate report to establish an architecturalcontrol review fee for custom homes and home additions.
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this report is to present an overview of the Architectural ControlCompliance Program (the Program) as implemented during 2012, including key statistics,fees collected, lessons learned and successes gained over the past year.
The City of Brampton has taken a leadership role in the province in establishing anArchitectural Control Compliance Program. The Program responds to the City's desire forconsistent and high-quality residential design and development and is aimed at increasingthe quality of the built environment to meet the expectations of its citizens.
BACKGROUND
On August 6th, 2008, City Council adopted the "Architectural Control Guidelines forGround Related residential Development" along with the Architectural Control ProtocolSummary, and passed By-Law 177-2008, allowing the City to collect a $50.00 per lot feefor Architectural Control Compliance review.
The Program provides the City with a compliance review of the work of Control Architectshired by developers to oversee and approve the work of home builders in the delivery ofground-related residential dwellings (singles, semis and street related townhouses notsubject to site plan control) within subdivisions for conformance with approved CommunityDesign Guidelines (CDG's).
Following the endorsement of the recommendation report "Architectural Control ProcessUpdate", City Council passed By-Law 110-2010 on April 14th, 2010, to allow the City tocollect Architectural Control Compliance review fees on a per unit basis.
CURRENT SITUATION
As outlined in the 2008 approved report, staff will provide annual reports on the status andprogress of the Program. This report outlines the status of the Program for 2012.
The key statistics for the Program as of December 31, 2012 are as follows:
• Currently the Program is being carried out within Eighty Seven (87) registeredplans of subdivision, and a further forty two (42) plans of subdivision that havebeen received or have been Draft Approved (refer to attached Appendix 1).
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•
Ofthe Eighty Seven (87) registered plans of subdivision, Sixty (60) plans ofsubdivision are under construction or have been completed.
Currently, nearly 7000 housing units that are subject to the Program have beenbuilt and staffare monitoring the Control Architects' review and approval activitiesrelated to these units for compliance with the Program.
Architectural Control Compliance fees totalling $286,500.00 were collected in2012, (exceeding the 2012 estimated budget of $180,000.00). However this totalincluded $19,550.00 that was received in 2011 but processed in 2012 as final unitcounts from proposed final plans of subdivision became available.
• Architectural Control Compliance fees collected in 2012 surpassed the$163,850.00 collected in 2011 by a considerable margin due primarily to changesto municipal and regional development charges.
Prior to the registration of each residential subdivision subject to the Program, City ofBrampton staff meet with the project developer, builders, designers, the appointed ControlArchitect and Landscape Architects to review the approved site specific community designguidelines and reaffirm the City's expectations for the delivery of high quality buildingarchitecture and streetscape design.
The implementation of the Program by City staff through the year continues to send astrong signal to the development industry of the City's ongoing interest in the increasedquality of residential development. As a result of the Program, the quality of the built formcomponent of development and conformity with approved guidelines generally continuesto increase. (Refer to attached Appendix 2).
City staff, in accordance with the Program, has been monitoring the work of the controlarchitects working in Brampton for compliance with the Program, and has noted that a gapexists in the quality of architectural review services being delivered.
Some control architects are not maintaining adequate communication with City Staff andare not consistently implementing architectural control review services in accordance withsite specific Community Design Guidelines and City wide architectural control guidelines.
In response, staff recommend that the City's shortlist of approved control architectsauthorized to work in Brampton be expanded in order to provide more choice to thedevelopment industry. Control architects that continue to provide architectural controlreview services contrary to site specific and City wide architectural control guidelines willbe reminded of their role and responsibilities in accordance with the Program. Continuedfailure to implement the site specific and City wide architectural control guidelines mayresult in the control architect's removal from the City's shortlist of approved controlarchitects.
Related to the Architectural Control Compliance Program, workload associated with thearchitectural control review of custom homes and home additions in Brampton isincreasingly under greater scrutiny by the public.
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In order to reflect the increased level of work engaged by City staff in the delivery ofArchitectural Control Review of custom homes and additions and recover the costsassociated with the increased workload, staff recommends that Council direct staff toinitiate an architectural control review fee for custom homes and home additions.
LESSONS LEARNED
Implementing the Program through 2012 allowed staff the opportunity to further fine tunethe process and internal work operating procedures.
City staff developed a template for Control Architects to standardize preparation of theirperiodic reporting to the City, and streamline the administration of the Program. ControlArchitects now provide annual and interim reports on their architectural control reviewactivities quarterly. (Refer to attached Appendix 2).
Staff will continue to work to increase efficiency in the administration of the Program, andimprove the quality of the information reported by the Control Architects.
Since the Program's initiation, there has been a marked improvement in build quality,variety and compliance. Staff has maintained a issues log of administrative andimplementation compliance concerns that were noted over the course of the year andduring field reviews conducted with the Control Architects. Example images ofdevelopment subject to the Program are attached. (Refer to Appendix 3).
The main issues related to the administration of the Program by Control Architects are:
• Some control architects are not initiating periodic field reviews with City staff on aregular basis. All control architects are reminded that field reviews with City Staffshould occur at least on a quarterly basis and it is the role of the control architect toinitiate and arrange the field review.
• The consistent and timely submittal of quarterly and annual subdivision status reportsis not being carried out regularly by all control architects.
The main issues related to the implementation of site specific and City wide architecturalcontrol guidelines are:
• Overuse of stucco as a main cladding material and prevalence of grey and beigestucco and brick exterior colours, particularly in upscale executive housing areas is aparticular concern. A lack of sufficient streetscape variety in built form, material andcolour variety in some subdivisions continues to be problematic.
• Exposure of concrete foundation walls in excess of that permitted by the ArchitecturalControl Guidelines, and poor workmanship in regard to masonry detailing continues tobe an area of concern. In most cases, home builders were notified by the ControlArchitects to take remedial action to bring the constructed works into conformancewith the guidelines.
• The installation of meters and servicing equipment i.e., gas and hydro meters andassociated pipes, fittings etc., by the utility companies, and air conditioning units by
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installers and home owners, areoften located on exposed building facades, contraryto the requirements of the Architectural Control Guidelines. City staffwill continue towork with the utility companies, the Control Architects and key builders to exploresolutions in this regard.
• Rain water downspouts should be more aesthetically coordinated and integrated withbuilding design while maintaining drainage functions.
• Rear elevations of houses and townhouses backing on to commercial developmentsites tend to lack sufficient roof-scape variety.
The on-going performance of Control Architects will be closely monitored by staff withrespect to their on-going qualification to work in the City of Brampton.
CORPORATE IMPLICATIONS
There are no corporate implications related to this report. No amendment to the Programis recommended at this time.
NEXT STEPS
Ongoing monitoring and periodic adjustments of standard operating procedures (SOP) byCity staff will be required as plans of sub-division and block plan areas continue to beconstructed and are built-out, and as plans of subdivision seek assumption.
Staff will continue to report the ongoing progress and status of the Program to Council ona yearly basis. Program adjustments will be subject to future reports.
CONCLUSIONS
The Program continues to be generally well received by the public and by thedevelopment industry as a necessary component to achieving the built form objectives ofthe City. The Program has resulted in increased scrutiny by Control Architects in theimplementation of community and architectural control guidelines resulting in timelyresolutions of issues found in the field.
Refinements made to the Program by Citystaff has standardized the information reportedto the City and streamlined the administration of the Program.
The Cityof Brampton has established a rigorous Community Design Guidelines process inorder to create more beautiful, liveable, sustainable communities, and will continue to takeon a leadership role in advocating for better quality residential developments.
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Respectfully submitted:
Paul SnapeDirector,Development Services
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Dan Kraszewski
Executive Director, Planning
Authoredby: Peter Gabor, Urban Designer
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El-7Appendix 1: Map of subdivisions subject to the Program
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Appendix 2: Example of Control Architect's Quarterly Status Report for subdivisionssubject to the Architectural Control Compliance Program
JOHN G. WILLIAMS LIMITED, ARCHITECT
Via EmailDate: March 31, 2013
From: David D. Stewart MCIP, RPPAvi Shwartz OAA, MRAIC
To: CITY OF BRAMPTONUrban Design &Special ProjectsCommunity Design, Parks Planning&Development
Attn: Mr. Peter Gabor
Re: Architectural Control Quarterly Status UpdateFor period of January 1, 2013 to March 31, 2013City File # C03E12.004/21 T-95028BArea 28 -Chinguacousy Farm, City of BramptonPMG Planning Consultants-Chinguacousy Farm Limited Ph. 1,2, 3OurRef. No. W-1249
Within the time period of January 1, 2013 to March 31, 2013 the following model/sitingshave beenreviewed and approved by our firm, for compliance with the Cityof Brampton's Development Guidelinesand the approved Chinguacousy Farm Urban Design Brief.
Viewmark Homes
Review for Phase 2 has not vet taken place-
Final Review and Approval of Models - Ph. 1 & 3 (VA3 Design)100% of models have been reviewed and given final architectural control approval in 2011.
Final Review and Approval of Sitings Ph. 1 (VA3 Design)
100% of sitings have been reviewed and given final architectural control approval in 2011.
Final Review and Approval of Sitings Ph. 3 (VA3 Design)N/A
Completion Update
Construction within Phase 1 of this subdivision is approximately 95 % complete (as of March 31/13).Construction within Phase 3 of this subdivision is approximately 75 % complete (as of March 31/13).
Reviewed and Certified by:
David D Stewart MCIP, RPP / Avi Shwartz OAA, MRAICJOHN G. WILLIAMS LIMITED, ARCHITECT
c.c. R. Eadie, Viewmark HomesM. Papoutsis, Viewmark Homes
