Major Transit Station Areas

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.

The MTSA Area-Specific Plan project timeline is evolving as the MTSA Project Team continues to prepare the Area-Specific Plans and implementing Official Plan Amendments. The anticipated release date of these materials and public engagement timelines is currently being updated and will be posted on Get Involved Burlington when available. A project status update to Council will be presented by City staff in May.

The Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans (Jan 2022) are now available to view

Burlington MTSA

Appleby MTSA

Aldershot MTSA

This past January, Council endorsed in principle the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans for Burlington’s 3 Major Transit Station Areas (MTSA).

There is still time to share your thoughts on the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans and policy directions as outlined in Dillon Consulting’s Interim Report!

The project team is currently working on completing supporting technical studies, making refinements to the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans, and preparing the detailed policies that will form the Area Specific Plans and implementing Official Plan Amendments.

Book a time to Talk to a Planner or send us your comments by emailing mtsa@burlington.ca today! This engagement opportunity is open until May 13.

At the January 11^th Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee meeting, Staff Report PL-02-22 recommended that Council endorse ‘in-principle’ the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans for the three MTSAs as detailed in Dillon Consultants Interim Report. The ‘in principle’ endorsement of the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans is an important step in the overall MTSA Area Specific Planning project that enables staff and the consultants to advance the work to the detailed policies of the Area Specific Plans and the implementing Official Plan Amendments later this spring.

The staff report presented a number of materials supporting the MTSA Area Specific Planning project including:

• Background Report, Planning for Burlington’s Major Transit Station Areas: What you need to know (September 2021)
• Engagement Plan, Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) Area-Specific Planning Project Engagement Plan (September 2021);
• MTSA Area-Specific Planning Project: Feedback Report 1 (Fall 2021)
• Technical documents completed as of December 1, 2021 as follows:
  • GO Station Mobility Hub Market Analysis, Burlington, Ontario (August 2017) (N. Barry Lyon Consultants Limited)
  • Pre-Feasibility Noise and Vibration Study Burlington Mobility Hubs (August 2021) (Wood)
  • Cultural Heritage Resource Assessment: Built Heritage Resources and Cultural Heritage Landscapes Appleby Mobility Hub Study Area (October 2019) (ASI)
  • Cultural Heritage Resource Assessment: Built Heritage Resources and Cultural Heritage Landscapes Aldershot Mobility Hub Study Area (October 2019) (ASI)
  • Stage 1 Archaeological Assessment Mobility Hub Planning Consulting Services: Burlington GO (August 2018) (ASI)
  • Stage 1 Archaeological Assessment Mobility Hub Planning Consulting Services: Appleby (August 2018) (ASI)
  • Stage 1 Archaeological Assessment Mobility Hub Planning Consulting Services: Aldershot (August 2018) (ASI)

The project team is continuing to engage with the public and stakeholders to refine the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans, as well as on the detailed policies that will form the Area Specific Plans and eventually the Official Plan Amendments that will implement them.

Updates on engagement activities will be posted to the project webpage at getinvolvedburlington.ca/mtsa. Stay tuned!

Dillon Consulting Interim Report and the Fall 2021 Feedback Report are now available.

At the January 11^th Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee Meeting staff report PL-02-22 (to be released with the CPRM agenda on January 4th) , Council will consider ‘in-principle’ endorsement the Recommend Preferred Precinct Plans for Burlington’s Major Transportation Areas. Council’s endorsement is a critical check point in the project that will enable staff to move forward to the next stage of the project which involves the creation of area-specific plans and supporting Official Plan Amendments for each of the MTSAs.

The Interim Report prepared by Dillon Consulting provides:

• The project background and context
• The policy and legislative context for MTSAs
• The work underpinning the MTSA ASP Project and the Preliminary Preferred Precinct Plans including key growth assumptions and complete community elements
• A discussion about how public engagement informed the Preliminary Preferred Precinct Plans
• A summary of the technical work required to support the project and a status update on each
• An outline of the changes made to the Preliminary Preferred Precinct Plans resulting in the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans and the underlying policy directions to support them and the future area specific planning process
• Next steps and conclusions

The staff-prepared Fall 2021 Feedback Report outlines each of the tactics undertaken during October and November to engage with the public around the Preliminary Preferred Precinct Plans and includes the methodologies used, the results of the engagement or feedback received as well as some of the lessons learned.

Please note that further changes to the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans are expected and will be required as a result of technical studies underway, as well as other inputs including Council and stakeholder feedback and further project work.

Wishing you a safe and healthy holiday season and we look forward to engaging again with you in the new year!

The report recommending endorsement of the Recommended Preferred Precinct Plans is now being considered at the January 11^th Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee in order to allow more time to review the staff report and supporting Interim Report prepared by Dillon Consulting. The staff report and Dillon’s Interim report will be available mid-week (week of December 20) online.

Still a few more days to submit a Workbook for Aldershot, Appleby and Burlington GO Major Transit Station Area. Do yours today.

NEW deadline - all workbooks will be open for submissions until 4:30 p.m. on Friday, November 12.