By Pepper Parr
November 15th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Some of the newly elected members of city council have taken a holiday, others have buckled down and gotten into what is going on in their wards.
Kelvin Galbraith, the Councillor elect for ward 1 is discovering just how much there is going on in his ward.
The largest housing re-development in the city will be taking place in Aldershot when a British Columbia pension fund begin what is going to be a re-build of the Georgian Court community at Plans Road and King.
The Georgian Court community is to be re=developed; it is the largest residential development the city has experienced.
That isn’t the only project. There are three developments along Plains Road that are before the Ontario Municipal Board – they got there before the LPAT Local Planning Authority Tribunal was in operation. Some of the developers filed appeals before the projects got to city council.
Kelvin Galbraith likes what he sees on the Adi development site.
Kelvin Galbraith understands that the King Paving site on the west side of Waterdown, right across the Adi site will be developed earlier than many expect.
The Adi development just south and a little west of the Aldershot GO station is now underway. It will butt up against Waterdown Road. On the west side of Waterdown, the current King Paving site, is said to be in talks with a buyer for the property. Galbraith thinks there might be a decision on that site much sooner than most people realize.
We walked through the streets at the Waterdown – Plains Road intersection where Galbraith pointed out the commercial operations along Cooke Blvd that had either been sold or were in talks with possible buyers.
Sold Gold, the adult entertainment site, has a development application before the Planning department. Galbraith thinks this is the best place for the long desired supermarket the residents wants. The developer wants to put up two 11 storey buildings which Galbraith say fit with the new Official Plan.
Galbraith, who runs a fitness operation close to the intersection of Plains Road and Waterdown knows that at some point he will find a buyer for the land at his door. And he acknowledges that when that happens he will be in a conflict of interest and has said that he will report any sale of his property (he has owned the building for more than 15 years) to his colleagues and not take part in the debate or discussion.
The property to the north of his building on the west side of Waterdown is now owned by the Emshie interests.
The sculpture put up at the Waterdown -Plains Road intersection frames the Councillor Elect Kelvin Galbraith.
Aldershot currently has much more in the way of local development taking place than ward 2 where much of the concern about the rate of growth is taking place.
Galbraith thinks what is taking place in Aldershot is healthy and he is currently meeting with residents to listen and answer their questions.
The Gazette found Kelvin to be open, as transparent as they get and just a little naïve (that was meant as a compliment – this isn’t a man too full of himself – he is well grounded and confident) on the role he now plays in the way his part of the city is going to grow.
He wants to see more in the way of restaurants. The Tim Hortons and the McDonalds are where people tend to gather – he wants more options.
Galbraith meets with residents at a local Tim Hortons.
During our walk about we met at Tim Hortons and talked about where we would be going. While sitting at the table a couple of residents, who didn’t recognize Galbraith until he was pointed out to them, immediately struck up a conversation. Earlier in the day Kelvin had met with some of the more politically active residents who wanted to get the measure of the man. He met with people at the coffee shop three times that day.
During our conversation Kelvin asked how formal the swearing in that is to take place on December 3rd was. I said a suit and a tie would be expected. Kelvin said he didn’t own a suit. He will be going shopping.
Kelvin is more of a hands on guy – he wears gym clothing – casual, casual is more his style.
He is going to be one to watch. There is a solid practical streak to the man. He understands what a business is and doesn’t shy away from growth.
Kelvin Galbraith – His DNA is pure Aldershot.
His DNA is pure Aldershot – what you see is what you get. No pretenses. He does his homework. He has been working hand in hand with Rick Craven the retiring ward 1 Councillor and with Mayor Elect Marianne Meed Ward. Not at the same time mind you.
We suspect she will find Kelvin to be the kind of Councillor she is going to need during the first year. While the learning curve for all five newcomers is going to be steep we expect Kelvin Galbraith to be more adept than the other on working his way up that curve.
So far, those who have met him, seem pleased with who they elected.
So, the plan is to tear down a huge section of homes and uproot a lot of families so that a much higher density of tiny apartments can be jammed in its place, thereby increasing the overcrowding of Burlington by a large factor. How many other perfectly good large communities in Burlington will be just bulldozed over so that a developer can reap the rewards while lowering the quality of life in burlington? The Mayor was elected on these same shenanigans, and if Galbraith doesn’t fight this insanity with all his might, I can’t see him lasting in the job.
I read this article with interest, frustration and a certain amount of disdain. I was left with the impression that, based upon the content, your view of Ward 1 and Kelvin Galbraith’s view of Ward 1 seems to be largely focused on the Aldershot subdivision and the Plains road corridor with no mention and presumably no concern for the large area of population in Ward 1 that goes way beyond the door step and possible financial gain of the Councillor elect!
Not to diminish the importance of the Aldershot subdivision and the Plains road development but north of Plains road there are some ‘activities’ that also need the Councillors attention. For example, in Tyandaga there is the Meridian Urban Quarry extension that will eliminate thousands upon thousands of trees and decimate acres upon acres of lush vegetation and, in places, operate within 35 meters of the subdivision.
This lush green space is home to many animals (including coyotes) who will now presumably be forced to move south into the Aldershot residential area since north has already been stripped bare by the developers.
I hear no mention / no concern for the air quality that this rampant development and increased traffic may bring, in fact the total lack of air quality monitoring by the City and / or province verges on contempt for the citizens.
SURELY, because of the many potential sources of air pollution in the area discussed in this article – e.g. the Meridian quarry, the asphalt/concrete recycling (King Paving), the cement quarrying/processing St. Mary’s Cement, brick processing plant, etc., AND the high incidence of documented cancer in areas close to these operations, the lack of air quality monitoring should trigger a “ding-dong, something wrong” somewhere and be VERY HIGH on the “to do” list!