REPORT
REPORT TO: Mayor and Members of Council
REPORT FROM: Romaine Scott, Legal Coordinator
DATE: August 13, 2009
REPORT NO.: PDS-2009-0090
RE: Limiting Distance Agreement under the Building Code
254 and 256 Main Street North, Acton
File No. L04 LI
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT Report PDS-2009-0090 dated August 13, 2009, regarding a Limiting Distance
Agreement in accordance with the Building Code Act, between the abutting property
owners at 254 and 256 Main Street North, Acton and the Town, be received;
AND FURTHER THAT the Town be authorized to enter into a Limiting Distance
Agreement and the appropriate by-law be enacted to authorize the Mayor and Clerk to
execute the said Agreement with R&M Properties Inc. (owner of 254 Main Street North)
and Royal City Realty (Halton) Limited (owner of 256 Main Street North).
BACKGROUND:
The Ontario Building Code Act, Regulations 350/06 (the “Building Code”) regulates the
construction (material and fire resistance rating) of the exterior walls of buildings
(exposing building face) as well as the size of unprotected openings such as windows,
doors, and any part of an exterior wall having fire resistance rating less than required in
relation to the distance from the actual property line. A limiting distance, being the
distance from an exposing building face to a property line, is required to reduce the risk
of fire spreading from a building situated on one property to a building located on an
adjacent property. The Building Code permits municipalities to enter into an agreement
with a property owner and an adjacent property owner to establish a point beyond the
common property line from which the location of the building can be measured. The
effect of such an agreement is that one property owner is allowed to construct the
building closer to his actual property line than is normally permitted by the Building Code
while the adjoining owner is obliged to measure his own building location from a new
imaginary property line, inside his property.
R&M Properties Inc. being the owner of the property at 254 Main Street North, Acton
(the “Owner”), proposes to construct a building located 6 metres from the property line
between his property and the adjacent property at 256 Main Street North, Acton owned
by Royal City Realty (Halton) Limited (the “Adjacent Owner”). The properties are
situated in the industrial area in the north-west quadrant of the community of Acton as
shown as Appendix “1” attached to this report.
The requirement under the Building Code for the proposed building is a limiting distance
of 11.2 metres (37 ft) or 74% of the exterior wall facing this property line has to be fire
rated. Due to technical difficulties related to the type of the proposed building, the
Owner has chosen not to construct fire rated exterior walls. Therefore, in order to
comply with the requirements of the Building Code, the Adjacent Owner has agreed to
allow the Owner to establish the required limiting distance by measuring a distance of
5.2 metres beyond the actual property line. The results of the proposed agreement
would be that the Owner is permitted to construct the proposed building no closer than 6
metres from the actual property line and no future building constructed on the adjacent
property is permitted closer than 5.2 metres (17 ft) from the actual property line.
The current zoning on 256 Main Street according to Zoning Bylaw 1358 is (H)M1-S. A
site specific amendment relating to the property requires a 6 metre (20 ft) side yard.
Under the terms of the proposed agreement, a portion of this yard 5.2 metres (17 ft)
area will serve as the separation area for the Building Code requirement. Based on the
terms of the agreement, the Owner and subsequent owners of 256 Main Street will not
be able to apply for minor variance to the zoning bylaw to reduce the yard requirement
to less than 5.2 metres (17 ft) in light of the Building Code requirement. It is Town staff’s
understanding that the Adjacent Owner has agreed to use his property for the set back
proposed on the basis that this area of the property would be used for access purposes
and no building is intended for construction in that area.
COMMENTS:
The Chief Building Official has reviewed the submitted plans with the applicant and his
designers and has advised them of all the relevant Building Code requirements. The
Chief Building Official has further confirmed that registration of the Limiting Distance
Agreement would satisfy the fire safety requirements of the Building Code.
The Limiting Distance Agreement will be registered against the title of both the owner’s
property and the adjoining property and will be binding upon all subsequent owners of
the two properties.
Under the terms of the Agreement, the Town will be fully indemnified against any
actions or damages that may result from this Agreement.
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RELATIONSHIP TO STRATEGIC PLAN:
This Report has no relationship to the Town’s strategic plan.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact with respect to this Report.
COMMUNICATIONS IMPACT:
There is no communication impact with respect to this Report.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
There is no environmental impact with respect to this Report.
CONSULTATION:
The Infrastructure Services Department and more particularly the Chief Building Officer
was consulted regarding the preparation of this Report.
CONCLUSION:
The purpose of this Report is to recommend to Council that the necessary by-law be
enacted to authorize the entering into and execution of the Limiting Distance Agreement
herein and any subsequent agreement that is to the satisfaction of the Chief Building
Official.
Romaine Scott
Legal Coordinator
Bruce MacLean, BA, MCIP, RPP Dennis Y. Perlin
Director of Planning, Development Chief Administrative Officer
and Sustainability
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APPENDIX “1” to Report No. PDS-2009-0090
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