The town of Oakville is running an online survey until the end of this week to gather feedback from residents about the town's recently published draft Parks Plan – 2031.
The survey is open online here and will collect data until early September 2022, but answers provided this week before Friday, July 15 will be included in a report for the August 2022 town council meeting.
According to the town, Oakville’s draft Parks Plan – 2031 is "a strategic document that will provide direction for new parkland throughout the town, particularly in urban centres and corridors."
Comments received by this Friday, July 15 will be provided to town council in an upcoming report for their August 9, 2022 meeting. Residents can also provide feedback "up until the Planning and Development Council meeting for adoption of the Plan and the Parkland Dedication By-law on September 6, 2022."
Oakville town staff say that our municipality "will be seeing growth within urban centres identified as Strategic Growth Areas (SGAs)" in "the next decade." Some examples of these urban centres include:
- Midtown
- Uptown Core
- Bronte Village
- Palermo
Future developments within these town-appointed SGAs will, according to the town, "require parkland to serve the needs of residents."
As part of the Parks Plan - 2031, a proposed new parkland dedication by-law will be presented to Council on August 9, 2022. Municipalities are not permitted to use Development Charges (DCs) for the purchase of land for parks. Instead, provisions in the Planning Act enable municipalities to require land, or cash-in-lieu of land, from developers for parks as a condition of development through a parkland dedication by-law.
Once land is dedicated, or acquired by the town, new parks are constructed using DCs or Community Benefits Charges (CBCs). To date, Oakville says they have "developed a wonderful suburban parks system that is characterized by large public parks, with substantive green leisure space and numerous sports fields."
Town council received the Parks and Open Space report at last month's June 14, 2022 special council meeting. The town is now asking for residents to provide input through the online form and also welcoming delegates to share their feedback by registering to speak at the August 9 Council Meeting.
More information about this survey, draft plan, and link to take the survey is available directly here from the Town of Oakville's website.