The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark has delivered on his promises. Further to the press conference he attended with Mayor Meed Ward and MPP Jane McKenna, the minister has released his decision on Regional Official Plan Amendment 48 (ROPA 48), within the statutory 120-day timeline.

One of the most intriguing planning policy changes in the city has now been approved. However, that is not the whole story.

Since taking office in 2018, Mayor Meed Ward and council have been advocating for these changes and they have been rewarded with everything they asked for. Both the downtown Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) and Urban Growth Centre (UGC) designations have now been removed from the downtown.

In his written decision, Minister Clark provided a fair and balanced approach to Burlington’s requests.

By acknowledging and approving Burlington’s requests to eliminate the MTSA designation from the downtown and relocate the UGC to lands around the GO station, he has also carefully considered the minimum density target of 200 people and jobs per hectare in the downtown that was used by the city as its justification to relocate the Urban Growth Centre. The city’s own studies and analysis used to support their opinion that the downtown Urban Growth Centre has served its intended purpose also indicated the downtown would not reach the minimum population and employment target of 200 people and jobs per hectare without considering applications that the city has received and are currently being processed.

The minister has taken a bold step, recognizing the severe housing crisis that all municipalities must work to resolve.

By allowing continued consideration of development applications that have been submitted and delayed due to the city’s imposition of an Interim Control By Law and delay of the new Official Plan, to continue to be processed, he has provided an appropriate balance, allowing the downtown UGC to achieve at least the minimum density targets while the MTSAs at the GO stations and relocated UGC are planned.

More specifically, in addition to already-approved developments like the recently approved 29-storey development at 2069 Lakeshore Rd., 17 storeys at 409 Brant St., two council-approved settlement agreements for 13 storeys at James and Martha St. and the multi-building complex of up to 16 storeys on North Shore Blvd., all development applications within the “old” downtown UGC that were submitted prior to the minister’s approval of ROPA 48 (Nov. 10, 2021) will continue to be considered based on their own merits using the polices in place at the time the applications were submitted.

A list of the filed development applications that will continue to be considered includes: two 27-storey proposals at Lakeshore and Old Lakeshore Rd. (in the “football”); 535 Brant St., 25 storeys; 2085 Pine St., 11 storeys; 407 Martha St., 11 storeys; 441 Maple Ave., 11 storeys; and we have been told the Waterfront Hotel, if these applications have been submitted. However, that has yet to be confirmed by the city.

All these development applications will be considered using the current and in-force Official Plan as the new Official Plan is currently under appeal and will not be complete or in force until all the appeals are settled.

Efforts to retroactively apply and enforce new unapproved policies in the new Official Plan generally fail, as they hold no weight in appeal proceedings. A reliance on unapproved policies and policies that may be modified or rejected completely do not hold any weight, disputes and challenges could potentially never be settled and it is asking proposals to comply with future policies that don’t yet exist, creating an ever-changing target.

To give this context, would you want to receive a bill from the city for a tree you removed 5 years ago because they have recently approved a new bylaw requiring permits and fees?

Clearly, the downtown will continue to see development for several more years, likely a decade or more.

In addition to the four approved developments in the UGC noted above, there are six outstanding applications that will continue to proceed through the planning process unaffected by the removal of the MTSA and UGC from the downtown.
It is reasonable to expect that the submission of the applications for the Waterfront Hotel will become public in the not-too-distant future, potentially making it the seventh application proposal unaffected by the removal of the MTSA and UGC.

Mayor Meed Ward and this council have been focused on the downtown for the past three years and have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to secure both the removal of the downtown MTSA designation and the relocation of the UGC.

They got everything they asked for, what has really been accomplished?

City staff is just now beginning to plan for the growth Burlington will see in the next several years.

Perhaps it’s time for the city to reassess their approach to development, learn from the downtown experience, and plan for the new growth throughout the city and at the GO stations, before developers plan it for us.

Photo : Bousfields Inc