Opportunity is knocking
Glendale primed for development
A 700-hectare swath of land at Niagara-on-the-Lake’s south west border with St. Catharines is prime for a development that has the potential to dramatically change the community, while still preserving the town’s rich heritage.
“We want an iconic development here,” said Niagara Region’s community and long-range planning director Doug Giles.
“We’re looking at a true multi-storey mixed-use development.”
And the property “has all of the ingredients of what a really good development needs,” Giles said, referring to the Niagara College campus, the Niagara Retail Outlet, White Oaks Resort and Spa, and existing residents.
And whatever is ultimately built there needs to reflect the needs and desires of existing residents, Niagara College and businesses – such as the shopping centre which attracts “a phenomenal number of tourists to the area, as well.”
The Niagara Region’s planning department is currently developing a secondary plan for the area, hoping to guide the development that will take place in the area that stretches from the Welland Canal, east to Concession 7 Road, and from Queenston Road at the north, to south of Glendale — including in the Niagara on the Green subdivision and Niagara College.
Niagara’s special projects manager Tom Villella said there’s enough property within the study area — which is twice the size of the metropolitan area in Vaughn — to last the Region for years.
“We want to make sure we get it right, because it
has all the raw ingredients to make a great neighbourhood, a great community, but right now it’s being developed in a peacemeal fashion, and we need to get a plan to bring all the elements together in the community,” Villella added.
Giles said the vacant land adjacent to the shopping centre has been the focus of most of the attention, “because that’s what everybody sees … but there is so much more land over here,” he added pointing to the east.
NOTL Mayor Pat Darte called the area Niagara-on-the-Lake’s gateway, adding the developments could also bolster tourism in the Old Town and for local wineries.
He said an “unbelievable” number of people visit the shopping centre annually.
“If we can take those people … and send them this way to wineries, to the Old Town, to Fort George, anything like that, that’s our next capitalizing opportunity.”
And there’s still plenty of room within the area to focus on bringing new industry to the community.
“Our economic development committee is working on it now to try to put together a package to attract companies … to either move here or expand here,” he said, adding the area would be a great fit for “prestige industrial” companies.
More jobs, Darte added, would also help bring more young families to the community.
“We need to young the community in Niagara-on-the-Lake. I used to say Youth-anize, but that didn’t go over so well,” he quipped, laughing.
The Region will be asking residents for their hopes and ideas for the area, too — within limits.
“Obviously there is going to be some constraints. We have to look at all of the infrastructure, which is probably as usual, going to be the main constraint — like transportation, water and sewage, but through the process we want to identify what people want in the area,” Giles said.
“We want to bring a really good vision to the area, but at the same time we want to make sure the infrastructure that’s going to be put in place can accommodate whatever growth is going to occur.”
Some of the property surrounding the subject area also falls under Greenbelt and Niagara Escarpment Commission protection also limits development, but also adds to the area’s appeal.
“It’s a great setting. There’s a lot of natural beauty that will be retained as the years go on and it gets developed,” Giles said.
The Region has brought in several consultants and advisers to work with them on the project, including Torontobased consultant Ken Greenberg, Calgary’s senior urban designer Sonny Tomic, Markham’s parks and open space development manager Linda Irvine, Jamie Springer from New York-based HR&A Advisors, and Micheal Sraga from Toronto-based The Planning Partnership.
They will lead public discussions about the area taking place next week on June 25 and 26, at the Holiday Inn Express, 524 York Rd.
Events include a 9 a.m. bus tour of the study area on Monday, followed by a workshop from 1 to 5 p.m. A public “kickoff event” is scheduled evening from 6 to 8 p.m.
The public consultations continue throughout the day, Tuesday, including team working sessions at 9 a.m., workshops from 1:30 to 5 p.m., and from 6 to 8 p.m.
“It should be a pretty energypacked workshop, with a lot of great ideas floating around and a lot of good discussion,” Giles said.