Waterfront Hotel Planning Study

On April 12, 2022, at a Special Meeting of City of Burlington Council, council voted to accept the recommendation in staff report PL-24-22 and refuse the applications for Official Plan Amendment and Zoning Bylaw Amendment submitted by Burlington 2020 Lakeshore Inc. proposing a mixed-use development at the site of the current Waterfront Hotel and subject of the Waterfront Hotel Planning Study.

City staff evaluated the applications for Official Plan Amendment and Zoning Bylaw Amendment for 2020 Lakeshore Rd. under all applicable policies, regulations, and guidelines. They considered all comments received from technical reviewers and the public.

The proposed development is not consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement, does not conform with A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, does not conform with Halton Region’s Official Plan and does not conform to the policies of the City of Burlington Official Plan (1997 as amended). The proposed development also does not conform to the City’s new Official Plan (2020). These factors led Staff to recommend refusal of the subject applications.

Please visit the development application webpage for more information on the development application process for 2020 Lakeshore Road.

At another Special Council meeting also held yesterday, City Council voted to receive and file the Waterfront Hotel Study Planning Justification Report.

The Waterfront Hotel Planning Study has received a lot of public interest. To allow everyone to comment, the study and staff report PL-28-22 will be presented to the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee on Tuesday, April 12. For meeting details, please visit Burlington Calendar.

Meeting details:

Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility (CPRM) Committee
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Beginning at 1 p.m.
Online - Council and Committee Live Stream

If you would like to comment on the study, register to speak at Council. The deadline to sign up to speak at this meeting is April 11, 2022 at noon.

At the April 5 Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility (CPRM) Committee Meeting, Council will consider staff report PL-28-22 recommending an ‘in-principle’ endorsement of the Waterfront Hotel Planning Study prepared by The Planning Partnership. This includes:

• the Recommend Preferred Concept Plan for the Waterfront Hotel site,
• draft official plan policies,
• site-specific urban design guidelines and
• directions for a future zoning bylaw amendment.

Meeting details:

Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility (CPRM) Committee
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Online - Council and Committee Live Stream

The Waterfront Hotel Planning Study findings are discussed in staff report PL-28-22 and in Appendix 1 of PL-28-22, Waterfront Hotel Planning Study Planning Justification Report prepared by The Planning Partnership:

• Staff report PL-28-22 Waterfront Hotel Planning Study
• PL-28-22 Appendix A: Burlington Waterfront Hotel Planning Study Planning Justification Report prepared by The Planning Partnership Limited (March 23, 2022)
• PL-28-22 Appendix B: Preferred Concept (2022) prepared by The Planning Partnership Limited (March 23, 2022)
• PL-28-22 Appendix C: City of Burlington Brant & Lakeshore Planning Study Terms of Reference (Jan. 22, 2015)
• PL-28-22 Appendix D: Feedback Received on the Emerging Preferred (2022)

The Waterfront Hotel Planning Study Planning Justification Report prepared by The Planning Partnership provides:

• Project background and context
• Policy and legislative context
• Overview of public engagement that took place during the Study
• Summary of the technical work that supported the Study
• Overview of the Preferred Concept
• Overview of recommended implementation tools including draft official plan policies, directions for a future zoning bylaw amendment and site-specific urban design guidelines.
• Overall conclusions

You may register to speak at Council. The deadline to sign up to speak at this meeting is April 4, 2022 at noon.

The staff report and appendices are also available on the Burlington Calendar or visit the document library.

The staff report related to the Recommended Preferred Concept and Final Study Report will be considered at the April 5^th 2022 Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility (CPRM) Committee. Once available, the staff report and The Planning Partnership’s Planning Justification Report will be posted to this page as well as the CPRM Committee online agenda.

On February 15^th the City and study consultants from The Planning Partnership hosted a virtual public open house to learn about the study process and hear from the consultant team from The Planning Partnership who presented the emerging preferred concept plan for the site, followed by a question & answer period.

A recording of the meeting can be found on this page under "Recordings". The presentation is now available

We are looking for your feedback on the emerging preferred concept (2022) which will provide guidance on built form, the public realm as well as mobility and access for the Waterfront Hotel site.

We encourage you to provide your feedback on the emerging preferred concept (2022) by March 1^st :

• Submitting your feedback

or

• Emailing staff lead samantha.romlewski@burlington.ca

Here are the Highlights of the Emerging Preferred Concept:

Built Form

• Height range of 15-22 storeys
• 3-storey podium/street wall
• Active at-grade uses like commercial, retail and restaurants
• Focus on a strong pedestrian relationship to the streets and public spaces

Public Realm

• Enhancing Brant Street as a gateway to the Downtown, the waterfront and the Waterfront Trail
• Enhance the entrance to Spencer Smith Park and the Brant street public view corridor
• John Street view corridor and inclusion of a privately-owned public space (POPS)
• Additional parkland identified on the west and south side of the site
• Maintain existing trees along Lakeshore Road

Mobility and Access

• Site access for parking and loading from Elizabeth Street
• No lay-by parking along Lakeshore Road
• Active Transportation route along Lakeshore Road, including bike lane
• No surface parking on site

February 15, 2022 7:00 - 8:30 p.m., on Zoom

Please join us at this virtual public open house to learn about the study process and hear from the consultant team from The Planning Partnership who will present the preferred concept plan for the site, followed by a Question & Answer Period.

Please click the link below to join the open house:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81305211078?pwd=L3ZaNFdNRmVNeS9kSFBZaWVtZWI5Zz09

Dial by telephone and enter meeting ID:

+1 647 374 4685 Canada

Meeting ID: 813 0521 1078

Work on the Waterfront Hotel Planning Study is Resuming

On Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, City staff presented Council with a study update through staff report PL-15-22.

With the re-examination of the New Official Plan (Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown) Project completed, approval of the new Official Plan (under appeal), as well as the Minster of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s approval, with modifications, of the Regional Official Plan Amendment 48, the City is able to resume the Waterfront Hotel Planning Study.

City staff, with support from the project consultant, The Planning Partnership, will pick up our work where it left off in 2018 and complete the study. The work is estimated to take four months and will use community input to-date to help develop a final preferred concept.

This is the work left to do:

• Phase 4: Report and Recommendation of Preferred Land Use Concept (Q1 2022).
  This phase of the study involves the selection of a preferred concept and the preparation of a Planning Justification Report.
• Phase 5: Official Plan Policies, Zoning and Urban Design Guidelines (Q2 2022)
  The fifth phase of the study includes the development of draft site-specific official plan policies, zoning regulations and urban design and implementation guidelines. This phase will also include a public open house, presentation to Committee and final delivery of the implementing Official Plan Amendment and Zoning Bylaw Amendment.