Burlington Update

[thomax]

A thread for any updates about Burlington that don't require their own separate thread.

[thomax]

Brant Street Pier Construction Update


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What the finished pier will look like:

The pier will be illuminated with lights that change their pattern and their colour whenever the software tells them to change:

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An artists rendering of what the completed pier is going to look like. Those brown rails will be painted blue:

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The beacon:

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[thistleclub]

City releases update around pier legal battle
(Burlington Post, June 19 2013)

The Brant Street Pier is now finished, but the city’s legal battle over the project continues.

The city released an update this week as it prepares for its court appearance on Friday (June 21) in Milton to address scheduling and procedure.

Andy McLauchlin of McLauchlin & Associates will represent the city.

The five lawsuits around the project are:

• Harm Schilthuis and Sons Limited vs. the Corporation of the City of Burlington

• The Corporation of the City of Burlington vs. Zurich Insurance Company Ltd.

• The Corporation of the City of Burlington vs. Harm Schilthuis and Sons Ltd., Aecom Canada Ltd., Lombard General Insurance Company of Canada, P.V &V Insurance Centre Ltd. et al (Insurance Claim)

• The Corporation of the City of Burlington vs. Aecom Canada Ltd.

• Harm Schilthuis and Sons Ltd. vs. Lombard General Insurance Company of Canada, P.V. & V Insurance Centre Ltd., the Corporation of the City of Burlington, Craneway Equipment Ltd. (Insurance Claim)

The pre-2011 pier project parties are in the examination for discovery phase of the legal action. Examinations for discovery should be completed in early fall 2013.

The city says it would prefer to pursue voluntary mediation at this point.

[Dwils01]

Burlington
Plains Road and Waterdown Road


Plains Road and Howard Road


Brock Avenue and Elgin Street


Pearl and Pine Residences


Brant Street Pier


Appleby Line and Ironstone Drive


Ironstone Condominium


Pictures by me.

[ScreamingViking]

Thanks! Nice pics.

It will be very interesting to see what happens on Plains Rd. with all these buildings going up in Aldershot. So far, I don't feel like what has been built has changed the urban environment much, but that may take time.

Same goes for downtown - with the new building on Pearl and the forthcoming development on the waterfront... though I'm not sure many people want to see a lot of change downtown. Burlington would benefit from more employment downtown, but unfortunately it's hard to compete with the office parks along the QEW.

Re: the pier, it is a terrific addition to the waterfront, for all the headaches and delays. It offers a great view too, with new perspectives of the lake (and hometown )

[thistleclub]

The Burlington Post recently ran a substantial (3,700-word) two-part overview of the development that has been taking place in Aldershot.

In Plain View: Transforming Aldershot - Part 1
(Burlington Post, Tina Depko-Denver, Aug 19 2013)

Twelve years ago, Aldershot’s Plains Road corridor had 11 used car dealerships, seven abandoned gas stations, aging motels, empty storefronts, two adult massage parlours and two adult video stores.

The route, which was converted from King's Hwy. 2 to a road in the mid-1990s, still had the feel and look of an old highway.

The Aldershot Community Council decided in the late 1990s they had enough and wanted to transform the seven-kilometre stretch of Plains Road between the Royal Botanical Gardens and IKEA.

As a result, the Plains Road Village Vision Committee was born in 2001. The committee combined the passion of residents with the resources of Aldershot businesses, the City of Burlington and Halton Region.

Fast-forward to 2013 and Plains Road is well on its way to becoming the main street the committee first envisioned.

New developments, both residential and commercial, have sprung up with a number of others in the building process. There are areas featuring updated landscaping, flower-planted medians, a gazebo, new sections of wider sidewalks and additional benches....

There are several objectives of the Plains Road Village Vision regarding the corridor’s redevelopment.

Among these are new developments built close to the street, wider sidewalks, increased mixed-use development and retail/commercial space, parking lots at the side or back of new developments, natural-coloured building materials like stone and brick, increased landscaping and more services for residents.

The mixed-use corridor and urban development guidelines established by the city’s planning and development department help ensure builders are consistent with the Plains Road Village Vision.

The area’s redevelopment has garnered the attention and respect of area politicians, such as Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring.

“When you look at what is there now, the improvement is significant,” said Goldring.”We’re transitioning Plains Road from a ’50s, ’60s suburban highway into an urban main street. There’s still a lot of work to do, but the progress has been absolutely fantastic.”


Here's the article in full, as well as the companion article.

[thistleclub]

Waterfront park development plans leaving Burlington home owners unsettled
(Globe & Mail, Dakshana Bascaramurty, Sept 6 2013)

In the past four decades, Jim and Marie Milners’ neighbourhood along the beach in Burlington, Ont., has been picked apart. Their street and the ones that connect to it have become gap-toothed smiles: a smattering of houses interrupted by several empty lots. Dozens of neighbours have left, and their homes were bulldozed to the ground. For such prime waterfront real estate, it doesn’t add up.

In 1976, the Region of Halton created a policy to buy out the homes along Burlington beach with a plan to expand public parkland. Many of the houses that bordered the water were on leased land, so when leases were up, residents were forced out. Thirty homes remain – including the Milners’ – and residents have dug in their heels. After decades of limbo, they came closer Friday night to learning the fate of their houses.

Facing this steely opposition, the three partners in the development of the waterfront park (the City of Burlington, the Region of Halton and Conservation Halton) may finally introduce a timeline on acquiring the remaining homes, as well as dedicate funds to move forward with waterfront development plans.

A city staff report released Friday night recommends the purchase of only four properties of the 30 identified within a 10-year period. The report will be discussed by council next week. It’s a position Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring says he largely supports, although he says he wants clarity on how long the identified homes could remain occupied.

While the three waterfront partners have not yet established a plan for what they would do with the land, Mr. Goldring says one of the priorities for improving the beach is widening the two-kilometre stretch of pathway that winds alongside the Lake Ontario shore.

The path is the dividing line between what is currently public property – the cluster of trees and bushes on top of sand dunes that borders the beach – and private property – the residents’ fenced-in backyards.

“These homes do not impede anybody from using the beach,” Mr. Milner said.

On a weekday afternoon, the long stretch of freshly groomed sand is mostly empty, save for a few sunbathers who are sitting down the beach, closer to downtown Burlington. Down the road from the remaining beachfront houses are several parking lots with cleared pathways that take visitors to the beach.

Another possible plan as outlined in the City of Burlington’s recent staff report is moving parking lots from the side of Lakeshore Road that is closest to the beach to the other side, where most of the waterfront homes in question are.

Conservation Halton points to reasons for wanting the land that go beyond improving access to the beach. In a report, it highlighted the ecological significance of the property (which is home to many species of wildlife and plants) and the need to protect it. It also notes that the homes in question are in a zone at risk for flooding....

Next week, Burlington council will debate the issue; on Sept. 23, councillors will vote on whether the beachfront homes should be purchased to increase parkland. The matter will then go to the Region of Halton in October for final approval.

[thistleclub]

Burlington Post appealing city’s refusal to release legal costs of pier
(Burlington Post, Tina Depko-Denver, Nov 22 2013)

The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has assigned a mediator after reviewing an appeal from the Burlington Post that the City of Burlington provide all confidential documents containing external legal costs for the Brant Street Pier.

The Post filed a freedom of information request for the documents with the city in late September.

City staff responded in late October that access to 36 related records was denied. The records date from 2009 through to this spring.

Staff cited two sections of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection Privacy Act, one being solicitor-client privilege.

The other section provides an exemption for record disclosure that would reveal the substance of deliberations in a meeting that was closed to the public.

The city has a policy where council decides whether total external legal costs, aside from the city's legal staff, will be released, but only at the conclusion of the matter.

Dates for the Brant Street Pier litigation have been set well into 2014.

[thistleclub]

Committee approves reducing speed on three Burlington streets
(Burlington Post, Tina Depko-Denver, Dec 3 2013)

Residents of Wilson Avenue gave the Development and Infrastructure Committee a round of applause on Monday night after councillors approved reducing the street’s speed limit to 40 km/h from 50 km/h.

If approved by council next week, the change is temporary until the residential street goes under review for traffic calming. The review will likely happen in the first quarter of 2015 due to what staff says is a backlog of requests.

There are 62 streets on the list, with Wilson Avenue now sitting at number 62. Eleven reviews have recently been completed, with nine in progress, leaving 42 waiting to be addressed.

Wilson Avenue was initially not a recommended street for speed limit changes under the city’s annual speed limit review.

Staff supported a decrease to 40 km/h from 50 km/h on Janina Boulevard from Ester Drive to its southern limit, as well as the same reduction in speed on Blythewood Road from Spruce Avenue to the north leg of Dunvegan Road.

Committee approved both speed limit reductions.

Allan Hursh, who represented Wilson Avenue residents in his delegation Monday night, said there are concerns for pedestrian safety as the street does not have sidewalks. Residents don’t want sidewalks, rather a reduced speed limit, he said.

Hursh added there has been an increase in pedestrian traffic with children, parents with strollers and dog walkers using the street in higher numbers. There have also been more drivers using the street as a cut-through route, he said.

“I believe all streets in the city that do not have sidewalks should be a 40 km/h zone,” said Hursh, who has lived on Wilson Avenue for 13 years. “We live in a neighbourhood where our demographics are changing. We now have a much higher population of young kids.”

Wilson Avenue was one of 20 streets that was part of the annual speed limit review.

[thistleclub]

King Road underpass opening Friday
(Burlington Post, Dec 11 2013)

Drivers and residents in Aldershot are likely happy to hear the King Road underpass will open on Friday (Dec. 13) afternoon.

A reception will be held on site at 3 p.m., with comments from local politicians and city staff at 3:30 p.m.

Neighbouring residents and businesses have been invited to celebrate the opening and participant in a parade of vehicles through the underpass to mark the opening. The parade will start at 3:45.

The road will be open to traffic at 5 p.m. following the ceremony.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $35 million with $9.8 million from the City, $1 million from the Region of Halton and $24.2 million from CN.

The first phase of construction for the project, which involved installing a large storm sewer to drain the underpass, started in November 2010.

[thistleclub]

Road project brings down an Aldershot landmark
(Hamilton Spectator, Daniel Nolan, Dec 23 2014)

Aldershot residents will see a big change at the main intersection of their community next month.

Murray's Variety is coming down, likely starting Jan. 15, to make way for the widening and reconstruction of Waterdown Road from Plains Road to Masonry Court, south of the Aldershot GO Transit/Via Rail station.

There'll be no more runs to get ice cream cones from the store, which still carries the sign proclaiming 28 flavours. Lottery tickets, cigarettes and milk will have to be bought elsewhere. There has been a store at the northeast corner since 1913....

The reconstruction is set to start in March. It will include widening the roadway to five lanes, utility relocations, bike lanes and new water main and storm sewer installation. Work will require the closure of that section of Waterdown Road from May-October. Completion is set for May 2016.

A detour will see motorists use Cooke Boulevard to access Masonry Court and then Waterdown Road.

Construction should be done before work begins on the widening of Waterdown Road from Highway 403 to Waterdown to accommodate residential growth. The estimated $23.3 million project will see the road span three lanes from the North Service Road to Mountain Brow Boulevard, then east to a new road linking Mountain Brow to Burke Street and Dundas Street.

Read it in full here.

[johnnyhamont]

Never noticed construction by Aldershot GO until today... Anyone know what's being built there?

[king10]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

Never noticed construction by Aldershot GO until today... Anyone know what's being built there?

I’m assuming its this?

Metrolinx could add 900 parking spots at Aldershot GO Station, Craven says

https://www.insidehalton.com/news-st...n-craven-says/

[King&James]

All the construction with the 2 cranes is:

https://adidevelopments.com/community/the-west/

[Innsertnamehere]

ADI is building a bunch of stacked town homes and a few 6 storey mid rises. Right now they are just the stacked towns above grade, at least what I can see from the 403.

[johnnyhamont]

There's not already a thread for this is there? Either way, any timeline updates?

https://www.burlington.ca/en/service...evelopment.asp
https://www.inhalton.com/are-major-c...-neighbourhood
https://www.insidehalton.com/news-st...urt-residents/

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by King&James

All the construction with the 2 cranes is:

https://adidevelopments.com/community/the-west/

Thanks! Very interesting, I did not previously know about that. I'm curious (assuming Metrolinx would be the owner of all parking lot property around GO stations, right?), would this development and the Paradigm Condos be the result of Metrolinx selling off their land to developers building these?

[thistleclub]

Population density concerns grip City of Burlington residents as new waterfront development is approved
(The Globe and Mail, Oliver Moore, Mar 15 2019)

The biggest development bogeyman in this city west of Toronto is a building that hasn’t been built, a site now distinguished only by construction debris, muddy snow and bits of litter.

But the 26-storey tower slated for near Burlington’s waterfront – a building approved by a provincial tribunal, over the city’s objections – has ruffled so many feathers that the new mayor and council voted this month to clamp down on development.

For one year, and possibly more, the city won’t approve any development applications in an broad area that stretches from Lake Ontario north past the Burlington GO train station. Staff will use the time to try to assess the city’s land-use policies, which politicians hope will strengthen their hand in future development disputes by giving them the data they need to push back. And the ultimate goal is maintaining the current feel in the centre of this city of 185,000.

The development debate in Burlington is one that reflects growth across the Greater Toronto Area, which is expected to receive roughly 2.8 million new residents by 2041, according to provincial projections. How to accommodate these people – who will be looking for housing they can afford and a commute that isn’t too terrible – is one of the biggest issues facing the region.

“If we just have highrises everywhere in the downtown, you lose your sun, you lose that small-town feel where people know each other’s name,” said Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, who displaced two-term incumbent Rick Goldring in a fall election that she described as hinging on development concerns.

“We had a comprehensive five-point platform that we would talk about at the doors," she added, in an interview at her office. "And the residents wanted to talk about overdevelopment in their neighbourhoods and downtown in particular, and a sense that they were losing what made Burlington unique and why they moved to Burlington in the first place if they’re not from here. We heard that everywhere.”

…Weighing heavily on the broader debate about accommodating the people expected to come to the Greater Toronto Area is the history of a region traditionally reliant on single-family homes as its dominant form of real estate.

It’s an approach requiring swaths of land that are in increasingly short supply. Burlington is one of several GTA communities where new greenfield building sites are essentially used up, making its downtown development freeze more meaningful.

“When you cut off supply, we know what that does to the price of houses,” warned Suzanne Mammel, executive director of the Hamilton-Halton Home Builders’ Association.

“The average homeowner, they want to move to Burlington, supply has now dwindled. So we know that, based on pure economics, the prices will go up. And that makes it harder for people who want to live here.”


Read it in full here.

[realcity]

Big time NIMBY the new mayor is.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

[B] growth across the Greater Toronto Area, which is expected to receive roughly 2.8 million new residents by 2041, according to provincial projections.

PUT SOME IN HAMILTON ugh GTA is expanding by 2.8 million and is going through a housing crisis and does not need more people with it's 1.5-2 hour commutes, while here's Hamilton, not enough people to justify employers coming downtown, and expected growth of ~200,000 in the same time. Ie 8% of the GTA's growth at the high end.