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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, F eb ru ar y 21 ,2 01 9 | 30 TOMORROW FRI. FEB. 22ND DOORS OPEN 8 AM VIP SALEInjured? For 15 years our Oakville lawyers have helped accident victims recover fair compensation for their injuries. Call today for a no-obligation consultation 905.337.9568 Lack of parking and the level of job creation were two major issues Oakville council had with plans to build four 15-storey build- ings to the immediate east of the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. During the Feb. 11 meet- ing of the town's Planning and Development Council Oakville Green Develop- ment Inc., brought forward their proposal to rezone the area at the northeast cor- ner of Third Line and Dun- das Street West to permit Phase 1 of a Health Science & Technology District. The project would see the construction of four 15- storey buildings including a hotel and conference cen- tre, a medical office, a re- tirement home, an employ- ment use building with ground floor retail and around 2,200 underground parking spaces. In total the floor area for this project would be about 1 million square feet. In addition, the future development block located at the southeast corner of Third Line and William Halton is proposed to be created and zoned to permit additional floor area and employment uses. The development would require the reshaping of the Glen Oak stormwater man- agement pond, and result in the building of one new public road extending from the hospital entrance along Third Line through the site to William Halton Parkway. One internal private road would also be con- structed at the site. The land is designated employment district, which permits industrial, office and service employ- ment uses. The North Oakville West Secondary Plan,West Secondary Plan,W which governs this area, al- so allows for health-orient- ed uses. Councillors asked nu- merous questions about the proposed development. Ward 7 Town CouncillorWard 7 Town CouncillorW Jasvinder Sandhu asked about the retirement build- ing, which will feature 210 units, and whether it would have long-term care units. Oakville Green Develop- ments Inc. representative Eldon Theodore said they are looking at possibilities for assisted living, a nurs-for assisted living, a nurs-f ing home and long-term care. Sandhu also asked whether residents would have to pay for parking at the site. Theodore said the devel- oper is looking at a paid op- tion noting that if the park- ing was free this would pull revenue from the nearby hospital. Ward 4 Town and Re-Ward 4 Town and Re-W gional Councillor Allan El- gar voiced concerns that the proposal will not gener- ate nearly as many primary jobs as was originally fore- cast. Primary jobs are consid- ered high-paying jobs in- volved in the life sciences, technology, office and re- search sectors. Secondary jobs have been defined as support jobs for the district such as retail jobs. "It wasn't that long ago this was going to employ 10,000 people. That was the number I had heard," he said. "So, if we could come back and show what the ac- tual employment number are. The numbers seemed so good in 2016, but I'm get- ting more concerned." Theodore said this de- velopment is expected to create more than 6,000 jobs, including 619 secondary jobs at the retirement home, 929 secondary jobs at the hotel and conference centre, 1,362 primary jobs at the medical office, and 3,288 primary jobs at the employ- ment use building. The number of jobs that will be created by the later phases of the Health Sci- ence & Technology District is unclear. Multiple councillors al- so raised the issue of park- ing noting that with 6,000 jobs anticipated for the site there are only around 2,200 parking spaces including 96 parking spaces for the re- tirement home, 409 parking spaces for the hotel and conference centre, 767 parking spaces for the med- ical office and 981 parking spaces for the employment use building. Councillors noted that on top of employees there will also be people staying at the 180-room hotel and visiting the conference cen- tre, residents and visitors for the 210-unit retirementfor the 210-unit retirementf home and shoppers for the development's retail com- ponent who will need park- ing. Theodore noted many of the people staying at the re- tirement home will not have their own personal ve- hicle. He also said some em- ployees will be part-time while others will have dif- ferent shifts and noted theferent shifts and noted thef shared aspect of the park- ing means that when em- ployees go home in the eve- ning more spaces are avail- able for visitors to the site. Theodore pointed out the level of parking pro- posed is in keeping with the town's bylaws. With comments and con-With comments and con-W cerns from councillors heard, Oakville council vot- ed to receive the report on the proposal. The matter will return to council at a later date at which point town staff will make a recommendation as to whether the develop- ment should be permitted to proceed. NEWS OAKVILLE COUNCILLORS RAISE ISSUES WITH PARKING AND JOBS FOR HEALTH SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY DISTRICT PHASE 1 PROPOSAL DEVELOPER ESTIMATES PHASE 1 WOULD SEE CREATION OF MORE THAN 6,000 JOBS DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com Concept art for Health, Sciences and Technology District planned for northeast corner of Third Line and Dundas Street. Courtesy of the Town of Oakville SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM