By Pepper Parr
January 21st, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
There is a development proposal for the SE corner of Brant and Prospect that has gotten a lot of attention the past few months.
It is one of those developments that went straight to the Ontario Land Tribunal and was the subject of at least two Statutory Planning meetings – the developer, Camarro Developments, didn’t take part in either online event.
Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns has made it clear where she stands on this one – those views will be described as biased by the developer when there is an opportunity to do just that.
The development has also become the subject of a Historical designation that the developer doesn’t want but one the city seems want to put in place. Lots of money being spent on consultants who will advise if the building on the site now is worth a designation.
The objective of this article is to give the public a look at what the developer has in mind and how the proposed design will fit in with what else is planned for the intersection.
The lot that the Camarro development sits on has an odd shape, one that the developer appears to want to use every square inch of. The historical designation issue for the Camarro development relates to the Ghent family farm house that is on the site now.
If there is no current heritage designation then the developer should be able to proceed with a full teardown. The Heritage committee must be agile enough to look at everything in the city’s downtown core today and flag all buildings by now that should not see the wrecking ball.
Whether the city can prevent the developer from moving forward with their development plan we will see, but make no mistake about it, Kearns who lives beside one of the proposed heritage designations will vote based on her own gain from any of these situations (spiking her home value). Kearns is in office to push anything that will benefit her and this is where most of focus will be…not on the challenges many are facing in Ward 2.