UPDATE: Province helps City of Burlington slow ‘overdevelopment’

Published April 28, 2020 at 12:14 am

UPDATE: Province helps City of Burlington slow ‘overdevelopment’

Update 04/29/20: The City of Burlington has taken a major step towards slowing what staff has called “overdevelopment” of the city’

Update 04/29/20: The City of Burlington has taken a major step towards slowing what staff has called “overdevelopment” of the city’s downtown.

Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark confirmed Wednesday (Apr 29) there is no longer a provincial requirement for mobility hubs to be identified in municipal official plans, including Downtown Burlington.

“As a result of extensive advocacy from MPP Jane McKenna since July 2018, we agree that the John Street bus terminal does not constitute a mobility hub given that it is not at the intersection of multiple Frequent Rapid Transit Network routes,” said Minister Caroline Mulroney. “Consequently, we have directed Metrolinx to remove legacy documents that refer to the 2008 mobility hubs, including the Guidelines.”

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward along with city council had pushed for the removal, as they believe the designations have been used to justify the overdevelopment of downtown Burlington.

“I’m happy to report today that there is no longer a provincial requirement for the mobility hub or Major Transit Station Area designation in Downtown Burlington,” said MPP Jane McKenna. “This means that Halton Region, working with the City of Burlington, can submit an amendment to the province now to remove Burlington’s downtown mobility hub and MTSA designation from the Region’s Official Plan.”


Original Story 04/27/20

Burlington could soon be able to remove the Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) and Mobility Hub designations of downtown Burlington.

In a letter to Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Gary Carr, Chair of Halton Region Council; Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation, confirmed the designations can be removed.

“There is no provincial requirement for mobility hubs to be identified in municipal official plans, including Downtown Burlington…. Therefore, the Region of Halton, working with the City of Burlington, has the ability to remove the identification of a mobility hub and an MTSA in Downtown Burlington, centred on the John Street bus terminal, from its Official Plan,” the letter reads.

Downtown Burlington’s mobility hub designation first appeared in Metrolinx documents in 2008, and it was later embedded in Region of Halton Official Plan in 2011, based on the 2008 Regional Transportation Plan, according to a statement from Meed Ward.

Further, according to Meed Ward, the designations have been used to justify the overdevelopment of downtown Burlington, which is why, she, along with Burlington City Council, are working to remove them.

According to the letter from Mulroney and Clark, this change may be made through an Official Plan Amendment right away, or during the next Municipal Comprehensive Review, which is scheduled for later in 2020.

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