Plan eyes more highrises in downtown
Blueprint maps out types of development and where it’s allowed through to 2031
THE CITY HAMILTON OF has unveiled its much-anticipated plan that paves the way for development and a changing skyline in the downtown through 2031.
Think of it as a road map that is expected to lead to more highrises towering over the core — as long as they’re not taller than the escarpment and don’t block its views — and put an end to any new downtown parking lots.
The updated Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan — a vision document released Monday after 10 years in the making — maps out the types of development that will be allowed in the core, how high these structures can be built and the kind of design requirements they must meet, like setbacks and shadow impacts.
Some key changes include: Using Section 37 bonusing for the first time, which means the city could allow developers to build higher than zoning allows in exchange for community benefits like child care facilities and affordable housing;
Requiring builders to include appropriate noise measures in the design of residential developments that are near live music venues to prevent issues with neighbours;
Allowing rental housing to be demolished or redeveloped only if those units can be replaced at the same site.
THE BLUEPRINT applies to the section of the city bordered by Victoria Avenue and Hunter, Queen and Cannon streets while also incorporating properties fronting onto James Street from St. Joseph’s Hospital to the CN Rail line.
According to the maximum height map, a large swath of the area west of James could be home to 30-storey towers, with the exception of a couple of chunks of land, including the block surrounding City Hall and the Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School property at Bay and York.
Whitehern and a section of land bordered by Hunter Street West, Caroline Street North and Jackson Street West, which is adjacent to the proposed Television City project, are the only sections where development is guaranteed to stay under six storeys.
The city has stressed the map is not the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to approving development — it has to be read in conjunction with the zoning bylaw and the Tall Building Study and Guidelines, which set out other design requirements, like sufficient proximity between towers.
After two previous drafts, the revised plan is expected to be the city’s third and final kick at the can following a review that first launched in 2008.
The public will have a chance to sound off on the plan, which covers everything from policies on parkland to CarShare, at an April 17 planning committee meeting before it comes to council the following week.
The plan, which spells out that downtown will be “the location” for tall buildings in the city in accordance with intensification targets set out in the province’s official growth plan, comes amid a growing cluster of highrises — proposed, in development and built — popping up around the core.
The increasing demand for height — what city planning director Steve Robichaud called a “fundamental shift in the marketplace” over the last five or so years — ignited discussion on the issue and prompted the city to develop a Tall Building Study and Guidelines, which were released last fall.
The requests for skyscraping towers started with the application for The Connolly — a 30-storey condominium project that went into receivership this summer but appears to have found a new buyer last month, Robichaud said.
The previous version of the plan didn’t address types of development like that one or Brad Lamb’s Television City condominiums on Jackson Street West, which is proposed to be built on the tallest part of the downtown.
Critics of the previous drafts of the plan — some of whom launched a campaign called the “People’s Plan for Downtown Hamilton” — wonder if it will cause property values to skyrocket, leaving residents and businesses behind, and question whether the city is doing enough to negotiate with developers.
They wonder whether highrise condominiums ahighrisest way to achieve density when there are other options like tiny homes and backyard accessory units.
The city argues it’s not a given that developers would be approved to build as high as 30 storeys, even in areas on the map where it shows buildings of that height would be permitted, because they would have to meet other criteria like sun and wind studies.
“There’s most likely properties where the height permission that’s indicated is actually not achievable,” said Jason Thorne, the city’s general manager of planning and economic development.
A long-standing community value the city heard while undertaking the review is that no building should be taller than the escarpment — although there are some existing ones that already overtop it and proposed developments with permission to build higher already in tow, Robichaud said.
“The escarpment really sort of creates that backdrop and it frames the downtown and that’s a very unique situation,” he added.
Because Section 37 bonusing is included in the final version of the downtown secondary plan, the city could grant developers the right to build taller in exchange for community benefits like rental and affordable housing, community facilities, child care centres, cultural amenities and transit station improvements.
Environment Hamilton head Lynda Lukasik, who spoke at a recent meeting about the draft plan, previously told The Spectator she found it curious that while some municipalities are using Section 37 to negotiate nicer streetscapes and public art exhibits, Hamilton was still incentivizing development downtown.
Robichaud said the city will slowly start to work its way into using this tool.
“It’s going to be a bit of a change for the development community,” he added.
In addition to height, Thorne said housing and heritage were the other main themes touched on during the review.
To help avoid rushed decisions of the past, the plan includes policies to protect heritage buildings, Robichaud said. If a developer comes in wanting to demolish, they won’t be able to get approval before they work their way through the planning process.
“It’s a lesson learned from the parking lots we’ve seen created in the downtown,” said Thorne.
“It’s a lesson learned from the fact we’ve had to do these 11th-hour (heritage) designations in the past.”
As for affordability, the plan shows it will require developers who knock down rental buildings to replace those units at the same site and maintain similar rent for existing tenants — a holding provision the city believes it is the first municipality to employ.
To encourage builders to include more family-sized units in new developments, the city says it will lessen the parking requirement in exchange for larger, three-bedroom apartments.
To view the plan visit: hamilton.ca/city-planning npaddon@thespec.com 905-526-2420 | @NatatTheSpec