Burlington Staff to Recommend Continue Processing Development Application at 1120 Cooke Blvd.

A statutory public meeting for development applications to amend the Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw for 1120 Cooke Blvd. is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14 at 6:30 p.m., during the hybrid, special Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility (CPRM) Committee meeting.Staff will be recommending that the City continues to process these applications, including evaluating and incorporating any and all comments received by Committee and the public at the Statutory Public Meeting, as well as the comments received through the ongoing technical review of this application by agency partners and internal departments.There is no staff recommendation at this time and no decision whether to approve or refuse the application by Council members has been made at this time. This statutory public meeting is to inform committee and the public about this application, the details of the proposed development and hear some preliminary feedback from the community, stakeholders and Council. A staff recommendation on this application will come at a later time.For some background on the application and how to delegate at the June 14 statutory public meeting, please see below.BACKGROUND ON PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS FOR 1120 COOKE BLVD:The applicant WND Associates Ltd., on behalf of owner Adi Development Group, is proposing a mixed-use development at 1120 Cooke Blvd., consisting of residential and retail uses within three tall buildings of 26-, 36-, and 36-storeys.Description of Subject Property and Surrounding Land UsesThe subject property is located on the north side of Masonry Court between Waterdown Road and Cooke Blvd, as shown in Appendix A of this report. The property has an area of 0.95 hectares, with approximately 100 metres of frontage on Waterdown Road, 91 metres of frontage on Masonry Court, and 90 metres of frontage on Cooke Blvd.Due to a grade change, the subject property is located at a lower elevation than the traveled portion of Waterdown Road (approximately 5 metres lower at the northwest corner of the site). The site is currently occupied by a temporary sales centre for the adjacent development to the east (Phase 1 of “Stationwest” development) and is otherwise vacant (the proposed development on the subject property is Phase 2 of the Stationwest development). Historic use of the property included a concrete brick manufacturing facility prior to 2011.Surrounding uses are as follows:

• North: A floodplain storage area is located to the immediate north; this feature is within the regulated area of Conservation Halton. Immediately east of the floodplain storage area, at the northern terminus of Cooke Blvd, is an undeveloped park block.
  • Further north, beyond the stormwater management infrastructure, is a CNR railway corridor.
  • Highway 403 and the Waterdown Road-Highway 403 interchange are located north of the rail corridor.
• East: to the east, across Cooke Blvd, is Phase 1 of the Stationwest development, comprising two 6-storey mid-rise residential apartment buildings with frontage on Masonry Court and low-rise townhouse buildings on condominium streets north of the mid-rise buildings.
  • At the southeast corner of Masonry Court and Clearview Ave is a church property that has zoning approval for a seven-storey mid-rise apartment building.
  • A low-rise, low-density, detached residential neighbourhood is located south of Masonry Court, to the south and east of the Stationwest development. The Aldershot GO Station is located 300 metres to the east of the subject property along Masonry Court. This train station is served by GO Transit’s Lakeshore West line and by VIA Rail. Additionally, this GO station includes a bus loop on the north side of the train tracks that is served by Burlington Transit Routes 4 & 87 and Hamilton Street Railway bus route 18, which provides connections to the Waterdown community in the City of Hamilton.
• South: to the south, across Masonry Court, are employment uses in the form of multiple one-storey manufacturing buildings with office components. Further south, on the east side of Waterdown Road are existing low-rise, lowdensity detached dwellings.
  • At the intersection of Waterdown Road and Masonry Court are bus stops served by Burlington Transit route 4.
  • 340 metres to the south on Plains Road there are bus stops served by Burlington Transit route 1, which provides connections to downtown Hamilton.
• West: to the west, across Waterdown Road, are industrial uses including a concrete and aggregate facility. Burlington Fire Station 3 is located on the west side of Waterdown Road, south of the industrial uses.

The subject property is located within the “Aldershot Corners” Major Transit Station Area (MTSA), as defined by Halton Region’s Official Plan, which is currently the subject on an ongoing Area-Specific Planning study by the City of Burlington.Description of ApplicationsThe applications propose to amend the Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw to permit the development of three tall buildings with at-grade retail within Building B at the corner of Masonry Court and Cooke Blvd.The northwest building is 36 storeys tall including a four-storey podium. The southeast building is 26 storeys tall. The southwest building is 36 storeys tall. The southeast and southwest buildings share a three-storey podium. Five levels of underground parking are proposed to be shared by all three buildings.The proposed buildings would contain a total of 1,139 residential units and 231 m2 of ground-level retail at the corner of Masonry Court and Cooke Boulevard.The applications propose to develop the site in three phases, beginning with the southeast building, then southwest, then northwest.Click here for the full staff report being presented at the statutory public meeting. For additional documents or to register for email updates on this application, please visit burlington.ca/1120cooke

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HOW TO DELEGATEThe public can submit written input for committee and council’s consideration, or register to provide verbal input at Committee or Council, either in person or virtually by emailing clerks@burlington.ca, calling 905-335-7600, ext. 7481 or online here: Delegation Registration.

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PUBLIC PLANNING PROCESS STEPSWe want to reassure the public that any decisions made by council on any development occurs within a public process that keeps you informed and involved every step of the way, with multiple opportunities to shape the final project. You will also know how your elected representatives voted on each project, and their rationale.Council members typically do not take a position on a development matter until receiving the staff recommendation report. This protects the fairness of the process for all parties, to ensure all information is received and considered before a position is taken.

1. The process starts with a pre-application community meeting to receive public input. A dedicated webpage is created on the city website with information related to the community meeting and the initial proposal. The status of the project is listed as: “Pre-application: Complete application not yet received”
2. Then a formal development application for an Official Plan or Zoning Bylaw Amendment is made to the city.
3. Once the application has been deemed “complete” by staff, including receipt of all the necessary supporting documents, the dedicated webpage is updated with all relevant reports and public notices. The status of the project is listed as “Amendment Application – Under Review.”
4. The city must process all applications it receives and must do so within 120 days or risk an appeal to the Ontario Lands Tribunal for “non-decision”. This would take decision-making out of the hands of staff, the community and council, so we endeavour to complete our work within this legislated time frame.
5. Information about the proposal is also presented to City Council at the Community Planning Regulation and Mobility Committee. Residents can delegate to speak to share their input, or simply attend and listen to the presentation and discussion. No decisions are made at this meeting. It is to inform Council and residents and receive input to shape the proposal.
6. Staff review the application and continue to receive public input, and further input from the applicant. That input shapes the future recommendation from staff.
7. Staff make a recommendation to Council to approve, reject or modify the proposal. This is also done at a subsequent meeting. Residents can delegate to speak to share their input, or simply attend and listen to the presentation and discussion. This is a decision-making meeting.
8. Council, at the Community Planning Regulation and Mobility Committee, votes to accept the staff recommendation, reject it, or modify it. This recommendation then goes to a subsequent Council meeting for a final decision. Residents can also attend this meeting and speak. All votes are recorded, so you will know how your representative voted on an application.
9. After Council makes a decision, either an applicant or residents who are not happy with the decision can appeal to the Ontario Lands Tribunal. A hearing would be set, evidence presented, and the OLT ultimately decides. They have the authority to make a different decision than the one council has made.

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WHY DOES THE CITY HAVE TO CONSIDER ALL NEW DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS THAT ARE SUBMITTED? When the City of Burlington receives an application for a new development, we are legally bound to process any development applications and provide the developer with a decision on the application within 120 days of the application being deemed complete.All of these applications are assigned a planner who reviews the documents and feedback from residents and presents a recommendation to committee and Council on how the application should proceed — that recommendation can either be denying the application, approving it, or approving it with certain conditions.Should the City fail to provide a decision to the developer within the 120 day time frame, the developer has the right to approach the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), previously known as the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal (LPAT), to request them to make a decision on whether or not they are allowed to proceed with their plans.On June 1, 2021, the LPAT was amalgamated into the OLT — an independent tribunal whose members are appointed by the cabinet of Ontario to hear cases in relation to a range of municipal planning, financial and land matters. These include matters such as official plans, zoning bylaws, subdivision plans, consents and minor variances, and other issues assigned by numerous Ontario statutes.When this happens, it will not only cost the City money by means of legal fees and representation at the OLT, but it also takes the decision-making process away from the City and City Council – in other words, projects that are not acceptable to our residents and City planning officials could go ahead and our residents would be very limited in their ability to provide input on how their neighborhoods are structured.It is the City’s obligation to its residents to ensure we are able to provide them with opportunity to be a part of the planning process for the neighborhoods. Planning affects all of us as it determines where we live, work, play and raise a family, and that is why the City encourages residents to get involved in this process.If a member of the public believes that a planning decision should be re-examined, they can appeal the decision to the OLT. The OLT has the authority to refer a decision back to Council for reconsideration. If a subsequent appeal of the second Council decision is made, then the OLT has the authority to approve, change or refuse the application and override the decision made by the municipal Council.The Mayor doesn’t provide a position on a development application until staff review and share their expertise and a recommendation in order to protect the process and residents.To learn more about the Planning Process, please visit the dedicated Burlington Planning Process page on the City’s website.