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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday November 19, 2008 - 5 Council urged to stand firm on Oak Park By Kim Arnott SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Oak Park was never designed as a subdivision. From its earliest days, the vision for the area was that it would be an urban community, with a mixture of housing types, retail offerings and commercial enterprises. While the term has now become overused to the point of being trite, it truly was planned as a place where people could live, work and play. But Ward 5 Councillor Jeff Knoll, who bought his own home in the area out of enthusiasm for the vision, fears it is being eroded. Developers have been quick and keen to build the residential portion of the community, but less eager to tackle the commercial and office components. The latest attack on the dream for Oak Park has come in the form of an application by Cityzen Developments Group to build high-rise condo towers at the corner of Dundas Street and Sixth Line. The application, presented to the Town's Planning and Development Committee last week, calls for four 16-storey buildings, a six-storey building and 27 three-storey townhouses. The buildings would surround Munn's Cemetery and the large pond in the area, and run down Sixth Line to the Wellspring centre. The proposal calls for 500 square metres of commercial space in the buildings to serve the 1,358 residential units in the complex. However, that's a long way from the "office and other commercial" use that the portion of the property along Dundas Street is designated for, says Knoll. Without a significant commercial component to the community, he fears the opportunity for residents to "This was a very carefully planned community with very high ideals and interesting concepts and designs and I think we really need to stick to it." Jeff Knoll, Ward 5 councillor work nearby will disappear and the result will be "a wasteland of condominium buildings." "I'm really concerned about the lack of commercial space," he adds. "This was a very carefully planned community with very high ideals and interesting concepts and designs and I think we really need to stick to it." The town is currently conducting a study of the entire Uptown Core area, which has always been intended to become the hub of Oakville for the area north of the QEW. Due for completion in early 2009, Knoll says the study will help the Town take a big-picture look at plans for the whole area. He's hoping council will be able to consider the Cityzen Developments Group proposal after that. "What I'm hearing from the community is that they're generally okay, reluctantly, with the high-density development, but what they're completely opposed to is the building along Sixth Line," he said. Knoll says he'd like to see the strip of land along Sixth Line left as some form of green public space. That would tie in with the developer's plan to naturalize the pond area and dedicate it, along with a 7.5 metre buffer and trail system, to the Town. A bridge is planned to cross the pond and allow pedestrian access between Sixth Line and Dundas Street. The proposal, which requires a number of Official Plan amendments to allow for the conversion to residential use, increased density and increased height, has been appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) because the Town hasn't made a decision on it within the necessary timeframe. A hearing date has not been set and Town staff has been authorized to negotiate details of the project with the developer. The issue is expected to be considered by Town council early in 2009. BATHROOM RENOVATIONS? GIVE YOUR BATHROOM THE FACTORY TILE TOUCH See our design team to transform your space We specialize in importing and supplying quality Granite, Caesarstone, Marble, Ceramics, Porcelain and Natural Stone Ask about our Custom Glass Shower Doors & Floor Heating Tile selection made enjoyable! FACTORY TILE DEPOT 1360 Speers Road, Oakville (East of third line) Factory Tile Depot 905.465.1650 Mon.-Thurs., 9:30-6, Fri. 9:30-5, Sat., 10-5, Closed Sun. www.factorytiledepot.ca We welcome American Express ® Cards ® Used by Amex Bank of Canada under license from American Company. DORVAL DRIVE WYECROFT SPEERS RD. 175 Wyecroft Rd. Oakville 905.845.6653 Between Kerr & Dorval YOUR FRIEND IN THE BUSINESS! Celebrating 25 www.lockwoodchrysler.com years in Oakville KERR TRAFALGAR QEW