Work continues on the plans for Midtown Oakville, with council reviewing the latest draft at their meeting last week.
Oakville’s new draft Official Plan Amendment (OPA) for Midtown Oakville went before Town Council on Oct. 29, 2024, where town staff responded to questions from Oakville Town Council, and engaged with members of the public gathering valuable feedback on the updated OPA and its changes.
Town Staff will next bring forward a suggested OPA at a statutory public meeting hosted by the Planning and Development Council in January 2025.
A decision from council on that amendment is expected after that public meeting early next year.
But before 2024 is over, town staff say "an open house will be held for members of the public to interact with Town Staff and have the opportunity to ask questions about the new Midtown draft."
Back on Oct. 10, town planning staff brought their new Midtown OPA draft to Council and answered their questions about change.
Oakville News first reported on the requests council was making, and council's concerns about interference from the provincial government.
Read more here: Town to demand community benefits in exchange for super tall towers
Staff say the purpose of the OPA draft is to, "modernize the land use policies for Midtown Oakville in the Livable Oakville Plan to the year 2051 and beyond."
This all began back on September 26, 2024, when Town sent a new Draft Midtown OPA to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) for comment. The ministry’s commenting period requires a 90-day review, which must be followed up by a 20-day public notice period prior to Council’s hosting of a statutory public meeting on the OPA.
As previously talked about here:
"Town planning staff’s new draft Official Plan Amendment blends new research with public input and Ontario legislation," said Mayor Rob Burton. "The draft reflects our town’s clear vision for livability and sustainability."
This new draft OPA gives a major update on how this area of Oakville will grow over the next decade and shows the development and the change of a new livable community in Oakville.
Oakville staff say this OPA "integrates increased research and important findings that were gathered over the past months."
In addition, a sizable update in this new draft is the incorporation of Community Planning Permit System (CPPS) allowing policies that will allow the town and more developers to work as a group so they can achieve a common goal regarding mixed land use, affordable housing and more.
The CPPS is a tool that is new to Oakville and can help start the development process.
All together, the new draft OPA retains plenty of positive attributes that were included in the first Official Plan policies for Midtown and will also be responsive to current and future social, economic, and environmental needs of Oakville and helps the vision of Midtown.
Key updates in the new draft Midtown OPA include:
- Height threshold and density management: Similar to the already existing official plan policies, new expansion is subject to new height dimensions in the new draft Midtown OPA. rises to height thresholds may be thought of as part of the progress permit approval authorized through a Community Permit Planning System.
- Updated population numbers: Based on the current status of market conditions and and demographic trends, the new trajectory for Midtown Oakville results in an estimation of 29,900 residents and jobs by 2051. The past goal set in the 2009 livable Oakville plan was 20,000 residents and jobs by the year 2031. The Town is aware that population projections are subject to change, and it is significant to keep that in mind for long-term projects that will span over two to three decades.
- Community benefits: The new draft Midtown Oakville OPA continues to advocate for parks and open spaces and present further togetherness to the rest of Oakville through pedestrian, cycling, and transit developments. Through new policies, the OPA also delivers direction regarding the provision of community amenities, a wide mix of land use, and choices for diverse and affordable housing.
All conversations about the draft can be seen in the video below from Oakville town council:
More information is online at oakville.ca/midtown.
Kim Arnott, Lukas Bernasiewicz and Tyler Collins all contributed reporting to this story.