Halton Hills Council is throwing its support behind a land use plan that would double to triple the number of people living around the Georgetown GO station in the next 25 to 30 years.
The Town is mandated by the provincial government to intensify areas around major transit hubs, like the Georgetown GO station. Even with the land use plan put forward - endorsed in principle by council this week - Halton Hills would not meet the provincial target of 150 people and jobs per hectare.
Currently there are 36 people and jobs/hectare in the area under review. That would increase to 45 to 68 people and jobs/hectare by 2031, 64 to 99 by 2041 and 82 to 126 by 2051.
The Town will be holding its fourth public open house on the topic Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 6:30 p.m. at the Mold-Masters SportsPlex.
The preferred land use plan will be used to create a draft of the Georgetown GO Station Area/Mill Street Corridor Secondary Plan. Under the preferred land use plan, three areas are designated for high-density buildings. The area bordered by Mountainview Road, River Drive and the railroad tracks would allow buildings 12 to 16 stories high. That site alone could accommodate 2,000 people.
The area directly north of the station bordered by River Drive, Caroline and Rosetta Streets, would allow for 12-storey buildings. Developer Lev Living has already submitted plans to the Town for three condominium buildings, two 12-storey and one eight-storey building.
The third property is the southwest corner of Guelph Street and Maple Avenue, currently occupied by the post office and Gary Allan High School. It would allow a maximum height of 10 stories.
John Linhardt, Commissioner, Planning and Development for the Town, said that corner is already designated for high density, explaining that at one time the former Wrigglesworth School was deemed surplus by the Halton District School Board and was to be sold before being converted into Gary Allan.
“Things can change over the horizon,” Lindhardt said. “This is really identifying an opportunity, should things change within this area. This would be a good site for development given the Guelph Street location.”
The land south of the GO station would remain largely unchanged due to it being an established neighbourhood with little opportunity for development.
Overall, Town senior planner Keith Hamilton said with a few exceptions, the land use plan does not differ greatly from what is currently allowed.
“The designations in the draft land use plan largely reflect the current designations in place with density and height permissions either matching or proposing modest increases,” he said.
Mayor Ann Lawlor said there were still too many big question marks to move forward with the plan and put a motion forward to defer council’s decision on it until March to allow for more public consultation. She said some of the information caught her by surprise and wondered if council was moving too fast on such an important planning issue.
“I think if I was not aware of it, there has to be a lot of other people who are not aware of how this project and this set of studies has unfolded,” Lawlor said.
Councillors Jane Fogal and Chantal Garneau supported delaying council’s decision until after the next public open house.
“Given how big this is, and this is infill, it’s right in people’s neighbourhoods, I think we need a higher degree of helping people understand what it is,” Fogal said.
Several councillors were opposed to deferring the decision.
Clark Somerville said the plan had been in the works for two and a half years and there was no need to delay it further.
“There’s no better place in our town to intensify than this area” said Councillor Joseph Racinsky. “We’re simply updating our plan, and this isn’t the final secondary plan, it’s just the preferred land use, so we need to keep the ball rolling.”
Hamilton did list the ways the Town has been updating residents, including open houses, the most recent attended by 60 people, consulting with two neighbourhood groups throughout the process and updating the Town’s website with revisions to the plan and study results.
He did say in his opening remarks that “density, height and policy directives are preliminary and subject to change in the next phase.”
Council voted down the motion to defer its decision on the preferred land use plan.
