City of Burlington to Prioritize Processing of Development Application for Expanded Long-Term Care Facility

At our Burlington City Council meeting yesterday (Feb. 14), we unanimously approved a motion from myself and Ward 6 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna directing staff to prioritize the proposed development application by Better Life Retirement Residences at 4103 Palladium Way.MY TAKE:Council understands the need for more long-term care (LTC) accommodations in our community. Directing staff to prioritize this file helps protect provincial funding and get shovels in the ground. I thank Ward Councillor Angelo Bentivegna for his work on this memo motion, and our Council colleagues for unanimously approving the staff direction.

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Here is the full staff direction that was approved:

• Direct the Director of Community Planning, Regulations & Mobility and all applicable development review staff to prioritize the Better Life Retirement Residence – 4103 Palladium Way file in order to meet provincial funding deadlines and ensure viability of the project. (SD-02-23)

View the motion memo from myself and Councillor Bentivegna here:

• Motion memo: COW-02-23 Motion Memo - 4103 Palladium Way

BACKGROUND:Better Life Development submitted a combined Official Plan amendment (OPA) and Zoning By-law amendment (ZBA) application for the lands at 4103 Palladium Way. The project consists of a 5 storey, 256 bed Long Term Care (LTC) facility, and a 6 storey, 115 unit retirement home. The LTC facility will include the relocation of 93 beds from Maple Villa LTC facility, ensuring that Burlington is working to meet the growing demands of more LTC beds for the community.Better Life Development received funding for the LTC facility from the Ministry of Long Term Care. The Ministry announced in November 2022 that the construction subsidy financing for LTCs will be increasing for projects that commence construction by August 31, 2023.Following this announcement, Better Life Development staff connected with City of Burlington staff to discuss the project and figure out next steps. A pre-consultation application for Site Plan Approval was submitted December 2, 2022, and the Site Plan application was submitted December 23, 2022.The OPA, ZBA and Site Plan applications are concurrently under review by staff. Approval of the OPA and rezoning applications is required prior to site plan approval for Better Life Development to meet the Ministry’s deadline and receive the additional funding, which is vital to this project moving forward. Approval of the OPA and rezoning applications would allow for the developer to submit a building permit application, with issuance targeted for late May.