Protecting stable neighbourhoods

NRU
July 18, 2018
Rachael Williams

The attraction of soft intensification to stable residential neighbourhoods is meeting some resistance in Oakville and Burlington.

The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal has overturned Oakville council’s April 2017 decision and is allowing the development of six townhomes in a residential neighbourhood.

The application was filed by Concord-based real estate professional Anthony Bruno under the registered name 2378224 Ontario Inc. Bruno was seeking an official plan and zoning by-law amendment to re-designate the 0.13-ha. site as medium-density residential from low-density residential. Located at 231-237 Rebecca Street, the site is surrounded by townhouses and a four-storey residential apartment building with access to public transit.

“Staff evaluated the proposed development in the context of the town’s Livable Oakville Plan, surrounding neighborhood and the site’s characteristics and determined that the...proposal was in keeping with the intent of the plan,” said Oakville community services commissioner Jane Clohecy.

Town planning staff recommended approval of the application in March 2017. But an outpouring of concerns from area residents resulted in council voting against the staff recommendation and rejecting the proposed development.

Oakville mayor Rob Burton told NRU the major concerns were massing and size of the proposed three-storey townhomes.

IBI Group associate director John Ariens, who provided his expert planning opinion at the LPAT hearing on behalf of Bruno, said council’s rejection was reflective of the need to appease area residents.

“The existing townhomes were...empty nesters and retirees who were quite financially well off and didn’t want this large development in their backyard,” he said.

In neighbouring Burlington, LPAT recently sided with the city in its opposition to a proposal for 35 townhomes and four semi-detached homes on Blue Water Place and Avondale Court, near Lakeshore Road. The application by First Urban Inc. sought to amend the city’s zoning by-law to permit townhomes in what is essentially “cottage country.”

Deputy city manager Mary Lou Tanner told NRU the application was rejected because it exceeded the permitted density for the area and would result in an over-intensification of a stable low-density neighbourhood.

Ariens said with the anticipated population projections in the GTHA and the pressing need for affordable housing options, Oakville and Burlington should consider allowing soft intensification in these stable residential neighbourhoods.

Burlington is expected to add an additional 14,000 people and 1,200 jobs in the downtown by 2041, with up to 72,000 residents and 60,000 jobs anticipated in the surrounding areas, which include the Aldershot, Burlington and Appleby GO stations.
“We have about 8,000 residential units in the application process and that gives us a really healthy housing supply and helps us contribute to housing choice and affordability of housing in the GTA and in our city,” said Tanner.

She told NRU much of the city’s stable residential neighbourhoods, like Alton Village and the Orchard, have already met the province’s density requirements.

Oakville’s population is also expected to grow by roughly 80,000 people by 2041, requiring an additional 36,000 homes. The town’s Livable Oakville Plan has six intensification areas--Midtown, Uptown, Palermo, Kerr, Bronte and Downtown Oakville.
Clohecy explained there are several examples within these growth areas where council has supported mid and high-rise buildings including a 20-storey mixed-use high-rise proposed by 1635058 Ontario Limited and Ballantry Homes’ 10-storey apartment building and 123 stacked townhomes, both near Dundas Street East and Trafalgar Road.

“Minor amounts of growth can occur outside of the growth areas [in stable residential neighbourhoods] provided the character of the areas is preserved and the overall urban structure of the town is upheld,” said Clohecy.

According to a 2017 regional housing report, Oakville is producing the most housing in Halton. Last year, there were 2,295 units built in Oakville, which accounted for 54 per cent of all units built across Halton Region. Approximately 76 per cent of those units were townhomes and apartments.

“I believe Oakville is delivering more than its requirement of affordable housing,” said Burton.

Townhouses and apartments sold for $512,598 on average, half the price of a single or semi-detached home, which sold for $1,042,065 in 2017.