[Amare]

"Sorry Oakville time to grow up; Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and the rest of the surrounding GTA have been more than pulling their own weight when it comes to absorbing population growth."

Toronto's population increase was 2.3% during the last census, Mississauga's population decreased by .5%. Oakville's went up by 10.3 in five years. It's gone up another 10% in only 3 years. Overcapacity schools, overcapacity hospital and very poor shopping just to name a few things. You can't live in a condo in that location and go anywhere else in town without a car. You can't go to Coronation Park. You can't go to Gairloch Gardens. You're basically a prisoner. If I wanted to live in a tall condo I would go to Toronto where I could walk to stuff and where there was a subway.

Yes Oakville has increased in population quite significantly over the past few years. I'm not disputing that. What i'm saying is that Oakville needs to grow UP and densify.

Most of Oakville's growth has come from "gentle density" pushes (ie: single-family housing developments) throughout the "town". To which residents barely bat an eye to and whine about. Toronto for instance on the other hand, has a few clusters that have accommodated most of the city's growth (ie: Yonge-Eglinton, South Etobicoke, the Highway 401 cluster in North York, etc.).

The point is, most of the infrastructure in the GTA is overwhelmed in one way or another (thanks to various governments diddling around and wasting time/money on various idiotic policies, instead of focusing on properly absorbing population growth). However, the region as a whole is still growing and we cant keep just shoving growth down in small geographic clusters that are literally bursting at the seems (ie: Humber Bay, Yonge and Eglinton, St.James Town, Liberty Village), while we have vast plots of land in Oakville that go untouched because "Midtown will become an unattractive centre of a doughnut that residents only use for sleeping and who will go somewhere else for work and recreation".

 

[KAR246]

^^
Exactly.

Also the argument against density in midtown could be used for VMC or MCC. Those areas don't have much around them, so why are we densifying around them? VMC doesn't have a nice park anywhere near it, and MCC doesn't even have rail service. But these areas will be getting these things in the future. Sure Midtown doesn't have great transit or parks right now, but all of those are plans for the future. Midtown is planning for what Oakville will have, not what it does at the moment.

I highly recommend taking a look at the Draft OPA for Midtown prepared by the Town of Oakville. From parks to schools to retail, it's a really good way to get an idea of what midtown will look like and what they are doing to make it a complete community. Really the only way the TOC differs from the OPA is in tower height, which as you can imagine in Oakville, residents and council are very against.

 

[Undead]

instead of focusing on properly absorbing population growth)

You mean stop the growth.

 

[just east of the creek]

Oakville Midtown has stirred lots of controversy, and to many merely attributing that ‘controversy’ to nimby thoughts. This is overstated as there are legitimate concerns with the Provinces ideas surrounding this TOC, and their over zealous use of the term ‘confidentiality’.

The attached link leads to a community site linked to other community newsletters that do raise interesting questions about the process and the planning.

it is worth a look, as again the official town plan meets provincial planning standards for density, but the TOC and the feared OLT decisions on surrounding lands, take density to a whole new level.

Community Interest Group | We Love Oakville

We Love Oakville is a community interest group concerned about Midtown Oakville.

www.weloveoakville.org

CALL TO ACTION

Email from P.J.Knight The Latest on Midtown important midtown update Reminder ... You will recall, In a surprise move, Infrastructure Ontario notified the Town of Oakville and the Region of Halton tha

myemail.constantcontact.com

 

[KAR246]

Oakville Midtown has stirred lots of controversy, and to many merely attributing that ‘controversy’ to nimby thoughts. This is overstated as there are legitimate concerns with the Provinces ideas surrounding this TOC, and their over zealous use of the term ‘confidentiality’.

The attached link leads to a community site linked to other community newsletters that do raise interesting questions about the process and the planning.

it is worth a look, as again the official town plan meets provincial planning standards for density, but the TOC and the feared OLT decisions on surrounding lands, take density to a whole new level.

Community Interest Group | We Love Oakville

We Love Oakville is a community interest group concerned about Midtown Oakville.

www.weloveoakville.org

CALL TO ACTION

Email from P.J.Knight The Latest on Midtown important midtown update Reminder ... You will recall, In a surprise move, Infrastructure Ontario notified the Town of Oakville and the Region of Halton tha

myemail.constantcontact.com

There are definitley legitimate, non-nimby oriented concerns about the TOC, for sure. Parks, community infrastructure, and provincial contribution to improving the transportation infrastructure as part of the TOC are all things I'm concerned about. However, I do think the province pushing higher densities in the area is a good thing with the area being so well connected, with GO (buses and trains), VIA and Oakville Transit.

 

[just east of the creek]

There are definitley legitimate, non-nimby oriented concerns about the TOC, for sure. Parks, community infrastructure, and provincial contribution to improving the transportation infrastructure as part of the TOC are all things I'm concerned about. However, I do think the province pushing higher densities in the area is a good thing with the area being so well connected, with GO (buses and trains), VIA and Oakville Transit.

I do not disagree with any of the above. I think one of the questions is how much more is enough. Especially if you add in some of the surrounding lands, especially if you add in developments around GO stations in Mississauga and Burlington, even Hamilton.

I have spent many years in South Oakville and walk a line where there are a lot of issues with the TOC as planned and the towns planning is being ignored to the detriment of this area.

Cheers.

 

[KAR246]

I do not disagree with any of the above. I think one of the questions is how much more is enough. Especially if you add in some of the surrounding lands, especially if you add in developments around GO stations in Mississauga and Burlington, even Hamilton.

I have spent many years in South Oakville and walk a line where there are a lot of issues with the TOC as planned and the towns planning is being ignored to the detriment of this area.

Cheers.

Yeah, the "how much density is appropriate" is a question that needs to be taken into account. Ultimately I do think that with the TOC and the other proposals in the Midtown Area, the strategy has been to start off with a dense application, then decrease it a little after recieving feedback from the town and community. Start off high, and decrease from there. The OLT is the only thing that is a little more unpredictable.

 

[KAR246]

Well, the Oakville TOC plan is now being opposed by... the government that was in charge when it was created....

Spotlight: Oakville’s future at a crossroads: Navigating growth and protecting community character

The Midtown Oakville TOC plan raises concerns—here’s what residents need to know.

www.oakvillenews.org

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

^But that's the wrong kind of big development...

 

[christiesplits]

Oakville councillors blindsided as Ford government steps in with plan for developers’ stalled condo project​

Oakville councillors blindsided as Ford government steps in with plan for developers’ stalled condo project

Oakville council members say they were blindsided by the Ontario government’s proposal to build a controversial condo-tower development.

www.thestar.com

Excerpts:

Premier Doug Ford’s government is pushing for a controversial condo-tower development in Oakville that would benefit developers while disregarding the town’s vision for the land.

The development would see 11 condo towers, ranging from 46 to 59 storeys, built in an area roughly the size of the Rogers Centre.

After Oakville did not approve the original building applications filed by the developers, the Ontario government stepped in and proposed a similar complex be built through a provincial initiative that can override local planning.

Distrikt Developments had applied to build the thicket of towers across four parcels of land, one of which is owned by a company co-directed by Christopher Bratty. Bratty is a developer who sat at Table 3 at Ford’s daughter’s September 2022 wedding, according to a copy of the reception’s seating plan.

The province’s proposal mirrors Distrikt’s blueprints — except it would allow slightly more units. The proposed transit-oriented community, or TOC, would include more than 6,900 condos, mostly one-bedrooms.

“The bigger picture here is they are consistently overruling duly elected councils, suspending good planning rules to reward their developer buddies with ultra-high densities in compact clusters of super high towers,” said Victor Doyle, an urban planner widely credited as the architect of Ontario’s Greenbelt.

“Locating density on underutilized lands next to existing transit infrastructure to meet population growth targets makes sense and is widely supported by planning professionals and Provincial policy direction,” said Emil Toma, Distrikt’s president, in an email response on behalf of Distrikt and Bratty.

 

[OakvilleGreg1]

Oakville councillors blindsided as Ford government steps in with plan for developers’ stalled condo project​

Oakville councillors blindsided as Ford government steps in with plan for developers’ stalled condo project

Oakville council members say they were blindsided by the Ontario government’s proposal to build a controversial condo-tower development.

www.thestar.com

Excerpts:

Oakville is a NIMBY city. They say no to everything.
This project is across from the GO train, and is up against the QEW. It is the best location in the city for intensification.
And it will actually be good for the city. Downtown Oakville is full of empty store fronts.... not enough people live nearby.

 

[ShonTron]

Everything about this proposal stinks.

It’s partly on the Town of Oakville, which is resisting appropriate density around the GO Station. The province – rightly – wants high density around major transit hubs.

That said, this development plan isn’t great, as it’s mostly one-bedroom condos with a lot of that density pushed right up against the QEW. The GO Station and the easy highway access are the only amenities. It’s built for profits, not for people.

But of course, this cursed provincial government is really bad at planning except for the MTSAs. They won’t override municipalities rejecting gentle density in high-demand neighbourhoods. They’re pushing sprawl especially for friendly suburban developers. And they’re approving crap high rise development like this when it’s Doug’s “buddies” trying to build them.

 

[KAR246]

Hmm, I wonder if there could be any reasoning for this article being published today... a day before the 27th.... Also find it interesting that the opposition by Crawford wasn't mentioned.

And just for clarification, I do support this higher density in the Midtown area being put forward by the province, the Town's recently approved Official Plan Amendment for the Midtown area is very conservative with density (20 storeys maximum in areas right next to the GO Station without community benefits or up to 6 FSI with community benefits, no height limit). So a handful of towers that go above this limit is fine in my opinion. That being said... I completely agree with @ShonTron on it not coming with enough amenities or community benefits (parks, retail, and why is the community centre YMCA instead of the Towns?). The high percentage of 1 bedrooms is also worrying. And up to this point there has been no promised funding for infrastructure upgrades in the area, whether that be for bike lanes, transit, or other things... You can't just force all of these responsibilities onto other Midtown developers or the Town...

 

[innsertnamehere]

Everything about this proposal stinks.

It’s partly on the Town of Oakville, which is resisting appropriate density around the GO Station. The province – rightly – wants high density around major transit hubs.

That said, this development plan isn’t great, as it’s mostly one-bedroom condos with a lot of that density pushed right up against the QEW. The GO Station and the easy highway access are the only amenities. It’s built for profits, not for people.

But of course, this cursed provincial government is really bad at planning except for the MTSAs. They won’t override municipalities rejecting gentle density in high-demand neighbourhoods. They’re pushing sprawl especially for friendly suburban developers. And they’re approving crap high rise development like this when it’s Doug’s “buddies” trying to build them.

I agree the plan needs some work - but this isn't exactly true either.

Oakville Council has gone full-NIMBY on the midtown Oakville plan. The reality is that it needs a lot of new infrastructure ($$$) and associated densities to pay for it. Oakville approved a plan for the area with heights roughly half that contemplated by Distrikt about 15 years ago and has seen 0 development since as the amount of infrastructure contributions required to service the area with new roads and sewers doesn't pencil at 20 storey development heights.

The Town is reviewing the secondary plan right now, and planning staff initially recommended much higher densities and heights more similar to what Distrikt is proposing (if not exactly the same).

Council rejected and is now trying to place a 20-storey height limit.. which will result in the same thing that has happened for the last 15 years in midtown Oakville - nothing.

Midtown Oakville is much like Vaughan Metro Centre - it has little in the way of amenities today but the Town has plans for it including schools, parks, and amenities. You have to start somewhere, and directing growth next to the second-busiest GO station in the GTA and on a planned bus-rapid-transit corridor (eventually) on Trafalgar with excellent highway access simply makes sense.

We have to make sure we are getting the services right for the area in terms of amenities - but the densities and heights contemplated here are not problematic in my view. The province is stepping in as Oakville Council is going NIMBY and trying to keep Oakville expensive and price exclusive.

 

[KAR246]

I agree the plan needs some work - but this isn't exactly true either.

Oakville Council has gone full-NIMBY on the midtown Oakville plan. The reality is that it needs a lot of new infrastructure ($$$) and associated densities to pay for it. Oakville approved a plan for the area with heights roughly half that contemplated by Distrikt about 15 years ago and has seen 0 development since as the amount of infrastructure contributions required to service the area with new roads and sewers doesn't pencil at 20 storey development heights.

The Town is reviewing the secondary plan right now, and planning staff initially recommended much higher densities and heights more similar to what Distrikt is proposing (if not exactly the same).

Council rejected and is now trying to place a 25-storey height limit.. which will result in the same thing that has happened for the last 15 years in midtown Oakville - nothing.

Midtown Oakville is much like Vaughan Metro Centre - it has little in the way of amenities today but the Town has plans for it including schools, parks, and amenities. You have to start somewhere, and directing growth next to the second-busiest GO station in the GTA and on a planned bus-rapid-transit corridor (eventually) on Trafalgar with excellent highway access simply makes sense.

We have to make sure we are getting the services right for the area in terms of amenities - but the densities and heights contemplated here are not problematic in my view. The province is stepping in as Oakville Council is going NIMBY and trying to keep Oakville expensive and price exclusive.

The Midtown Secondary Plan has actually been endorsed unanimously by council recently, as mentioned in the article. It only needs to get approval from the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing now. But yes, its extremely conservative in terms of density. Also, before this secondary plan there wasn't much in terms of a plan for development in the area. This new plan is incredibly detailed and comes with the new Community Permit Planning System, which will allow for developers to easily request more density by providing community benefits. Frankly I quite like the plan besides the density, everything else in it is quite good for creating a livable, complete community.