Stores planned for building

A building next to Lansdowne Place mall could be converted into retail stores under a zoning bylaw change that’s going to city council’s planning committee Monday.

The property at 770 Erskine Ave., which is owned by 1392734 Ontario Ltd., has been used for an administrative and computer services office for Kawartha Credit Union, an electrical wholesale supply business and as the Mapleridge Seniors Centre prior to its move to a new building Brealey Dr..

The company has applied to change the zoning to a retail designation from its current zoning for service industrial uses.

With 20,000 square feet of floor space, the building could potentially be used for two largeformat retail spaces with 7,500 square feet (each plus a third unit with 5,000 square feet of floor space.

To allow for that smaller unit, council would need to make an exception to its zoning bylaw that’s for large-format retail uses.

Land use planner Caroline Kimble recommends permitting up to one retail store with a minimum floor area of 5,000 square feet.

“It’s an existing unit,” she said Friday.

The property

is at the south- east corner of Borden and Erskine avenues, across from the Minute Maid plant.

The zoning would allow a long list of retail uses such as retails stores excluding department stores and food stores, banks, convenience stores, dry cleaning businesses, a hotel, restaurants, a car wash and an automotive repair shop.

The building was built in 1971, Kimble states in a report.

“The existing site is not proposed to be redeveloped and therefore, site plan approval is not being imposed at this time,” she states. “Staff will be requesting a high standard of redevelopment at the site plan approval stage because the site is located at a high profile corner.”

The planning committee meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 500 George St. N. Follow live coverage, community chat during Monday’s city council planning

meeting starting at 6:15 p.m.