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Thank you for your support!
Dear Honourable Premier Doug Ford, the Honourable Paul Calandra, the Honourable Doug Downey, the Honourable Parm Gill, MPP Effie Triantafilopoulos, MPP Natalie Pierre, MPP Matthew Rae,
The City of Burlington has completed a thorough review of Millcroft Greens’ development proposal, including a stormwater peer review. At its December 13, 2022 meeting, Burlington City Council unanimously declared its opposition to the proposed residential development of Areas A, B, C, and D of the Millcroft golf course, and supported in principle the proposed residential development of Area E.
The key reasons the City opposed Areas A, B, C, and D are as follows:
These areas are critically important to the storm water management and flood prevention in the Millcroft neighbourhood;
These areas serve individually and collectively as vital pockets of existing green space for Burlington residents;
In the Burlington Official Plan, these areas are and have always been zoned as major parks and open space;
City of Burlington recently commissioned an independent evaluation of policies surrounding parkland, which concluded that there is a parkland deficiency in Burlington. This potential development would only increase the existing deficiency;
This proposed development would add 90 homes, each that we expect to sell presumably between $2 million to $3 million. This would have little to no impact with the affordable housing crisis in Ontario;
Burlington City Council is committed to accommodating its share of growth as set by the provincial government without developing parkland and open space, but instead concentrating development near transit corridors;
Burlington City Council has unanimously declared a climate emergency, and to honour this philosophy, is committed to protecting greenspace and not build on floodplains.
In light of the foregoing, on September 26, 2023, the City of Burlington sent a resolution to Premier Doug Ford, as well as the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to do the following:
to advise the Ontario Land Tribunal under section 22(11.1) and section 34(27) of the Planning Act that a matter of provincial interest is, or is likely to be, adversely affected by the amendments in respect of which the appeals are made regarding Millcroft Greens’ proposed Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments and related plan of subdivision (OLT-22-004149); and
to attend the Ontario Land Tribunal hearing in support of the City’s position; and
to use all resources and tools at its disposal to confirm the Province’s interest in the Millcroft Golf Club golf course, including introducing legislation and preparing a development plan under the Ontario Planning and Development Act to protect and preserve the existing uses of Areas A to D; and
to issue a Minister’s Zoning Order under Section 47 of the Planning Act to facilitate appropriate residential development in Area E and ensure the protection of the greenspace and natural areas from re-development of Areas A, B, C and D on the Millcroft Golf Club golf course; and
to confirm that the Minister has the authority to issue a community infrastructure and housing accelerator order under section 34.1 of the Planning Act to (i) facilitate appropriate residential development in Area E, and (ii) protect and provide community infrastructure in Areas A to D, including green space that supports the quality of life for residents of the City, upon receipt of a resolution passed by Burlington City Council requesting such an order.
Although Minister Calandra has advised that he does not wish to comment on the application while it is before a legal tribunal, the language of the planning act gives him the authority to do exactly that, and we, as his constituents, plead that he exercise the powers afforded to him in this regard.
We strongly support the City in its pursuit of a having a provincial interest declared in Millcroft’s open space for posterity and for the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs to stop the Ontario Land Tribunal process for this application, which is an unnecessary cost to all parties involved and will permanently and irreversibly destroy Burlington’s already limited green space.
Yours sincerely,