Glen Abbey proposal - preserving culture

NRU
Aug. 2, 2017
By Dominik Matusik

A proposal to redevelop historic Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville is being opposed by residents and politicians over concerns about loss of open space and cultural heritage.

Previously home to the RayDor Estate-a 1930s-era country estate-Glen Abbey Golf Course was designed in 1976 by professional golfer Jack Nicklaus. It has hosted the most Canadian Open tournaments of any golf course in the country. Due to the site's history, Oakville staff has identified Glen Abbey as a "cultural heritage landscape."

Last year, Owner ClubLink announced its intention to redevelop the 92.7 ha site into a 3,222-unit residential community at 1333 Dorval Drive along the Sixteen Mile Creek in central Oakville. Its proposal includes 141 detached houses, 299 townhouses, and 2,782 apartment units with heights between two and 12 storeys. The tallest buildings are proposed to be located on the eastern portion of the site, near the edge of the creek valley. Additionally, ClubLink proposes to build 546 m2 of community amenity space, including parkland, as well as 5,429 m2 of office and 5,841 m2 of retail space. The total density is proposed to be 120 units per ha2. Ward 4 local councillor Roger Lapworth told NRU that he does not want the site redeveloped and believes that a majority of Oakville residents feel the same way.

"The traffic in and out is a concern, as is the [cultural heritage landscape] designation," he says. "If you were to ask everybody in Oakville if they want to keep it, I think most of them would say 'yes'. I don't think there's too many people who would want to see it developed."

Lapsworth adds that residents of the nearby Fairway Hills community, who paid a premium for golf course-facing homes, in particular, would be negatively impacted.

Oakville community development commissioner Jane Clohecy told NRU that staff is currently completing several studies that will help in evaluating the ClubLink application.

"We're going to assess the application against the current official plan, against the regional plan and the provincial policy statement. We had put an interim control by-law in place because there were three studies we thought needed to be completed so that we understood a better context to evaluate the applications," she says.

ClubLink had appealed the enactment of the interim control by-law to the Ontario Municipal Board, but this appeal was denied by the board in a May 10 decision, which accepted that the town had a legitimate planning reason for enacting the by-law and did not act in bad faith.

Ward 4 local and regional councillor Allan Elgar told NRU that he is not taking a position on the proposal until the three studies-cultural heritage landscapes study, land use economic impact study, and urban structure review-are complete. He notes that Oakville has enough developable land available to meet provincial growth targets without developing the golf course lands.

Staff anticipates making a recommendation to planning and development council for consideration at a special meeting on September 26. Representatives of ClubLink were unavailable for comment before deadline.