City Council Endorses Modifications to the Adopted Official Plan

Burlington City Council endorsed the modifications to the adopted Official Plan at the Council meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The Official plan will now go to Halton Region for final approval.

On Sept. 30, 2020, staff presented their recommendations for consideration at a public meeting of the Community Planning, Regulation, and Mobility Committee of Council.

The recommendations, described in report PL-16-20, included new policies and mapping for the Downtown. The policies and mapping recognize the distinct character, needs, functions, and opportunities of various different areas within the Downtown, and identify how the City intends to achieve its objectives for each of those areas and for the Downtown as a whole.

On Sept. 30, Committee made 10 amendments to staff’s recommendations.

The recommendations, as amended, were endorsed by Committee on Sept. 30 and by City Council on Oct. 7. Council has directed staff to submit the endorsed policy modifications to Halton Region for inclusion in the Region’s approval of the adopted Official Plan.

Follow-up on Sept. 16: Virtual Open House

Thank you to those of you who joined the virtual Open House on Sept. 16, 2020. We hope it was a helpful resource to answer your questions about the recommended modifications to the adopted Official Plan for Downtown and Neighbourhood Centres.

If you missed the virtual Open House, you can view a video recording and transcript - transript will be posted soon.

During the meeting, staff said they would follow up with more information about two questions that were asked:

  1. Regarding Bird-Friendly Design Guidelines: the City will be working on Bird-Friendly Design Guidelines in 2021.
  2. Regarding the number of new residential units and jobs expected in Downtown during the time covered by the Official Plan: for more information, refer to section 3.6 of SGL’s October 2019 report, “Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown: Themes, Principles, and Land Use Concepts” page 35.

Minor Changes to Technical Reports

The City has made minor changes to some of the technical reports released on June 8, 2020. The changes were made to respond to comments made by Halton Region and Conservation Halton. They are explained in a memo included in the meeting package for the Sept. 30, 2020 meeting of Community Planning, Regulation, and Mobility Committee.

The revised reports were included in the meeting package for the Oct. 7, 2020 special meeting of Council. They are:

  • Appendix 10.A-1 of PL-16-20: Flood Hazard and Scoped Stormwater Management Assessment with Appendices (September 2020);
  • Appendix 10.A-2 of PL-16-20: Flood Hazard and Scoped Stormwater Management Assessment Drawings (September 2020);
  • Appendix 10.B-1 of PL-16-20: Hager-Rambo Flood Control Facilities Study Report: Downtown and Burlington GO Mobility Hub (September 2020);
  • Appendix 10.B-2 of PL-16-20: Hager-Rambo Flood Control Facilities Study Report: Downtown and Burlington GO Mobility Hub - Appendices (September 2020);
  • Appendix 10.B-3 of PL-16-20: Hager-Rambo Flood Control Facilities Study Report: Downtown and Burlington GO Mobility Hub - Drawings (September 2020);
  • Appendix 11 of PL-16-20: Downtown Burlington Traffic Overview (September 2020);
  • Appendix 13 of PL-16-20: Updated Area-Servicing Plan (ASP) for Stormwater, Water, and Wastewater: Downtown Burlington (September 2020)

Release of Submissions

Staff summarized and responded to comments that were received between March 20, 2020 and Sept. 4, 2020 in Appendix 21-A of report PL-16-20, “Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown: Recommended Modifications to the Adopted Official Plan”.

Here is a link to the full submissions:

  • Submissions received between March 20, 2020 and Sept. 4, 2020

Official Plan – Next Steps

The City will send the Council-endorsed policies and mapping to Halton Region to be included in the adopted Official Plan that the Region is reviewing.

Halton Region is the approval authority who will make a decision to approve the City’s new Official Plan.

The Region will provide a draft decision for City Council to consider before the Region makes a final decision on the City’s adopted Official Plan. The Region’s draft decision is expected later this year.

After Halton Region makes a final decision to approve the City’s new Official Plan, parts of the Official Plan can be appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).

The City will share updates about the Region’s approval process on the New Official Plan website at burlington.ca/newop and the “Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown” project webpage at getinvolvedburlington.ca/official-plan-2019.

Design Guidelines – Next Steps

In August 2020, City staff released a first draft of the new Downtown Burlington Placemaking and Urban Design Guidelines, which will help to implement the Official Plan policies for Downtown. The City will continue to seek public feedback on the draft guidelines before presenting the final guidelines to City Council for approval.

The City will share updates about how you can get involved with the Downtown Burlington Placemaking and Urban Design Guidelines at www.getinvolvedburlington.ca/official-plan-2019.



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