Balancing character & growth

NRU
June 14, 2018
Rob Jowett

New urban design guidelines will preserve the character of Oakville’s Bronte and Kerr villages, while allowing them to develop into community hubs for the town.

Bronte and Kerr villages are two of Oakville’s six urban growth areas. Bronte Village is on the west side of the town, while Kerr is on the east. Planning and development council recently approved urban design guidelines for the two villages.

“The [plans are] individually tailored to each community to make sure we protect and enhance [their] assets and make [them] more livable,” says Mayor Rob Burton. He says the villages are distinct areas that are worth protecting.

Ward 1 regional and town councillor Sean O’Meara told NRU that the new village guidelines will transform the area.

“I’m hoping it looks diverse,” he says. “I’m hoping it looks new and reinvigorated.”
Oakville urban design manager Christine Tizzard says the guidelines are intended to preserve the character of the villages while still allowing development to occur.

“[We are] focussing the design direction on what would make a main street area… flourish given the ingredients that we currently have,” she says.“[We want] to make sure that [they do] retain [their] sense of place and identity, but moves [them] into the 21st century.”

There is a lot worth preserving in the small lakeshore villages, says Kerr Village BIA executive director Doug Sams. “We have a unique vibe. It’s kind of a small-town charm, it’s kind of a neighbourhood charm.”

He says the guidelines are meant to ensure development projects are consistent with each other as well as with the town’s vision for the villages.

“It’s a balance. You make sure you have a certain type of lighting; you make sure you have green space; you make sure you have certain benches in certain areas; you make sure you have a certain type of architecture.”

The guidelines will be implemented at the rezoning and official plan amendment review for developments in the area, says Tizzard.

“We do have some development that has been coming forward and we wanted to ensure that it doesn’t overpower, but [rather] complements what is there within the [village].”
For example, the Bronte Village Mall is currently under reconstruction. Although not designed using the new guidelines, Tizzard says it exemplifies what development should look like in the area.

“A lot of the built form that we would want to see through the design document is being presented through that application,” she says. “It’s providing some activity at ground level. It has a certain density in terms of residential units so that there’s people who are living and working within the [area] that can certainly help and patronize the various businesses within the [village].”

O’Meara says he hopes the mall will again become the gathering place it used to be.
“It was a hub but as the pedestrian feet got older and we had less and less people patronizing those shops, it really was struggling and really became an eyesore and a bit of a blight on the main street of the Bronte Village.”

Crombie REIT’s proposal includes a 2.3-ha mall with a 14-storey tower, 478 residential units, and 1,394 m2 of retail space. It is expected to be completed in 2020. The project is designed by Quadrangle Architects.

O’Meara says he expects the mall will be a catalyst for more development in the area.
“I do believe that it will be the beginning of many dominoes to fall in the Bronte Village area. We’re already seeing an influx of development applications and interest around the area for other properties.”