Minister: MTSA/Mobility hub designations for downtown Burlington can be removed now

*NOTE: Please see a related media release from the City of Burlington.

Our community has received some great and long awaited news today from Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation: the city and Region can immediately work together to remove the Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) and Mobility Hub designations downtown.

These designations have been used to justify overdevelopment in downtown Burlington.

In a letter addressed to myself as head of Burlington City Council and Gary Carr, Chair of Halton Region Council, the Minister states:

“There is no provincial requirement for mobility hubs to be identified in municipal official plans, including Downtown Burlington.... Therefore, the Region of Halton, working with the City of Burlington, has the ability to remove the identification of a mobility hub and an MTSA in Downtown Burlington, centred on the John Street bus terminal, from its Official Plan.”

The letter further states that the change can be made through an Official Plan Amendment now, or during the next Municipal Comprehensive Review, scheduled at the Region for later this year.

“This means that the Region can submit an amendment to remove the Downtown Burlington mobility hub and MTSA designations in the Region of Halton’s Official Plan now.”

The mobility hub designation for downtown Burlington and the Burlington GO station first appeared in Metrolinx documents in 2008, and was later embedded into the Region of Halton Official Plan in 2011, based on the 2008 Regional Transportation Plan.

The 2041 Regional Transportation Plan, issued in 2018, refined the concept of mobility hubs to focus on MTSAs along subway lines and priority transit corridors.

As a result of changes to the policy framework for planning in the Greater Golden Horseshoe introduced by the current government “we do not require mobility hubs to be identified in municipal official plans.”

The ministers have also directed Metrolinx “to remove legacy documents that refer to the 2008 mobility hubs.”

Both ministers also specifically thanked our Burlington Member of Provincial Parliament Jane McKenna for her “tireless advocacy” on behalf of residents to remove the MTSA/Mobility Hub.

“As a result of extensive advocacy from MPP Jane McKenna since July 2018 we agree that the John Street bus terminal does not constitute a mobility hub given that it is not at the intersection of multiple Frequent Rapid Transit Network routes.”

City and Region planning staff are reviewing the letter and will have more information for the community on next steps and timing in coming days.

Here is a link to the Ministers  letter - 234-2020-651 Mobility Hub Letter MTO Joint Clark Sig 

My Take:

This is a significant step forward in our community’s quest to control overdevelopment in downtown Burlington, as we continue through the process.

Residents will recall that the MTSA designation prompted the former Ontario Municipal Board to overrule city council, staff and the community in approving a 26 storey building in an area zoned 4-8 storeys. That vote prompted the city to institute a one-year Interim Control Bylaw to study the role and function of an MTSA. The results of that study clearly outlined that the downtown does not function as an MTSA, and led to new policies in the Official Plan to differentiate between the MTSA at the Burlington GO station and downtown. Those policies have been appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.

Though there had been some previous discussion that the city and Region could remove the mobility hub designation, there was not the same clarity about the MTSA designation. This letter is the first confirmation we’ve had that the MTSA designation could also be removed. The province had to give the directive and permission before we could act. Now we have it.

The work that the City has done in the past year, including the scoped re-examination of the Official Plan, and the Interim Control Bylaw Study that studied the role and function of the John Street Bus Terminal, positions us well for the future. That study directly showed the downtown terminal does not function as an MTSA and provides sound planning rationale to support the removal of the designation entirely.We want to thank our MPP Jane McKenna for her advocacy, and thank Minister Steve Clark and Minister Caroline Mulroney for listening to the evidence and the voices of residents. As well, we want to thank the province for recognizing the need for municipal flexibility and how one-size does not fit all.

States the letter: “A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe is responsive to the needs of local communities and supports local decision-making.”

There was no mention in the letter of the Urban Growth Centre designation downtown, which has also been used to justify overdevelopment. The downtown is on track to meet our UGC density requirements under existing development permissions.

We will be following up with the Minister and our MPP to seek similar flexibility and local decision making for the city and region to determine the location of UGCs in our borders.

Planning staff will be reporting to council in June in response to the outstanding staff direction from 2019 to provide a recommendation on the UGC/MTSA designations after the conclusion of the Interim Control Bylaw MTSA study, and the review of the downtown Official Plan policies. Both studies are now complete, with the final recommendations on the downtown policies being released in early May for a decision by council in the fall.