By Staff
October 3rd, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
In language only a bureaucrat or a lawyer can write the plans for a four storey retirement home on Kerns Road are set out.
The development will replace a very small strip mall in a neighbourhood that is made up of windy, well-treed streets and large single family dwellings.
Architectural rendering of the proposed retirement home development
The proposal will be described and defended by Glen Wellings, (the planning consultant hired by the developer) at a Statutory meeting on October 5th at 1;00 PM. .
The Statutory meeting will be a virtual event which in the past has dampened public participation for many, but not all developments.
A virtual meeting is a different kind of public event – there is no sense of community, the speaker is in a virtual space where they can see the members of Council taking part and the Council members can see the person delegating. There is no sense as to how many people are actually watching the web cast.
If the person delegating wants to use some visual material, getting it to actually appear is not a certainty – there are still technical issues that have not been overcome.
Some municipal councils have moved to a model that runs both a virtual event alongside a live event. People can choose which route they want to take.
The Halton District School Board meets with half the trustees in the room and the other half taking part virtually.
Burlington City Council has a report on a possible return to meeting that will be live but with limited public participation and all staff participation being virtual. The pandemic is still very much with us – and so is the phrase “with an abundance of caution” which is being overused to the advantage of people who are not strong believers in full public participation.
Bound by Kerns Road and Four Seasons Drive the property currently houses a small strip plaza.
What is Proposed?
A private land owner has made an application to change the Zoning By-law designation for the property located at 1600 Kerns Road. The location of the subject property is shown on the Location Sketch.
The application proposes the rezoning of the property to facilitate a retirement home having a height of four storeys with one level of underground parking and comprised of 123 units.
The proposed development also contemplates commercial uses at grade.
Four views of the proposed retirement home development. The building will be terraced on the south side
The subject lands are currently designated ‘Neighbourhood Commercial’ in the City of Burlington Official Plan (1997), as amended and ‘Local Centres’ in the New Official Plan (2018).
The applicable zoning of the subject lands is ‘Neighbourhood Commercial (CN2)’ Zone. A site-specific exception (‘CN2-XXX) Zone’) has been proposed with amendments which include, but may not be limited to, matters related to permitted use(s), setbacks, height, parking and landscape buffers.
The portion of the lands associated with the Natural Heritage System are proposed to be rezoned to ‘Open Space (O2) Zone’ and dedicated to public ownership.
