Citizen groups send City Councillors an Open Letter - Implore that they do the right thing.

Jan 14 logo

An Open Letter

TO:  Marianne Meed ward, Councillors Kelvin Galbraith, Lisa Kearns, Rory Nissan, Shawna stolte, Paul Sharman, Angel Bentivegna

Copied to: MPP Jane McKenna, MPP Effie Triantafilopoulos, Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Star, Burlington Post, Burlington Gazette, Bay Observer.

 

Re: Burlington Community Planning Department Report PL-01-20

(Including ICBL Land Use Study Report)

Having reviewed the above mentioned report, we the undersigned Burlington community groups wish to make the following requests of city council members.

We are encouraged by one of the primary findings of Dillon’s report, which concludes, as our groups have argued for some time, that the John Street Bus Terminal is not located on a priority Transit Corridor, nor is it supported by higher order transit, nor frequent transit within a dedicated right-of-way, and that it is not functioning as a major bus depot based on common characteristics of typical major bus depots.

Given the narrow rights-of-way downtown, the function of the John Street Bus terminal will not change.  Simply put, the John Street bus terminal is not, and will never be, a Major Transit Station area (MTSA).

The report has made it clear, that the Region classified the John Street Bus terminal as an MTSA in their ROPA 38 in 2009, that Burlington must conform to Regional & Provincial Planning Policy, to the extent that it cannot delineate or establish densities for MTSAs.

It also has been noted that local official plan policies can provide clarity on how provincial or regional plans, policies and definitions will be implemented within the local context of its municipality. We must not lose sight of the fact that the local Official Plan remains the most important vehicle for implementation of Ontario’s Provincial Policy Statement. Planning staff have recommended that the John Street bus terminal remain classified as an MTSA despite Dillon’s findings, albeit distinguished from the three MTSAs in Burlington which are served by regional express rail.   This recommended use of MTSA designation serves no purpose other than to continue to imply a level of transit infrastructure that does not and can never exist.  By doing so, developers will continue to request building densities based on MTSA designations far beyond those appropriate or legislated by provincial or regional policy, and which will never have appropriate levels of transit to support them.

Staff have further claimed that MTSA designation will not increase intensification downtown beyond the current 200 jobs/residents per hectare, because downtown is also designated as an Urban Growth Centre. This claim assumes that the Urban Growth Centre remains as-is downtown, which is far from certain and not what residents want, and is made in spite of the glaring example to the contrary provided by the OMB’s decision to allow a 26-storey building at 374 Martha Street on this basis of the downtown MTSA, against Burlington’s position.

It is apparent from the PL-01-20 report that the Region made an error in classifying the John Street Bus terminal as an MTSA, and we must not propagate the error through Burlington’s Official Plan and supporting policies.

We emphasize that we do not oppose better transit for downtown Burlington.  MTSA designation does not create more transit, and arguing for the designation’s urgent removal does not constitute an argument against better transit services.  MTSA designation is a development and building density tool, not a tool for better transit.

We, the undersigned organizations, therefore urge members of council sitting as the community planning, regulation & mobility committee, to defer receipt of the ICBL Land Use Study Report on January 14 and to reject the recommendations for Official Plan and Zooming Bylaw Amendments.

Furthermore, we implore the committee and council to take the necessary steps to advise the Region of Halton of their classification error and request that they correct it, and to direct the Burlington Planning Depot to remove any and all references to a downtown MTSA in and through their future official plan and zooming bylaw amendments, including those in PL-01-20.

Respectfully, the undersigned

Jan 14 sigs part 1Jan 14 sigs part 2

 

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10 comments to Citizen groups send City Councillors an Open Letter – Implore that they do the right thing.

  • Claudette Mancini

    Well, there is a way to be able to view the lake. Get sick, get hospitalized, get a room with a lake view, and if, once you no longer need medication, you can see what Nature intended all of us to see before the wants of the wealthy and the lack of foresight of past councils allowed the view to be almost totally annihilated.

  • Michael Hribljan

    I could not agree more with the letter from We Love Burlington and ECOB. This is a mountain of work that requires understanding of planning policy and of course common sense. Well done!

  • Don Fletcher

    We must find a way (political, if necessary) to call the John Street Bus Terminal what it is, a bus terminal, and align the Urban Growth Centre designation with the principles identified by Burlington residents for the Vision for Downtown, as part of the submission for approval process of our updated OP. Without, our OP will be indefensible on an application-by-application basis against developer appeals before the LPAT, and trying to change it after the fact will be next to impossible.

  • Penny Hersh

    The John Street Bus Terminal can never be a transit hub. The area is not large enough to accommodate a “hub”. It would make more sense to expand the use of the Go Station area on Fairview as the transit hub with shuttles that can take people into the downtown. The downtown does not have adequate parking, and traffic congestion discourages people from coming.

    A shuttle along Brant Street with a “HOP ON HOP OFF” option should be considered.

  • Gary Scobie

    This needed to be said. Well done. Will Council listen? Will Council act? Time is of the essence.

  • steven craig Gardner

    Perhaps we are looking ta this backwards and should be looking at how we can turn the John Street bus station into a Hub so that all the folks who will live (likely 50% renters) in already approved towers will be able to use transit and not cars. If we want folks to visit/shop downtown and we thin transit is our future we will need a real transit Hub in our city centre.

  • Jim Barnett

    Designating the John Street Bus Terminal as transportation hub is ridiculous regardless who did it. Unfortunately it was used to intensify Burlington beyond what the citizens wanted. It is time to go forward with what people want now, rather than follow a concept that was not all that well thought out eleven years ago. Please don’t let this turn into our version of the Hamilton LRT debacle.

  • Fred Crockett

    Designating the John Street bus stop as anything beyond a glorified ticket booth is insipid bureaucratic nonsense.

  • Penny Hersh

    Residents need to be aware that un designating the John Street Bus Terminal is only the first step in the process. There needs to be changes made to the Downtown Urban Growth Centre at the same time. Council should have been working with the Province for the last 18 months to make this happen.

    Failure to include both these very important steps in the new Official Plan will result in the continued over development in the downtown. Once the Region has accepted the Official Plan it would be almost impossible to make any changes.

    For a council who has indicated that it wants to protect our environment, perhaps more emphasis needs to be placed on Saving our Waterfront . Allowing for additional height in developments so that residents can walk along the lakefront is a joke. Once one reaches Emma’s Back Porch the walkway stops.

    I have watched the waves of water go over onto the walkway that is part of the Bridgewater Development. It really doesn’t matter that this portion of the proposed walkway has been closed to the public for the last 10 years, walking on it will be at your own risk. So much for this “vision”.

    Windows to the Lake another “spin” is simply that. Look too quickly and you have missed the window, and the lake.

    We have a natural resource that many cities do not have and we are destroying it.

  • Maurao R

    Now this is the way to get your point heard !! Congrats, very concise and to the point!!