You did it! Clearview west side to be retained as low density

The Clearview/Queen Mary/St. Matthews neighbourhood will be retained as low density, thanks to residents speaking out.

This area was included in the Aldershot Mobility Hub, and the first draft included 20+ storey buildings at the top of Clearview with 7-11 storeys on the balance of Clearview, and along Queen Mary. The second draft kept 11 storeys on the West side Clearview (orange on the map).

On July 16, City Council voted unanimously to direct staff to include the West side of Clearview Ave. in the Grove Park/St. Matthew’s Neighbourhood precinct of the Aldershot Mobility Hub, when plans come back for to council approval in 2019. This precinct is low density, and allows only single family homes, semi-detached and street townhouses.

The proposed permission for 11 storeys on the west side of Clearview will be removed.

The next step is to remove the neighbourhood entirely from the Aldershot Mobility Hub boundary, as was done with the nearby White Oaks neighbourhood.

My Take: Clearview/Queen Mary never should have been included for high density. This is a stable low density residential neighbourhood and needs to remain so. Though the mayor and most of council initially rejected my motions to keep this area low density and remove it from the Hub boundary, they have now come around (in part) thanks to community input. I worked with residents to let them know what was happening and provide advice on making their voice heard. And you spoke! This is a significant victory to protect the neighbourhood. There is more work to be done on this hub — including removing the entire area from the Hub boundary in 2019 — but this is a big step in the right direction. Great work everyone. Advocacy does sometimes work and it is always worth trying!

Background:

Today at Committee of the Whole, council members voted unanimously to direct staff to include the West side of Clearview Ave. in the Grove Park/St. Matthew’s Neighbourhood precinct of the Aldershot Mobility Hub, when plans come back for approval in 2019.

This precinct is low density, and allows only single family homes, semi-detached and street townhouses. The proposed permission for 11 storeys on the west side of Clearview will be removed.

This is a direct result of community advocacy: residents attended meetings, shared your feedback with staff, wrote to council and more recently submitted comments to this committee meeting. Well done to all.

The staff direction will come to City Council on Monday, July 6, at 6:30pm for final approval, and residents can register to speak in support. https://www.burlington.ca/en/your-city/delegation-registration.asp

My Take: Clearview never should have been included for high density. This is a stable low density residential neighbourhood and needs to remain so.  Though council initially rejected my motions to keep this area low density, they have now come around thanks to community input. It’s been great for me to work with all of you to achieve this significant victory to protect the neighbourhood. There is more work to be done on this hub, but this is a big step in the right direction.

Great work everyone. Advocacy does sometimes work and it is always worth trying!