Major Transit Station Areas

On June 27, 2023, the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee considered staff report PL-40-23: MTSA Update & Community Planning Permit Exploration. The report provides an overview of the Community Planning Permit (CPP) System tool under the Planning Act, and recommends that a CPP System and By-law be established in the MTSAs. At the meeting, Dillon Consulting presented an overview of the CPPS tool and how it could be used to support the City’s objectives for the MTSAs.

Staff report PL-40-23 also provides a general update on the MTSA ASP Planning Project and delivers the technical studies that have been completed since staff’s last update report to Council in June 2022, namely:

• Phase 2 Flood Hazard Assessment of the Burlington GO MTSA and Burlington Downtown (Text, Appendices, Drawings) (Prepared by WSP, March 6, 2023)
• Land Use Compatibility Study (Prepared by Dillon Consulting, May 2023)
• Flood Hazard and Scoped Stormwater Management Assessments (Appleby, Aldershot) (Prepared by WSP, June 5, 2023)
• Scoped Environmental Impact Studies (Burlington, Appleby, Aldershot) (Prepared by Dillon Consulting, August 2022)

On July 11, 2023, City Council approved the recommendations of staff report PL-40-23: MTSA Update & Community Planning Permit Exploration, directing staff to prepare a draft Community Planning Permit By-law for consultation in the fall of 2023 at the same time as the release of draft Official Plan policies.

A copy of the staff report, technical studies and Dillon Consulting’s presentation slides can be found in the Document Library section of the MTSA Get Involved Project Page. For a video recording of Dillon Consulting’s presentation, visit the Revised Agenda webpage of the June 27th, 2023 Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee meeting.

Staff report PL-40-23: MTSA Update & Community Planning Permit System Exploration is now available online. The report can be found in the Addendum Meeting Package for the June 27^th, 2023 Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility meeting at www.burlington.ca/calendar.

Area-specific planning for the Appleby GO MTSA has resumed, following a pause beginning last June to investigate next steps with respect to land use compatibility.

A staff report with an update on the MTSA Area-Specific Planning Project will be presented to the June 27, 2023 Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee. A copy of the staff report will be posted on the Burlington Calendar by Friday June 16, 2023 end of day.

The MTSA team can be reached at mtsa@burlington.ca if there are any questions

Thank you for all the feedback that has been shared since our last update to City Council in July 2022 regarding the Major Transit Station Area Area-Specific Planning Study Final Report. If you have not yet provided comments but would like to, please email the MTSA Team at mtsa@burlington.ca. Comments received by March 24, 2023 will be used to inform the draft policies for the major transit station areas. After March 24, there will be opportunities to provide feedback on the draft policies once they are complete.

Thank you to everyone who provided comments at the MTSA booth at the City’s Food for Feedback event on September 17, or met with or wrote to us after our last update to Council in July regarding the MTSA Area-Specific Planning Study Final Report. Since July, the MTSA team has been working on addressing the additional areas of analysis requested by Council in July as well as the remaining outstanding technical studies and comments received to date.

We are also taking stock of the recent changes that have been made by the Province to the broader Provincial and Regional planning framework and assessing its impacts on the MTSA Area-Specific Planning Project. These provincial changes include Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 which received Royal Assent on November 28, 2022, and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s modified approval of Regional Official Plan Amendment 49.

More project updates will be posted to the Get Involved Burlington MTSA Project Page in 2023. In the meantime, the Team continues to be available to receive comments and questions at mtsa@burlington.ca.

Wishing everyone a safe, healthy and happy holiday,

MTSA Team

On July 12, 2022, City Council discussed staff report PL-10-22. This provided an update on the MTSA ASP Planning Study and directed staff to use the Major Transit Station Area Area-Specific Planning Study Final Report (Accessible Version) to prepare Official Plan policies for the Downtown Burlington UGC /Burlington GO MTSA and the Aldershot GO MTSA. Council also directed staff to re-examine the height permissions and provision of community elements in the Burlington GO Central precinct of the Burlington GO MTSA.

We are still looking for your feedback on the MTSA ASP Planning Study Final Report! This includes:

• precinct plans,
• associated schedules,
• draft policies and
• policy directions.

Your feedback will be used with technical studies and further analysis by staff as directed by Council, to inform the policies for Burlington’s MTSAs.

To share your comments or book a time to talk to a planner, email mtsa@burlington.ca.

Community Planning Staff Report, PL-10-22 – MTSA ASP Planning Study Update is now available. The Staff Report includes Dillon Consulting’s MTSA Area-Specific Plan (ASP) Planning Study Final Report for the Downtown Burlington Urban Growth Centre/Burlington GO MTSA and Aldershot GO MTSA, as well as two recently completed supporting technical studies: Market Analysis Update and Air Quality Assessment. An overview of the modifications made to the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans is also provided (Appendix C of Staff Report).

The Staff Report:

• Outlines the MTSA ASP Planning Study Process to-date and discusses the next steps for the project, including the Appleby GO MTSA;
• Presents the findings of the MTSA ASP Planning Study that will be used to prepare draft Official Plan policies at a later date and
• Shares the two newly completed technical studies.

The Staff Report, MTSA ASP Planning Study Final Report and Technical Studies will be presented to Burlington City Council for discussion at the July 5 Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee Meeting at 9:30 a.m. For information about how to watch or participate in the meeting, visit the Meeting Details webpage.

We are preparing to share the Area-Specific Plan (ASP) Planning Study, prepared by our consultant, Dillon Consulting, here on June 28, 2022. This study contains policy directions and policies for the Downtown Burlington Urban Growth Centre/Burlington GO Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) and Aldershot GO MTSA. These are meant to inform the future Area-Specific Plans and Official Plan policies for the MTSAs.

We will present the ASP Planning Study and accompanying staff report for information and discussion at the July 5 Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee meeting.

Upcoming Key Dates

June 28 - Release of Area-Specific Plan (ASP) Planning Study

The staff report and consultant Area-Specific Plan Planning Study will be available on June 28.

July 5, 9:30 a.m.- Planning Study and Staff Report to Community Planning, Regulation & Mobility

Staff will present Area-Specific Planning Study and Staff Report to Burlington City Council for information and discussion.

City staff have prepared a memo to update Council on the Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) Area-Specific Plan (ASP) Planning Study. The memo outlines the next steps planned to complete the project for the Downtown Burlington Urban Growth Centre/Burlington GO MTSA and Aldershot GO MTSA, and notes that work on the Appleby GO MTSA has been paused in the short term.

Since Council’s endorsement of the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans in January 2022, the MTSA Project team has been working on completing the remaining technical work and preparing the area-specific plans with the goal of bringing forward the area-specific plans and draft Official Plan Amendments for Burlington’s three MTSAs for Council adoption by June 2022, as outlined in the MTSA Project Terms of Reference.

Through this ongoing work, several issues have since emerged which have necessitated shifts to the project timeline. These issues include delays to some of the technical studies as well as the need to pause and further explore some of their preliminary findings.

The MTSA Project Team remains committed to delivering the area-specific plans in a timely manner. In the coming weeks, the MTSA Project Webpage will be updated with rescheduled public engagement dates. Subscribers to getinvolvedburlington.ca/mtsa will receive an automatic email notification when this information is available. These new dates will also be broadcasted widely to all stakeholders of the project and through the City’s social media to ensure wide-spread awareness of the timeline shifts.

In the meantime, as the MTSA Project Team continues to work towards the delivery of the area-specific plans and draft Official Plan Amendments, the Team continues to welcome feedback from the public and stakeholders.