Councillor moving to undelegate the Site Review of a massive residential mixed use development on Fairview

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

June 29th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The public is going to get a chance to see what that massive development on Fairview between the Go Station and Drury Lane on the north side is going to look like.

The development met the requirements of the current and in-force Official Plan and also met the zoning for the properties so it didn’t have to go to Council.

Seven buildings - not that much in park space and a layout that reflects what developers put up in the 50's

Seven buildings – not that much in park space and a layout that reflects what developers put up in the 50’s. Building something like this without public input was just plain bad practice. But the Councillor was prepared to do just that.

The Planning department would do a site plan review and that would be it.

There was considerable blow back when the ward Councillor Lisa Kearns let it be known that she had talked to the developers and “convinced” them that the 47 storeys they were looking for on one of the seven buildings that are going to be on the site.

The development is being built in a part of the city that this council, and its predecessor wanted to see the growth take place in.
With a development his size – seven towers – the quality of the development and the amenities become critical – and no one knew what they were going to be.

Councillor Kearns did say that she did a walk-through of the site with people she apparently chose – we don’t know who these people are.

It just didn’t look right.

Kearns said earlier today that she was bringing forward a motion to have the site undelegated – which means the Site Plan Review is done by Council and not the Planning department.

The Planning department will certainly be at the table but the driving and the directing force will be with Council

Good move. It took giving Kearns a bit of a nudge for her to figure out which direction the wind was coming from.

She has used the IAP2 template as her justification to include more public participation.

In her motion to have the undelegation Kearns said:

Undelegate the site plan approval for application 535-001/20 (2020, 2243, 2269 Fairview Street and 864 Drury Lane – CLV Group Inc) from the Director of Community Planning to Council.

Background:
On April 6th, City of Burlington Planning confirmed that a Site Plan Application was deemed complete and materials circulated for review 2020 2243, 2269 Fairview Street & 864 Drury Lane (CLV): 535-001/20.

File 535-001/20 proposes a phased mixed-use development consisting of 7 towers with heights ranging from 29-37 storeys. Towers will include a combination of residential and commercial uses. Parking will be accommodated both underground and at the rear of the property in a parking structure utilizing the required 30 metre setback from the rail.

details

details

Undelegation of site plan will provide the public with an opportunity to engage in IAP2’s Spectrum of Public Participation which is designed to assist with the selection of the level of participation that defines the public’s role in any public participation process. For clarity, the public will participate within:

INFORM: To provide the public with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the problem, alternatives, and opportunities and/or solutions.

CONSULT: To obtain public feedback on analysis, alternatives and/or decisions.

Constituents have continually requested updates, information, and insight into the large scale development submitted for the lands known as “Holland Park”.

Therefore, recognizing that a variety of resources may be used for communication, it is imperative that Council have a direct opportunity to bring onto public record the decisions made in accordance with Site Plan for 2020 2243, 2269 Fairview Street & 864 Drury Lane (CLV): 535-001/20.

The justification the Councillor uses isn’t an issue – that she took the step to bring about the undelegation is what matters.  It was a nice little end run though.

Related news stories:

Big big development – no public input.

Development of the properties on the north side of Fairview. 

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