'Briarwood' Development

Click here for Background on Phase 1 (Shoppers Drug Mart)
Click here for Background on Phase 2 (Medical office building)
Click here for Background on Phase 3 (Heritage building and CIBC)

► UPCOMING MEETINGS:
1. Community Meeting: Tues. January 11 @ 7:00 p.m.  Click for Notice.
    This meeting is for information and re-engagement with the community
    before the rezoning action starts to happen per the meeting on January 31
    (below).  For a review of all the issues, see the City's Corporate Report,
    presented at Council (PDC) on September 20, 2010, which also includes a
    summary of the last Community Meeting about this site, held on September
    1, 2010 (Addendum: pp29-31).  Click to review TOPCA's latest statement:
    TOPCA Letter to the Committee of Adjustment: Sept. 9, 2010 .
2. Official Public Meeting: Mon. January 31 @ 7:00 p.m.  Click for Notice. 

The Community Meeting is in advance of the Official Public Meeting concerning the rezoning application for residential properties at 7 Maple Ave S and 3 Pine Ave S.  At issue is whether these residential properties are required in order to expand the parking lots at the development which includes the Shoppers Drug Mart, the 2-storey medical office building currently under construction and the proposed commercial use (CIBC branch) on the third part of the property where the designated heritage building (Dudgeon cottage) is located. 

How much parking is required on a combined site such as this?  Is it better to preserve residential use in neighbourhoods with the possible result of additional street parking during peak times, or to have commercial use 'creep' into the neighbourhoods abutting Lakeshore Road (which includes many Port Credit neighbourhoods)?  What has been the on-site parking experience thus far, and what is projected?  How is Port Credit's new (unique) parking policy proceeding and how can it inform the decision on this site? 

This has been a long process and a complex development for the community to respond to, since the original site applications were made separately instead of comprehensively, and the rezoning requests are now being combined and brought forward in advance of the necessity for the rezoning being known.

LATEST DOCUMENTS:
 ● Master Site Plan: 301, 321 & 325 Lakeshore Rd W - August 4, 2010
 ● CIBC Site Plan: 301 Lakeshore Rd W - August 17, 2010
 ● Medical office elevations: 325 Lakeshore Rd W - August 20, 2010
 ● Lakeshore Road West aerial elevation looking westward
 ● Lakeshore Road West aerial elevation looking eastward
 ● Traffic Impact Study for a proposed CIBC bank, 301 Lakeshore Road West (47p PDF; updated August 2010)
OFFICIAL PUBLIC MEETING:  Mon. September 20 @ 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall.  Click here for the Public Notice, which includes a map of the property.  Excerpt: "To permit the development of a financial institution with a partial second storey and a two storey medical office building in addition to the existing Shoppers Drug Mart and medical office. The historically designated building is to be retained for commercial uses". 
NOTE: The medical building went to the Committee of Adjustment on September 9, 2010 and received approvals allowing it to proceed, with conditions that preserved the public's right and effectiveness to comment regarding the re-zoning application on September 20.  Click for the TOPCA Letter to the Committee of Adjustment: Sept. 9, 2010 in this regard.

COMMITTEE OF ADJUSTMENT:  The Committee of Adjustment considered requests for variances (click for the Notice of Public Hearing) regarding Phase 2 of this site development at 321 & 325 Lakeshore Road West on September 9, 2010 (deferred from August 12).  The variances would allow the issuance of a building permit and construction to begin on the proposed 2-storey medical office building in advance of the Official Plan amendment and re-zoning necessary to allow the building to proceed.  Click to view the TOPCA Letter to the Committee: Sept. 9, 2010.  The variances were approved.
COMMUNITY MEETING: Below is summary background in regard to the Community Meeting to be held: Wed. September 1 @ 7:00 p.m. (click here for Public Notice) at the WATERSIDE INN (Ballroom), 15 Stavebank Road South (map).  This is the first of three public meetings in September regarding this development -- all are described below. 
Click here for the Staff report about this meeting and public comments made.

 The Community Meeting pertains to development on the former 'Briarwood' GM car dealership site located on the south side of Lakeshore Road, west of Mississauga Road and the 75-acre former Texaco Refinery brownfield site. 


There will be a public review of the entire 2-acre development proposal on Lakeshore Road and the rezoning applications for 7 Maple Avenue South and 3 Pine Avenue South.  The proposed medical office building (325 Lakeshore) and CIBC branch building (301 Lakeshore), along with retention of the heritage Gatehouse (305 Lakeshore) are all development components that local residents' associations are working to see designed in harmony, even with the Shoppers Drug Mart already constructed at 321 Lakeshore.
 
Local residents' associations have been working on the 'Briarwood' project for almost two years.  The site was included in the public meeting hosted by TOPCA in November 2008: Developing Our 100 Acres.  The full-size aerial photo of the 'Briarwood' site in context to Port Credit can be seen by clicking here, or the image below. 
 
 

We have also been through an intensive community visioning process which resulted in Council approval of the Port Credit Directions Report in November 2008.  The VIVA Port Credit White Paper (May 2008) formed an Appendix to the report.
 
With 100 acres in Port Credit District to be dealt with, the two acres under present consideration would seem to have taken a disproportionate amount of citizen time!  This is in part because an overall site plan for the property was never presented for approval, but rather a separate application for the Shoppers Drug Mart (Phase 1) was made separately from the portions to the west (Phase 2) and east (Phase 3).  Click here for Phase 1 background.

 
In Mississauga, Port Credit has density second to only City Centre, and under the provincial Smart Growth policies is expected to achieve more.  How do we accomplish this without sacrificing village mainstreet ambience or public access to the waterfront?  Port Credit's density target is 200 PPJ (people plus jobs) per hectare.  Many residents would prefer this to be distributed throughout Port Credit where and as it makes sense.  The 2-acre 'Briarwood' site on Lakeshore Road would be an ideal place for 2-3 storey development (as allowed under the current District Policies) in order to maximize employment opportunities and foster mixed use including mainstreet retail.  Under-utilization of this significant site works against the balance which many would like to see maintained throughout the village.
 
The 600M Lakeshore Road frontage bordering the north side of the former Texaco Refinery brownfield will eventually be developed (subject to further community visioning) and thus will potentially complete the mainstreet commercial development at the Briarwood site.  
 
Since citizen input on the 'Briarwood' site began, a 2-storey medical office building with potential mainstreet retail has now replaced the original concept of a one-storey box-like Bank of Montreal building in Phase 2.  Click here for images of the former 'Briarwood' site and initial development plans.  Not only is the new 2-storey built form closer to the intent of the Directions Report, but this particular built function is welcomed by many in the community.
 
In addition, the heritage Gatehouse in the Phase 3 area of the site will now be retained through designation and there is great interest to see plans for its adaptive reuse in conjunction with sympathetic design for the CIBC branch which is proposed to sit next to it.  Originally, the heritage building was to be demolished to make way for a driveway into the site.  The local residents' associations continue to advocate for a fully-functional 2-storey building on the Phase 3 site -- right now, this is not the case.
 

The existing CIBC building at the Lakeshore-Stavebank Intersection (LSI), once vacated, is to be demolished as part of plans for the LSI re-alignment.  Residents' groups believe that this consideration should have no impact on decisions regarding the built form of the new CIBC branch.
 
Residents' groups are consistently seeking development in keeping with the Vision for our evolving urban village and its mainstreet (i.e. not suburban) context.  At tomorrow night's meeting, we also need to hear from residents immediately affected by the development and the phased construction plan which goes to the Committee of Adjustment on Thursday, September 9 (click here for Public Notice).  This hearing was deferred from August 12, pending tomorrow's meeting.  Like all neighbourhoods in Port Credit, the residential area to the south abuts the mainstreet and we all have a stake in how the Lakeshore corridor transitions to the surrounding communities.
 
There are many site-specific issues such as driveway access, parking ratios, landscaping, architectural attributes and brick colour, for instance, that ideally will work together in harmony with the neighbourhood and provide visual continuity along the mainstreet.   
 
Citizens have asked for this community meeting for a long time, and the local residents' associations insisted that it take place prior to any further applications at the Committee of Adjustment (see the TOPCA letter on this matter).  The Meeting is of necessity happening now, although it is still Summertime and some people who might wish to attend are away.  The rezoning applications for Phase 2 and 3 are now being combined and tomorrow night is the public's opportunity to address any and all of the issues which pertain to the site.  There is great benefit in meeting together and hearing everyone's views in a public forum!
 
Comments received tomorrow night will be included in the staff report which will go to the Planning and Development Committee of Council on Mon. September 20 @ 7:00 p.m. for the statutory public meeting required by the re-zoning and Official Plan amendment applications.  Click here for Public Notice -- page 2 of the PDF includes the map of the site.