GROWTH IN MILTON: MAKING A CASE FOR RENEWAL

NRU
Feb. 8, 2017
Andrew Cohrs

Faced with restrictive policies that limit redevelopment opportunities, a lack of public space and an abundance of underused town-owned property, Milton is revaluating growth potential in its downtown.

Since 2003, to protect local retailers, the town has restricted all ground-floor uses exclusively to retail businesses in Milton’s downtown. In recent years, this has caused frustration among landowners, Wards 2, 3, 4 and 5 councillor Colin Best told NRU.

“For every one retail request [downtown landowners] get,  they get three office requests... We’ve had some owners frustrated with what they can and can’t do downtown.”

Best says the town needs to take steps to provide amenities and make the town desirable for young people to live, work and play. Permitting new office space is part of that vision.

Planning commissioner Barbara Koopmans agrees. She told NRU that a study of downtown, which included extensive consultation, demonstrated the community’s willingness to consider redevelopment, rework the restrictive retail uses policy and animate downtown.

“The community consultation really reinforced [our thinking] that people are very supportive of sensitive redevelopment opportunities [in the downtown].”

Last month, Milton council approved the final staff report on the downtown study. With the assistance of Watson Consulting, staff determined the economic growth potential for retail, office and residential uses in the downtown, given more inclusive land use policies. The study concludes that over the next 15 years, downtown has the potential to accommodate 100- 200 new office jobs, 1,250-2,500 new retail jobs and 100-200 new residential units.

While the predicted growth is modest, Best says that the goal is to permit more activity downtown.

“The downtown was built mostly in the 1880s when the town was around 2,000 people and now its 110,000 and growing... So if you want downtown to be something that people are attracted to we need some open space... We are trying to have [the small town atmosphere] but also have the amenities that people are expecting.”

The report also notes there is potential to create a new public gathering space downtown. Koopmans says this is another opportunity to make downtown more attractive.

“The town acquired the post office lands [25 Brown Street] and we are looking at trying to provide some kind of public square opportunity that extends from Victoria Park Square to Main Street [with] opportunities for additional built form spilling out on the square and providing opportunities for cafes and restaurants or other retail uses.  We are trying to envision a space that is more active and programmable for people to use and enjoy.”

Additionally, the report identifies other areas for potential redevelopment, outside of the flood plain that covers nearly half of downtown. The majority of these lands are owned by the town and are currently used for surface parking lots. Since the town owns the properties, it is in a position to lead and stimulate redevelopment.

Koopmans says that redevelopment is envisioned in the four to six storey range, but decisions as to how to move forward have yet to be made.

“We have identified appropriate built form [on town-owned lands] and will be taking forward an amendment to the official plan and zoning by-law to support that kind of initiative. [Economic development staff] will be doing the business case: Should [redevelopment of town-owned land] be a town-led proposal [or] is there a market for a public-private partnership.”

Approval of the report sets in motion five components of preparing downtown for redevelopment. Official plan and zoning by-law amendments need to be drafted, particularly with regard to permitting new commercial uses. A parking study will be undertaken to understand parking challenges associated with redeveloping surface parking lots. A heritage plan to preserve the downtown character needs to be prepared. Urban design guidelines need to be created and a business case crafted for redeveloping town-owned lands. 

Community consultation on the draft official plan and zoning by-law amendments is expected to occur in the spring.