By Staff
March 7th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Where will the boys go if the Solid Gold adult entertainment establishment gets torn down?
The owners of the Burlington strip club have filed a development application to construct two new rental apartment buildings.
The developer, 71 Burlington Plains Inc., wants to demolish Solid Gold which spans 53 and 71 Plains Rd. E. and 1025 Cooke Blvd., and replace it with two mixed-use buildings at 10 and 12 storeys with a combined 1,208 square metres of retail and service commercial space at grade level and 450 residential units.
Rendering of what a developer wants to build on the site of the Solid Gold adult entertainment club.
The proposal will have 581 parking spaces (91 at surface, 461 underground and 29 lay-by) Accesses will be from Cooke Boulevard and Clearview Avenue.
Ward 1 Councillor Rock Craven has wanted to get the club out of Aldershot – the price he might have to pay is accepting one ten and one twelve storey structure.
Craven is reported to have said that “While some may be pleased with the redevelopment plan, the heights of the buildings are causing some concern”.
Arial rendering of the site for an apartment development project in western Aldershot
Building heights on Plains Road are generally restricted to six storeys, but city planners see this as a part of Aldershot that could handle some intensification – the Aldershot GO station will be within walking distance.
A neighbourhood public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 20 at the East Plains United Church, 375 Plains Rd. E. 7:00 pm.
People in Aldershot are not shy about telling the planners and the Council member what they think and feel about development. The set back from the street might become a major factor – and where is the playground going to be?
City staff is also looking for public feedback on the application before a recommendation is made to the planning and development committee of council. Written comments can be mailed or emailed to senior planner of development review Lola Emberson at lola.emberson@burlington.ca.
The submission deadline is April 6.
“Developer’s renderings” should be outlawed in all these propsals. Idyllic pictures of happy people surrounded by green space and plazas and birds flying by are nice, but the intent to fool the viewer could not be more clear. In this case, the picture shows a view that cannot exist, due to the existing buildings in the way on all sides. The tiny people and cars and an impossibly wide Plains Rd. make the building look massive, probably to stoke the developer’s ego.
Bring in those kids and their Lego blocks – quick!
Finally some change that means Plains Rd can leave it’s seedier side in the past (dilapidated by the hour motels, old car lots ). For so long our main st was the dumpiest part of Burlington. Now we get a chance to clean it up!
I find it interesting that Rick Craven worries, or perhaps only ponders the thought, that there may be resident concern about 12 storeys in his ward, but doesn’t bat an eye about approving 23 storeys in the downtown core. Or is it just possible that counsellors are actually starting to consider citizens’ reactions and opinions?