28-storey building proposed for Martha/Lakeshore

Rendering of proposed 28-storey building at Martha/Lakeshore

Rendering of proposed 28-storey building at Martha/Lakeshore

Public meeting Oct. 9, 7pm, Art Gallery of Burlington

ADI Development Group has submitted an application for a 28-storey apartment at Martha & Lakeshore, with 226 units, 5 levels of underground parking, 3 levels of above ground parking, and ground floor retail facing Lakeshore.

The site – currently a parking lot – is zoned for 4 storeys, with provision to go to 8 storeys if “community benefits” under Section 37 are provided to help mitigate the impacts of the extra height.

The proposal would require an Official Plan Amendment, as well as a Zoning By-Law change.

A public meeting hosted by city planning staff to provide information on the proposal is planned for Oct. 9, 7pm, Art Gallery of Burlington. The developer will attend to explain their proposal.

No planning decisions have been made by city staff on this project. Staff are required to process any application made; hosting the public meeting should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the project but simply an effort to inform the community of the application and provide residents an opportunity to ask questions and share comments.

Further information and background studies about this proposal can be found on the City’s web site at www.burlington.ca/374Martha

You are invited to submit written comments about this proposal to:

Rosa Bustamante, Development Planner
e-mail: [email protected]
phone: 905-335-7600 ext. 7811

Written comments should be submitted by: Nov. 19, 2014

Planning process

The application will be reviewed by staff and a number of city departments and external agencies; staff will prepare an information report for the city’s Development & Infrastructure Committee and City Council. The public can attend and share your views. Based on feedback at these meetings and any additional analysis, staff will prepare a report recommending either: 1-approval; 2-approval with modifications; or 3-refusal. The report will go first to the D&I Committee, then City Council, who makes the final decision. Residents can attend and speak at all of these meetings.

This process typically takes at least six months. However, the developer can appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board if a decision is not rendered within 180 days.

On another project in Burlington, this developer waited out the clock and took their project directly to the OMB, and that may well be what happens in this case.

If it goes to the OMB, staff will still prepare a report and council will still have an opportunity to review and vote on the project. The staff report, and council’s vote, would be sent to the OMB to inform the board’s ultimate decision.

My Take:

This is complete overdevelopment of the site, and little more than an intensity grab. A building of this scale would overwhelm the neighbourhood, which primarily consists of 3-storey towns. Our existing Official Plan and Zoning already account and provide for downtown urban intensification requirements under the province’s Places to Grow plan. We can intensify the site by following the existing OP and Zoning – which have been approved by three levels of government, including the city, Region and province. Until we as a council take our own Official Plan and Zoning seriously, developers won’t, and we will continue to see proposals for out-of-scale developments.

Your Take:

What are your thoughts on this development? Leave a comment online below or email me at [email protected]

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