Council Endorses Proposed Plans for Future Development at Burlington, Aldershot & Appleby GO Station Major Transit Station Areas

Jan 20

Written By

The draft plans for residential, commercial and community uses at the city's three GO Stations have now been released. Summaries of each of the plans are below, with links to the relevant documents.The draft plans were presented at the Community Planning Regulation & Mobility Committee meeting of Jan. 11, and endorsed in principle by Council Jan. 18. See the reports and supporting material here:

Committee voted to endorse in principle the recommended Preferred Precinct Plans for the Aldershot GO (Corners) Major Transit Station Area; Appleby GO (Gateway) Major Transit Station Area; and Burlington GO (Junction) Major Transit Station Area/Urban Growth Centre; and receive and file the supporting documents.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Aldershot Corners Major Transit Station Area (starting at p. 135 in Appendix A - Interim Report by Consultant Dillon / MTSA Precincts Maps on p. 150 & 155):

PRECINCT	USES THAT MAY BE PERMITTED IN EACH PRECINCT	HEIGHT RANGE
General	There are a variety of uses that will be permitted and encouraged throughout all of the precincts as they are mixed use in nature. Some limitations occur in the employment designations. Public service facilities will be permitted and encouraged in all precincts.	Varies.
Low to Mid-Rise Residential	Low and Mid-rise residential buildings are the predominant built form and use for this precinct. Some mixed use will be located in this precinct as well.Permitted uses include apartments, stacked townhomes and street townhomes as well as street townhouses that form the base of mid-rise buildings.Parts of this precinct were a result of the Employment Conversions, therefore will require a replacement of the jobs previously located within those parcels.	Min. 3Max. 11 / Max. 6 when adjacent to an existing low-rise neighbourhood.
Aldershot Main Street	Low and Mid-rise mixed use buildings are the predominant built form and use for this precinct. Permitted uses include apartments with ground floor commercial uses including service commercial, retail commercial and office commercial uses.Development which fronts onto Plains Road and/or Waterdown Road shall include a ground floor commercial use. Stacked townhomes may be permitted as an ancillary use at the side or rear lot area.Parts of this precinct were a result of the Employment Conversions, therefore will require a replacement of the jobs previously located within those parcels.	Min. 3Max. 6-11 / Max. 6 when property is adjacent to an existing neighbourhood.
Cooke Commons	Tall and Mid-rise mixed use and residential buildings are the predominant built form and use for this precinct. Permitted uses include apartments, and mixed use buildings with ground floor retail commercial, service commercial or office commercial development. Development which fronts onto Cooke shall include a ground floor retail commercial use.Stacked townhomes may be permitted as an ancillary use at the side or rear lot area.Parts of this precinct were a result of the Employment Conversions, therefore will require a replacement of the jobs previously located within those parcels.	Min. 6Max. 19
Emery Commons	Tallest to Mid-rise mixed use and residential buildings are the predominant built form and use for this precinct. Permitted uses include apartments, and mixed use buildings with ground floor retail commercial, service commercial or office commercial development. Mixed use development is required for any development fronting onto a new local street.Stacked townhomes may be permitted as an ancillary use at the side or rear lot area.Parts of this precinct were a result of the Employment Conversions, therefore will require a replacement of the jobs previously located within those parcels.	Min. 6Max. 19 - options may exist for more height in order to accommodate affordable housing.
Aldershot GO Central	Tall and Mid-rise mixed use, major office and residential buildings are the predominant built form and use for this precinct. Permitted uses include apartments, and mixed use buildings with ground floor retail commercial, service commercial or office commercial development. Mixed use development is required for any development fronting onto a new local street.Stacked townhomes may be permitted as an ancillary use at the side or rear lot area.A special policy may be required to determine the minimum amount of Major Office to be included in this designation.	Min. 6Max. 30

Appleby Gateway Major Transit Station Area (starting at p. 166 in Appendix A - Interim Report by Consultant Dillon / MTSA Precincts Maps on p.181 & 185):

PRECINCT	USES THAT MAY BE PERMITTED IN EACH PRECINCT	HEIGHT RANGE
General	There are a variety of uses that will be permitted and encouraged throughout all of the precincts as they are mixed use in nature. Some limitations occur in the employment designations. Public service facilities will be permitted and encouraged in all precincts.	Varies.
Low to Mid-Rise Residential	Low-Rise residential buildings are the predominant built form and use for this precinct. Permitted uses include, low apartments, stacked townhomes and street townhomes.	Min. 2Max. 6
Mid-Rise Residential	Low and Mid-rise residential buildings are the predominant built form and use for this precinct. Permitted uses include apartments, stacked townhomes and street townhomes.	Min. 2Max. 11 / Max. 6 where adjacent to an existing low-rise residential neighbourhood.
Fairview Frequent Transit Corridor	Residential, retail and commercial uses along planned transit corridor. Tall mixed use buildings.	Min. 6Max. 19
Appleby GO Central	Tall and Mid-rise residential, retail and commercial development (tallest/densest precinct).North-east corner of property at Appleby and Fairview south of the railway is required to maintain and employment function (747 Appleby Line, 711 Appleby Line, 504 Fairview Street and 5091 Fairview Street).	Min. 6Max. 30
Urban Employment	Range of appropriate uses include but are not limited to: Offices (major), research and development, IT technology, industrial, manufacturing and business/economic activities. However it is also important to maintain flexibility for existing uses and existing permissions.	Min. 3No max. height limit for major office uses to encourage opportunities for major office development & maintain flexibility of employment uses.
General Employment	Low-rise light industrial to office uses. Mixed-use development with office and employment, Major office	Min. 1No max. height limit for major office uses to encourage opportunities for major office development & maintain flexibility of employment uses.

Burlington Junction Major Transit Station Area/Urban Growth Centre (starting at p. 194 in Appendix A - Interim Report by Consultant Dillon / MTSA Precincts Maps on p. 214 & 219):

PRECINCT	USES THAT MAY BE PERMITTED IN EACH PRECINCT	HEIGHT RANGE
General	There are a variety of uses that will be permitted and encouraged throughout all of the precincts as they are mixed use in nature. Some limitations occur in the employment designations. Public service facilities will be permitted and encouraged in all precincts.	Varies.
Low to Mid-Rise Residential	Low and Mid-rise residential buildings are the predominant built form and use for this precinct. Some mixed use will be located in this precinct as well.Permitted uses include apartments, stacked townhomes and street townhomes as well as street townhouses that form the base of mid-rise buildings.	Min. 2Max. 6
Mid-Rise Residential	Low and Mid-rise residential buildings are the predominant built form and use for this precinct. Permitted uses include apartments, stacked townhomes and street townhomes.	Min. 3Max. 11 / Max. 6 when adjacent to an existing low-rise neighbourhood.
Fairview Frequent Transit Corridor	Tall and Mid-rise main street style (ground floor retail/ commercial, upper floor residential), mixed-use development, stacked townhomes.Affordable housing.	Min. 6Max. 19
Drury Node	Tall and Mid-rise mixed-use development.Affordable housing	Min. 6Max. height to be determined. Work is still underway to consider the appropriate height for this node giving consideration to current applications.
Leighland Node	Tall and Mid-rise mixed-use development with retail and commercial service, and stacked residential townhomes.Affordable housing.	Min. 3Max. 11 - Options may exist for more height in order to accommodate affordable housing.
Legion Node	Low, Mid-Rise and Tall Buildings with Community Hub function including a wide range of public service facilities, commercial uses with affordable housing.Parts of this precinct were a result of the Employment Conversions, therefore will require a replacement of the jobs previously located within those parcels.	Min. 3Max. 11 - Options may exist for more height in order to accommodate affordable housing.
Burlington GO Central	Tall and Mid-rise residential, and stacked townhomes.Retail, commercial and major office.Affordable housing.	Min. 3-6Max. 30
Queensway Main Street	Tall and Mid-rise residential, retail and commercial development, stacked townhomes.Affordable housing.	Min. 6Max. 11 throughout and 20+ at strategic locations.Max. 6 when adjacent to existing low-rise neighbourhoods.
Upper Brant	Mixed-use area, with tall, mid-rise residential and stacked townhomes. Low rise feel will be maintained along Brant Street for pedestrians with 3rd storey setbacks.Affordable housing.	Min. 3Max. 11-25
Urban Employment	Range of appropriate uses include but are not limited to: Offices (major), research and development, IT technology, industrial, manufacturing and business/economic activities.However it is also important to maintain flexibility for existing uses and existing permissions.	Min. 3No max. height limit for major office uses to encourage opportunities for major office development & maintain flexibility of employment uses.

NEXT STEPS:

January to June 2022:

Upon Council’s in-principle endorsement of the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plan and policy directions, Staff and Dillon Consulting will begin the work of the draft Area Specific Plan policies and Official Plan Amendments for public and stakeholder engagement in the Spring of 2022. After the Spring engagement period, staff will bring forward the Area-Specific Plans and associated Official Plan Amendments for consideration at the June meeting of the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee Meeting.

June to December 2022

Upon Council approval of the Area-Specific Plans and the Official Plan Amendments, staff will continue to work with Dillon Consulting on the implementing portion of the project, including amendments to the Zoning By-law, exploring the potential for Inclusionary Zoning as well as supporting Urban Design Guidelines.Parks Provisioning Master Plan (PPMP)The City-wide Park Provisioning Master Plan (PPMP) will commence in early 2022. The purpose of this project is to develop a modernized framework to examine the parkland need in the City based on current growth estimates, demographics, target provisioning levels and distribution. The overall goal of the PPMP is to identify how much parkland the City should be providing, where it should ideally be located and to create tools to build the park system over the next 30 years which will ensure sufficient and equitable supply of parkland, reflective the values of public, stakeholders, staff and Council.The work of the PPMP is critically important to the planning work underway in the MTSA areas which contemplate the creation of new urban parks in a variety of formats. Staff from both projects will continue to meet regularly and work closely to ensure the alignment of these projects. The scope of work for the PPMP includes building a framework for decision making related to securing parkland through intensification and development applications and strategic land acquisitions.Preparation of the Municipal Assessment Report is key deliverable of the HousingStrategy project and is currently underway as a part of the work set out in the Housing Strategy Project’s Terms of Reference. This Municipal Assessment Report will examine the financial viability of applying Inclusionary Zoning in the PMTSAs. In April 2022, the Housing Strategy Project will deliver a peer reviewed Municipal Assessment Report that will contain recommendations related to the feasibility of Inclusionary Zoning in each of the PMTSAs.MY TAKE: I have long advocated that for the right amount of growth in the right place of the right scale. Significant height and density is more suited to areas served by higher-order transit, like the Regional Express Rail around our GO stations. Putting density near transit helps relieve congestion and cut down on vehicular trips required - if we design them well.The growth around the new MTSAs must include the right mix of residential, commercial, retail, and community services, including parks and community hubs. If we don't get the mix right, we'll just build vertical suburbs.Density around GO stations also aligns with provincial policy, and is one of the reasons we advocated successfully to the province to shift the Urban Growth Centre from downtown to the Burlington GO MTSA, and eliminate the downtown Major Transit Station Area entirely in favour of one at the Burlington GO only.We also need to protect established low-density neighbourhoods adjacent to MTSAs, and that's why I worked with City and Regional council to successfully eliminate the Clearview /Queen Mary/St. Matthews neighbourhood from the Aldershot GO MTSA. Heights also need to scale down as they get closer to established neighbourhoods, with the highest densities closest to the stations themselves.My initial take on these drafts is that they do provide for residential, commercial and community uses, while also respecting and protecting adjacent neighbourhoods. I will continue to welcome community input as these plans are further refined prior to a final decision.