'Ignoring the voices': Massive condo towers proposal for Oakville under fire from residents, councillor

The proposed development would house 587 residential units as well as 589.9 square metres of ground floor commercial space.

Thestar.com
Aug. 10, 2022
David Lea

The Town of Oakville is heading to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) following a proposal to construct two massive condo towers.

The town’s Planning and Development Council voted during a Monday, Aug. 8 meeting to authorize town staff to proceed in addressing an appeal filed by the developer SmartREIT.

The town solicitor and the commissioner of community development were also authorized to negotiate a settlement of the appeal, if the developer is interested in doing so, in accordance with certain confidential recommendations.

Back in September 2021 SmartREIT had asked the town for zoning changes to permit the construction of a mixed-use building at the northwest corner of the Trafalgar Road and Oak Park Boulevard intersection, which would feature a five-storey podium, one 26-storey residential building and one 31-storey residential building.

The proposed development would house 587 residential units as well as 589.9 square metres of ground floor commercial space.

There would also be 499 residential parking spaces housed within one level of underground parking and three levels above ground parking.

The Planning and Development Council was scheduled to decide whether to let this proposal proceed on June 27, 2022, but SmartREIT chose to appeal to the OLT before this decision could take place.

“It’s out of cowardice that this developer is forcing the process to go through the OLT provincial body and ignoring the voices of Oakville residents regarding planning concerns,” said Ward 5 Councillor Marc Grant at the June 27 council meeting.

While the proposed development site is located within the Uptown Core Growth Area the proposed heights are still greater than what is currently permitted.

Town Senior Planner Tricia Collingwood noted in a report to council that even with bonusing (money or services provided to the town by developers in exchange for the town permitting them to construct buildings with greater density and heights than normally permitted) the maximum height permitted at the southern portion of the site would be 10 storeys while the maximum height permitted at the northern portion of the site would be 16-storeys.

In his directions to town staff regarding the appeal, Oakville Mayor Rob Burton said a review of the Uptown Core’s policies will be taking place in the near future.

He said town staff should make the OLT aware of this and recommend the hearing be adjourned pending the outcome of this review when appropriate heights for the subject lands have been determined.

Numerous Oakville residents living in the vicinity of the proposed development have written the town to make their objections to its construction known.

These residents voiced concerns about the building’s height and worried about the impact it would have on traffic in the already busy area.

Other resident concerns focused on noise and whether local infrastructure could accommodate the sewage and wastewater from this large development.
In the June 27 report to council Collingwood noted that the noise generated by the development would be no greater than that generated by Trafalgar Road vehicle traffic.

She also wrote that the Region has concluded that the water and sanitary sewers are sized appropriately to accommodate the proposed development.

Regarding traffic, Collingwood said, it is anticipated that the forecasted trips generated by the development (195 in the AM peak hour and 225 in the PM peak hour), will have a negligible impact on the Dundas Street and Trafalgar Road intersection.

The June 27, 2022 report by town staff ended with a recommendation that council approve the development proposal noting it represented “good planning.”