Taking a Closer Look at Burlington's Downtown – Process Update

At next week's May 12 Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee, City staff will provide Council with an update on the Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown process.In a memo to Council (Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown_Process Update_MEMO), staff have outlined a timeline of the next steps.The Staff Report, the SGL Planning and Design Final Report including recommended policy modifications and technical studies will be released online to the public at the end of May 2020, both on the project page on Get Involved Burlington and the City’s Official Plan pages -- the public is encouraged to subscribe to the project mailing list and the Get Involved Burlington project page to get notifications when updates are made and new material is uploaded.A public meeting will be held at the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee to consider the staff report, the SGL Planning & Design report and the recommended modifications to the adopted Official Plan Policies on September 30, 2020. This will include a presentation from staff and the project consultants and will provide an opportunity for delegations.The recommendations from the Committee Meeting are expected to go to a Special Council Meeting on October 7, 2020.The Community Planning Staff report to be released in May will outline the process for receiving and responding to feedback in advance of the Committee date in September.Written submissions on the materials are welcomed and staff are available to answer questions and discuss issues via email or phone. In order to have a response via phone individuals are asked to call any of the numbers below and leave a detailed message which will be returned promptly. Staff understand and appreciate that not all those interested or affected by the project have access to the internet. Over the course of the summer staff will investigate means of providing copies of materials for review in advance of the public meeting.A feedback deadline for comments from interested or affected parties, including members of Council will be set for Friday August 28th, 2020. All feedback received by staff in advance of this deadline will be considered in a memo and brought forward for consideration at the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee meeting.City staff on this file, include:

• Alison Enns, Project Manager, Alison.enns@burlington.ca, 905-335-7600, ext. 7787;
• Jenna Puletto, Senior Planner, Jenna.puletto@burlington.ca, 905-335-7600, ext. 7445; and
• Thomas Douglas, Planner, Thomas.douglas@burlington.ca, 905-335-7600, ext. 7811

The City is actively investigating opportunities to support public engagement in a responsible and meaningful way, despite the challenges of the current pandemic situation.MAYOR MEED WARD'S TAKE:A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is giving us more time to review and receive public input on the policies. I look forward to seeing the final draft and working with the community to update the plans for the downtown to be more reflective of the community’s vision for our city’s downtown.--*Posted by John Bkila, Mayor's Media and Digital Communications Specialist.