Public Land Could Lower Midtown Oakville Towers to 38 Storeys

The towers planned beside the Oakville GO Station could come down from 56 storeys to 38, and the way to get there may be public land next door. Mayor Rob Burton confirmed during his State of the Town address on September 21 that using that land to widen the footprint of the province's transit-oriented community project is on the table.

The province passed minister's zoning orders on April 9 that allow Distrikt Developments to put 11 buildings of 45 to 56 storeys on the 4.9-hectare Midtown site. At the same time it promised to work with the town and other affected partners on changes that would cap the buildings at 38 storeys. The unit count, more than 6,800 homes, would stay the same, and so would the community benefits tied to the project.

"The idea in the province's promise, in plain words, is spread the homes over more land so no tower has to stand so tall," Burton said. He added that there is enough public land already designated for residential growth to do this without giving up parkland planned under OPA 70, the town-approved plan covering the whole 103-hectare Midtown area. He did not say where the land is or whether the town or the province owns the parcels. Anything built on them would also stop at 38 storeys.

Two residents' groups, We Love Oakville and the Coronation Park Residents' Association, have already objected to that trade. They argue flight path restrictions rule out 56-storey buildings in this area regardless, so the town should not have to give up public land to solve the problem for the province and the developer. The province says the 38-storey maximum came out of consultations with the town and the public.

Burton described his talks with the province and the developer as moving in a "constructive, good faith direction" and said he now expects a proposal to reach the incoming council, which will decide whether to accept or reject the plan.

The rest of the address

Upgrade work is under way at the Oakville GO Station, and Burton said the Minister of Transportation and his parliamentary assistant have reassured him that the Royal Windsor Interchange at the QEW, the Kerr Street underpass and the eastward expansion of the station will "be there when we need them." He gave no completion dates. Provincial land across northwest Oakville will be available for the town to add parkland, with the first parcel already approved, and the province also has a new Halton Courthouse and a science and laboratory operations facility planned here. Oakville Enterprises, the town-owned utilities corporation, paid the town a $12.2-million dividend this year, money the mayor said will help fund the Downtown Cultural Hub, a new central library and performing arts centre, an eighth community centre and new streetscapes in Kerr Village and Bronte.