Making it Easier for Burlington Residents to Find Information About Development Applications, Construction and Road Restrictions

Please see below a media release issued by the City of Burlington.Burlington, Ont.— Oct. 7, 2019 — The City of Burlington continues to look for opportunities to make it easier for residents to find the information they need about development and construction in Burlington.

“We understand that at any given time, there can be a lot of activity happening in the city and it’s not always easy to know where to go to learn more information. Whether it’s helping to provide a better understanding of Burlington’s development application process or providing residents with helpful information about construction and road closures, our goal is to continually work towards providing the information residents want and making it easier to understand and navigate.” — Heather MacDonald, Executive Director of Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility

The City has made the following positive changes to help share information and provide status updates on  developments, from the application stage through to construction, if approved, including any accompanying road restrictions.1. Find information about development projects online at burlington.ca/developmentprojects

• Development projects organized by City wards;
• Not sure which ward you live in? Use the interactive map to locate new development projects in your neighbourhood;
• Information about upcoming public meetings are easy to locate at the top of each web page;
• Status information at the top of each web page identifies which stage of the planning process the development application is in, e.g. received, under review, on hold, appealed, approved, or refused;
• Features details of the proposed development, including concept renderings;
• Easily locate contact information for the City planner managing the application; and
• Subscribe to any web page to receive email notifications when changes to the development application web pages are made.

2. Updates to layout and design of public notifications

• Once a development application is received by the City, a development notification letter is sent to all property owners within 120 metres of the proposed development. The City has made updates to these letters, to make them easier to understand, including clear information about what is proposed and how you can share your feedback with the City; 
• Once the City has received a completed development application, the applicant is required to install a development application notice sign on the proposed development site. The City has updated the design of these signs to make contact information and key details about the proposed development easier to understand and find.

3. Development application meetings posted to City calendar online

• Community and Council meetings related to development applications are shared on the Burlington events calendar under “Get Involved";
• Subscribe to the calendar to receive a weekly summary of upcoming meetings by email, sent every Thursday between 4 and 4:30 p.m. or follow the City on Twitter at @cityburlington.

4. Find information about construction in your neighbourhood online

• To assist residents with questions about construction happening in their neighbourhood, the City created a new web page called Construction in your neighbourhood. Get information about planned road, sewer and watermain projects and find out who to call if you have questions about construction activity where you live;
• Once a development has been approved, the developer is responsible for the physical work around the site. Details regarding the timing and details of construction is shared by the developer and posted on the City’s website on the development project web pages at burlington.ca/developmentprojects.

5. Find information about road restrictions and closures online

• Read about current and future road closures and restrictions or view on an interactive map of the city;
• Sign up to receive email notifications when new road closure notices are posted.

MY TAKE:Residents looking to stay up to date on any development applications submitted to the City of Burlington can now subscribe to get notifications. This will ensure all residents can be aware of any pre-application meetings beyond those within the 120 meters of the proposed site. Click on the “Subscribe to the Get Involved Calendar” button to subscribe to all development application meetings, including pre-application meetings and statutory public meetings. We heard from residents that they wanted to stay updated on development applications, including ones that they may not live close to. I'm glad we have implemented these changes to the website to help keep all of our residents informed of the events and projects that take place across our City.LINKS and RESOURCES

• Visit burlington.ca/developmentprojects for information about development, construction and road restrictions.