Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: September 12, 2023
CASE NO(S).: OLT-22-004373
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended
Applicant/Appellant: RGF (Mississauga) Developments Inc.
Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description: To remove the identification of a local road and replacement with a pedestrian mews
Reference Number: OPA 21-21 W4
Property Address: 325 Burnhamthorpe Road West
Municipality/UT: Mississauga/Peel
OLT Case No: OLT-22-004373
OLT Lead Case No: OLT-22-004373
OLT Case Name: RGF (Mississauga) Developments Inc. v. Mississauga (City)
Heard: August 9, 2023 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
RGF (Mississauga) Developments Inc.
P. DeMelo
City of Mississauga
A. Whyte L. Magi (in absentia)
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY P. TOmilin on august 9, 2023 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
Link To Order
INTRODUCTION
1This was a hearing with respect to the appeal by RGF (Mississauga) Developments Inc. (“Applicant” / “Appellant”) from the failure of the City of Mississauga (“City”) to make a decision on an application for an Official Plan Amendment (“OPA”), pursuant to s. 22(7) of the Planning Act (“Act”), for the property located at 325 Burnhamthorpe Road West (“Site” / “subject property”). The Parties have resolved their issues.
2The purpose and effect of the OPA is to amend Schedule 10 of the City’s Official Plan, and Schedules 1-5 of the Downtown Core Local Area Plan by replacing the planned local road with a pedestrian easement (“mews”).
3Lauren Capilongo, a Registered Professional Planner, provided a Sworn Affidavit (Exhibit 1) and was qualified by the Tribunal to provide land use planning opinion evidence in relation to the matter under appeal. Ms. Capilongo delivered a detailed contextual and land use planning rationale in support of the settlement.
SITE CONTEXT
4The Site has approximately 183 metres (“m”) of frontage along both Burnhamthorpe Road West and City Centre Drive, and approximately 101 m of frontage along both Confederation Parkway and Living Arts Drive, and comprises a total gross floor area of approximately 1.82 hectares (4.51 acres). The subject property is currently occupied by the Mississauga YMCA facility, a three-storey recreation centre on the east side, and by a surface parking lot on the west, and is located within City’s Downtown Core.
SURROUNDING CONTEXT
5The Site is surrounded by a variety of residential, commercial, and institutional uses. The subject property is serviced by Mississauga Transit bus routes at the intersection of Burnhamthorpe Road West and Confederation Parkway, and the Square One Bus Terminal.
6To the north of the Site are the City Hall, Community Common Park, and residential buildings, some of them still under construction.
7To the east are the Hazel McCallion Central Library, Mississauga Celebration Square and Square One Shopping Centre.
8To the west are existing high-rise, mixed-use developments.
9To the south are commercial and office buildings, existing mixed-use developments and other mixed-use developments that are under construction.
DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL
10The redevelopment plan proposes a two-phase, mixed-use development totalling five (5) high-rise towers, a four -storey underground parking garage, a stratified public park, and a pedestrian mews bisecting the subject property.
11Phase One will replace the existing parking lot with three towers built on a six-storey podium, on the western half of the Site.
12Phase Two will consist of two towers built on a seven-storey podium, on the eastern part of the subject property.
13A pedestrian mews up to 14 m in width will separate two halves of the development, bordering a new 1,822.43 square metres (“m²”) stratified public park. The pedestrian mews will connect Burnhamthorpe Road West and City Centre Drive, and will provide access to building lobbies and divide the proposed development into two blocks, serving as separate phases. The proposed pedestrian mews will be constructed in the second phase of the development, will be publicly accessible and will be subject to an easement agreement registered on Title.
14Upon completion, the development will provide a total of 9,041 m² of space for indoor and outdoor amenities.
PROPOSED OPA
15Ms. Capilongo explained that the agreement reached between the Appellant and the City, which includes revisions to the OPA to include identification of the proposed stratified public park and a path to revise and resolve the appeal of the Site Plan Approval (“SPA”) application. A new Special Site Policy under s.12.0 of the Downtown Core Local Area Plan (“DLAP”) is proposed to identify the general location, size, and width of the proposed pedestrian mews and the stratified public park.
16Ms. Capilongo proffered that no other amendments to the Mississauga Official Plan (“MOP”) or DLAP are necessary to permit the built form, height, density, or massing of the development.
17It is her opinion that the replacement of the planned local road with a pedestrian mews respects the overall intent and vision of the MOP and the DLAP by encouraging pedestrian and cyclist access and connectivity with adjacent blocks. She pointed out that the blocks to the north of the subject property do not have existing or planned local roads bisecting those blocks. Thus, in her opinion, it is appropriate to replace the planned local road on the Site with a pedestrian mews.
18Ms. Capilongo stated that the proposed development is compatible with the existing surrounding context, and meets the overall intent of provincial, regional, and municipal planning policies, and is supported by the submitted technical studies, which includes a Transportation Impact Study prepared by LEA Consulting, assessing the potential transportation impacts of replacing the planned future road with a pedestrian mews.
PLANNING RATIONALE
19The planning documents related to these amendments are s. 2 of the Act, the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 (“PPS”), the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2019 (“Growth Plan”), the Peel Region Official Plan (“ROP”), the policies of the MOP and DLAP.
20The Tribunal accepts the following findings, based on Ms. Capilongo’s uncontroverted evidence.
21The proposed development has appropriate regard for the matters of Provincial interest in s. 2 of the Act, is consistent with the PPS, conforms to the ROP, MOP and DLAP and overall, represents good land use planning. For a more detailed report, please see Exhibit 1.
ORDER
22THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS that the Appeal is allowed in part, and the Official Plan for the City of Mississauga is amended as set out in Schedule 1 to this Order.
23The Clerk of the City of Mississauga may format and number the amendments for record-keeping purposes.
“P. Tomilin”
P. TOMILIN
MEMBER
Ontario Land Tribunal
Website: www.olt.gov.on.ca Telephone: 416-212-6349 Toll Free: 1-866-448-2248
The Conservation Review Board, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Mining and Lands Tribunal are amalgamated and continued as the Ontario Land Tribunal (“Tribunal”). Any reference to the preceding tribunals or the former Ontario Municipal Board is deemed to be a reference to the Tribunal.
SCHEDULE 1