Town of Oakville
In 2006, the province designated Midtown Oakville as an urban growth area accommodating 13,390 residents in 7,875 units, along with 7,210 jobs. It will be the town's highest density mix of residential, commercial, institutional and community spaces.
Midtown Oakville comprises 103 hectares bounded on the north by the QEW/403, Chartwell Road to the east, Cornwall Road to the south, and Sixteen Mile Creek to the west.
The urban plan is for a work, live, and play community which relies on residents to use public transit, walk or cycle. To make getting around easier, the Oakville GO Train Platform is to be extended east of Trafalgar Road. Pedestrian and cycling corridors will be built over the QEW/403 and Trafalgar Road.
Retail spaces are to be offered on the street level of buildings, with office space on the next several floors and residential units on the upper floors. The intent is to create public and private open spaces that offer a range of amenities.
To ensure affordable housing, town planners propose that 50 per cent of floor space set aside for three-bedroom properties be allocated as affordable. The plan also ensures that there are purpose-built rental properties as part of the overall development.
For a large percentage of the plan, the proposed density is for the Floor Space Index (FSI) to be between 4 to 10. FSI is the relationship between the total amount of usable floor area and the total area of the property on which it stands. It is determined by dividing the gross floor area of the building by the gross area of the lot. For example, a 10,000-square-foot building on a 10,000 foot² lot will have an FSI of 1.0, whereas a 50,000 ft² building on a 10,000 ft² will have an FSI of 5.0.
Small sites will be limited to midrise buildings in the 12-storey range, but it is expected that Midtown will eventually be home to some of the town's tallest buildings. The plan does say that no building should exceed 255 meters or 836 feet. A 25-storey building is approximately 115 meters.
The current draft reflects the feedback provided in March 2021. The proposed plan is now available for public review on the town's website titled: Midtown Oakville Growth Area Review and a virtual public meeting is scheduled for June 7, 2022 at 6:30 PM. The proposed plan will continue to be refined this year based on community and stakeholder feedback and further analyses by staff, with a final recommendation going to Council for approval in 2023.
