Developer asking the city to put the building of a transit shelter on hold until the construction is complete.

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

August 24th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

It has been a very bumpy ride for the Molinaro Group and their Paradigm Development on Fairview.

They were the first developer to propose a development alongside the GO Train tracks.

They were one of the first developers to hold a community meeting to hear what residents thought of their development before it went to the Planning department.

The development was to be done in two phases. The first phase has been completed and the company wants to proceed with the second phase.

Paradigm -3 from front

The three buildings on the North side are basically completed. The developer now wants to begin with phase 2 and learns that a bus shelter is to be built at the edge of where the final two buildings will be erected.

They got caught in the Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL) that put everything in the Urban Growth Centre on hold for what was originally going to be a year. They hadn’t done anything wrong – the agreement with the OMB that approved the development required them to go back to the city for specific site plan approval for the second phase.

It was a technical point that would not have been an issue if the ICBL had not been put in place – they would have shovels in the ground.

As the Molinaro Group gets ready to begin work on phase 2 they learn that the city wants to install a transit shelter right in front of the development site.

Most people would say: What dumb idea. The Planning Consultant for the Molinaros, Ed Fothergill, delegated to Council earlier in the month explaining the situation. Common sense should have prevailed.

North side from GO platform

The Paradigm development seen from the Burlington GO station platform.

The Molinaros had no problem with the transit shelter – once the development was completed it would add value to the units – having a bus stop right outside the building you live in would be a convenience.

For reasons that aren’t clear yet – the planning people didn’t see it that way.

The Molinaros have said they could move the transit shelter – put it in storage and put it back when the development is complete.

They see it as a hindrance to the trucks that will be entering the site during the construction phase and hazardous to pedestrians waiting for a bus.

The site is right next door to the GO Station where buses come and go on a regular basis.

One would have thought this would be a no-brainer.

Vince Molinaro will be delegating to city council on Monday to see if he can untangle the mess and let some common sense prevail.

The Molinaro consultant has told Council that they will have to oppose the building of the transit shelter at this point.

Working with city hall isn’t supposed to be this hard or time consuming.

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3 comments to Developer asking the city to put the building of a transit shelter on hold until the construction is complete.

  • We spent a good hour at least listening to the Council delegation and discussion as a result of Councillors and Legal not fully understanding the background to the request. Legal claimed first she had heard of the siutation was at Council. It was only at the end of the dicussion in answer to a question from Councillor Sharman that we understood the bus shelter was being moved from its current position after the City found out that due to a city/Metrolinx miscommunication they only had six bays instead of the expected 12 on this site (hopefuilly we got this right as it was a very confusing discussion). . Vince Molinaro was very clear that he was proposing two options – one delay, two removal at the time it became unsafe. We should be very grateful to Mr. Molinaro for being ahead of the game in terms of pedestrian safety ahead of site plan discussions that alerted staff and council to this issue. We had to go to the minutes to understand the exact amended motion as it was not on the screen long enough to read. This is what Council approved:.

    That staff, including Legal and Finance, be directed to allow for the temporary removal and replacement of the Brant / Fairview transit shelter, discussions to occur during the construction management plan, for a portion of the construction period of the adjacent property not to exceed 12 months, subject to the discretion of Director of Capital works and Executive Director of Legal Services; and

    That the shelter be replaced following construction at the full expense of the Molinaro group or assigns, and this provision be included in the Construction Management Plan as part of the ongoing site plan approval.

    Again thank you Mr. Molinaro for being ahead of the game in terms of pedestrian safety issues.These issies can never be considered too early in a project.

  • Let’s hope Council is a little more rational than the city this evening,

  • Penny Hersh

    I have to question the logic of the planning department with regard to this proposed transit shelter. Once again the department seems to be making a mountain out of a molehill. Why would the planning department want to put a transit shelter in front of an active construction site at this point in time?

    When and if the structure is destroyed by the trucks and construction equipment that will be coming into the site who will be held responsible? I assume that there is no transit shelter presently and who would stand in front of an active construction site to wait for a bus if they could walk over to the Go Station and get a bus.

    Sounds to me more of a power struggle than anything else. Is it any wonder that the planning department is having problems meeting deadlines when time is taken up dealing with something like this?