A provincial plan to allow 11 towers of up to 59 storeys to be built around the Oakville GO station got a rough ride at yesterday's Midtown Oakville open house.
Several dozen protesters braved the blustery weather last night, Dec. 12, 2024, to stand out front of the Argus Road Holiday Inn property, where three towers of 47 to 55 storeys are proposed.
Inside, nearly 200 residents gathered to view details of the provincial plan – known as the Oakville TOC (transit-oriented community) – which would allow Distrikt Developments to build 6,900 units on five hectares of land.
At the open house, the Distrikt vice-president called their plans "reasonable." The community group We Love Oakville (WLO), however, insists the proposed plans are anything but.
The TOC proposal, developed behind closed doors and released publicly last month, would override Oakville’s local planning process.
Read more here: Province’s tall tower Midtown plan will ruin Oakville, warns community group
We Love Oakville (WLO) warns that bringing as many as 14,000 new residents to a small area without road capacity, parkland or community facilities risks dooming the vision of a livable Midtown to failure.
"Midtown will become an unattractive centre of a doughnut that residents only use for sleeping and who will go somewhere else for work and recreation," it says, in a recent letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Oakville MP Stephen Crawford.
About 2,500 letters have already been sent to the province through the We Love Oakville website, said WLO spokesperson George Niblock.
The group is ramping up the pressure with a two-day text blitz, running until this Saturday, Dec. 14.
WLO wants residents to tell Ford to stop the Oakville TOC and let the town develop a comprehensive plan for the entire Midtown area.
The town’s current plan, which is outlined in the form of an Official Plan Amendment (OPA), is set to go before council for final approval early next year.
It calls for the redevelopment of the roughly one square kilometre area around the Oakville GO station into a dense, walkable and urban neighbourhood.
The vision is for a largely mid-rise future for the area, with specific community benefits to be required in exchange for building heights over 20 storeys.
'Without reasonable progress'
But Distrikt vice-president Marcus Boekelman said the town’s planning is too slow and its ambitions for the area too modest.
He said his company was approached by Infrastructure Ontario to develop the TOC proposal "after we had been working with the town for years without reasonable progress toward a reasonable OPA that would allow some reasonable intensification."
With buildings as tall as 32 storeys already planned for Trafalgar and Dundas, Boekelman said the proposed TOC heights of 46 to 59 storeys are reasonable for an area so close to the busy GO station.
He added that the buildings – which critics have noted will be 65 per cent studio and one-bedroom apartments – will provide housing opportunities for younger people.
Acknowledging that the plans reflect "a big change" for Oakville, Boekelman added that the development will take a decade or longer to complete.
"We’re excited to play a role in Oakville’s future growth and development," he said.
Residents attending the open house said they are alarmed with the density of the plan, the traffic impact of thousands of new residents and the lack of public consultation on the TOC plan.
Ward 3 councillor Janet Haslett-Theall said she was grateful to see so many people from across Oakville come out to tell the province that the TOC is not in sync with good development.
"This isn’t acceptable," she said, suggesting that Distrikt’s plans should be scaled into a more moderate form. "We can achieve reasonable growth, and they can make money."
TOC survey collecting feedback
An online survey launched earlier this week, on December 10, and is open for 30 days is gathering reactions to the TOC proposal.
Comments from the survey, as well as online and in-person open houses, will be shared via a "summary engagement report" posted to the Oakville TOC website in 2025, said Infrastructure Ontario media spokesperson Sofia Sousa-Dias.
She added that the town is currently reviewing the proposal.
"Following their (sic) review, the town will provide its feedback and comments to the province which will be made publicly available," she added.
"A revised TOC proposal will then be submitted to the town for further comment as well as for further public feedback in 2025. More information on timing will be provided when available."