Trees, heritage and Solid Gold in Burlington
City’s new Official Plan touches on many sore spots
June’s provincial election is history, but Burlington council committees are very busy these days, and some issues deserve mention.
The Roseland community has been planting new trees to improve its tree canopy. Many there supported a 2013 proposal for a city-wide tree bylaw that would apply to private property. But many other city residents didn’t like having to get a permit to cut down their own large trees, and the initiative failed.
The problem was developers clearcutting property. Once an application is filed, a tree-saving plan must be submitted, but if the trees are already gone, problem solved. The Roseland Community Association wanted a pilot tree bylaw for their area, where McMansions have been appearing with much canopy loss.
On a 4 to 3 vote supported by Mayor Rick Goldring and councillors Jack Dennison, Blair Lancaster and Marianne Meed Ward, the committee approved a two-year pilot, effective Nov 1. Then there will be city-wide consultation, with a report in mid-2019 on options. Council approved it Monday.
We’re losing another heritage home, at 418 Burlington Ave. The new Official Plan recognizes the uniqueness of Old Burlington (west of Brant Street) for its lovely older homes.
Council has traditionally not designated houses under the Heritage Act unless the owner agrees, but soon our built heritage will disappear.
Staff recommended designation. There was evidence of neglect — old wiring, bad roof, etc. The owner died in November, and his son notified the city of his intention to demolish it.
Coun. Rick Craven, normally opposed to designation against an owner’s wishes, said sometimes you have to look at the context. It is in a row of historic homes, not a one-off. Staff stressed that they can’t control style or neighbourhood fit of its replacement because there is no architectural protection mechanism available.
Dennison moved permission to demolish. (He bought a designated property, and applied to sever a lot for a second house, which was denied locally, but approved by the board in 2016.) At the subsequent special council meeting, Craven, Goldring and Meed Ward opposed demolition. Dennison, Lancaster, Sharman and Taylor voted in favour.
The Solid Gold strip club property on Plains Road generated lots of discussion. Residents want it gone, but at what cost? Delegations were very knowledgeable, and strongly opposed the excesses proposed — two massive buildings, 10 and 12 storeys. Both old and new Official Plans allow six. This project highlights the pitfalls with the city’s premature piecemeal approach to the new OP.
Mobility Hubs, area specific plans, transportation and parking studies still aren’t complete, and talk ensued about what they might allow. The citizens are right. The new OP should not have been approved with these crucial components missing.
The application proposes 450 units. Our new urban design committee told the applicant the project was overdevelopment, the buildings too bulky — too big and tall for the site. There will be a resubmission, followed by a staff recommendation.
Their revised interim plan is an insult. It did not show heights, so Meed Ward asked. Both are now 11 storeys. Some developers just don’t get it.
It also falls far short of today’s parking standard, but Kaylan Edgecombe (transportation department) said this was close to new standards to be proposed.
The recently released 2016 Transportation Tomorrow study shows that from 1996 to 2016, Hamilton’s out-commuters grew by over 31,000 as the city lost jobs. It’s difficult to isolate Burlington’s from Halton’s numbers, but surely out-commuting is up substantially here, too.
The GTA is car-oriented. There will be neighbourhood wars if Burlington doesn’t recognize this, especially when our substandard transit service has been starved for years. Any candidate in October’s election who suggests reduced parking standards for condos and townhouses will surely be drubbed. It’s not low-income earners without cars buying these expensive units.
Further, downtown’s most popular parking lot, on Brant Street, has shrunk from 62 spaces to 50. But now it has public art and open spaces. Are merchants, who pay a special parking tax, cheering resoundingly?