PLAN B - Waterfront Hotel Redevelopment

01/10/2025

The Ontario Land Tribunal has finally ruled on January 8th, 2025 on Vrancor’s application to build a 31 + 36 storey behemoth (our words) on the current Waterfront Hotel property. Member Sharon Dionne, who presided over the 10-day hearing (April 29th – May 17th) of case OLT-22-003866, decided to reject the application, which the City of Burlington had previously rejected, on the basis that “the Proposed Development is not of proper intensity, scale and height, does not “fit” in this location and planning context, nor is it compatible with the adjacent public parklands and private lands east of Elizabeth Street, and it does not represent good planning.”

This decision supports what Citizens’ PLAN B has been advocating for the last 7 years, and we are elated.

The Tribunal added that the property could still accommodate a tall two-tower building complex, subject to much “more work to be done” on reducing wind impact, reconfiguring parkland dedicated along the west property line & overall transitioning to the park, improving traffic flow along Elizabeth St. and maintaining view corridors to Lake Ontario, in a future re-design. Ultimately, a developer (likely Vrancor) will return with another such application.

This was a complex case to rule on. OLT Member Dionne made a decision that required discernment & took courage. Burlington engaged a “top gun” lawyer in Osler’s Chris Barnett, who, along with the Pearle’s Ira Kagan, masterfully ‘litigated’ the case by debunking Vrancor lawyer’s (David Bronskill of Goodmans) claim that Intensification is the overriding #1 Priority. We are grateful to Councillor Lisa Kearns and Mayor Marianne Meed Ward for supporting this key decision which, in our opinion, represented taxpayers’ money being ‘well spent’.

One of the lessons learned from the OLT-22-003866 ruling must be that any redevelopment of the Waterfront Hotel should enhance the Burlington downtown gateway to Lake Ontario and extend Spencer Smith Park, which is what we at PLAN B have & will continue to advocate for.

Future generations will surely reap the reward.

10/19/2024

BREAKING NEWS

The Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) has ruled today (Friday, October 18th) that the Vrancor appeal (of the City’s prior refusal of their Waterfront Hotel redevelopment application) has been REFUSED.

Written rationale details for the decision are forthcoming & will summarize those in a future post, but we thought our PLAN B supporters should hear of the GREAT NEWS now.

05/21/2024

OLT to Decide: “No” or “Yes, but”

After 10 days of OLT hearings held from April 29th to May 17th, including examinations & cross-examinations of ten expert witnesses, supported by 7000 pages of testimonies replete with projections and schematics and layers & layers of policies, it comes down to this; a decision by one OLT Member to either Reject Vrancor’s appeal of Burlington’s refusal decision of their application (i.e. “No”), or to Approve it with Conditions (i.e. “Yes, but”).

Are you still tracking on these double negatives with us? Okay!

We at Citizens’ PLAN B monitored most of the proceedings and are optimistic that the OLT will decide “No”. Why?

1) The arguments brought forward by Burlington & The Pearle Hotel were superior, and presented in a compelling fashion, such as:
a) Proposed conveyance of land remnants unacceptable to the City as useful Parkland
b) Wind impact fails Burlington’s comfort & safety guidelines
c) All transitions of the site to the Park are imposed on City property
d) Traffic related to service vehicles, and hotel guests drop off/ pickup & otherwise searching for parking spots has not been accommodated
e) Lake views, particularly from The Pearle have not been preserved, as is possible

2) The lawyers & expert witnesses for Vrancor were less balanced in their positions & thereby less credible.
• Their lawyers dwelt on narrow legal issues, cherry-picking from often inconsistent old and new City, Regional & Provincial guidelines and policies to make their arguments
• They took a “so what?” approach to the UGC & MTSA no longer being downtown, replacing it with a one-dimensional “Intensification First” mantra
• Most of their Expert witnesses appeared to “oversell” their positions

In our opinion, there are far too many shortfalls, inconsistencies and outright problems with this Application for the OLT to approve it.

At the hearing, Vrancor effectively signaled their intention to seek an alternate “Yes, but” ruling. By this, we mean that the OLT would support the Appeal, on the condition (“Holding Provision”) that Vrancor resolve with the City (& The Pearle) all outstanding issues, such as -e above. We consider a “Yes, but” decision to be problematic, given the extent of the resultant changes that would likely be required to the design, Vrancor’s historical intransigence and that this Application’s approval is just too important to Burlington to be negotiated behind “closed doors”.

We therefore strongly support a “No” decision, accompanied by OLT guidance to the Applicant on preparing a new & improved design, worthy of a speedy approval by City planners.

The OLT is expected to rule in 4+ months.

Stay tuned!

02/08/2024

The application for the Waterfront Hotel redevelopment, refused by the City of Burlington in April, 2022, and appealed shortly thereafter by Vrancor, was scheduled to be adjudicated at the Ontario Land Tribunal in a 3-week hearing commencing April 29th. But you knew that, right!

To our surprise, Vrancor has just submitted (2/6/24) a set of revisions to that application that includes a reduction of the podium from 5/6 storeys to 3/4, some dedicated parkland along the West property line, a relocated entrance/ exit off Elizabeth Street and a re-articulation of the two proposed 30 & 35 storey towers, to appease some of Burlington’s and Citizen’s PLAN B’s concerns.

We’ve dubbed it Design V1.1, simply because the package of revisions, when compared to the long list of deficiencies/ violations of the original application identified by the City’s Planning Department, appears light on remedies, and remains far from the Preferred Concept with 21 & 22 storey towers recommended in the Waterfront Hotel Planning Study (2022). It’s just not Version 2.0. Regardless, we have asked our urban planner to assess the new design and will keep you informed of what he discovers; good or bad.

What’s also interesting is that the submitted diagrams were marked “Issued for OLT Settlement” which seems presumptive to us, and even confusing to the City’s lead counsel, Chris Barnett.

The Waterfront Hotel redevelopment is just too important for the downtown waterfront community and hence all of Burlington, to be decided by the OLT on the basis of a package of “last minute” design revisions to an originally flawed application. Does it not deserve an entirely new application to be submitted for a comprehensive review by the City’s Planning Department?

Let’s take the time to get this one right!

05/29/2023

It’s final.

The Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) recently reaffirmed its January 3rd, 2023 decision that the Burlington 2020 Lakeshore Inc.’s application was not grandfathered by ROPA 48. While no official withdrawal of the application of 30 + 35-storey towers atop a 6-storey podium development has been made, it is unlikely to proceed without its’ heavy reliance on historical downtown intensification arguments.

So, it’s back to the drawing board for Vrancor!

During the January 27th, 2023 OLT Case Management Conference, Goodmans LLP (Vrancor’s lawyers) stated that they would be reaching out to the City to see if a compromise solution could be negotiated. Our sense is that these discussions have commenced, or will soon.

Where should the City start?

Citizens’ PLAN B strongly believes that any negotiation should begin with Preferred Concept 2022 (PC 2022), which was developed as part of the Waterfront Hotel Planning Study (WHPS) and published on March 26th, 2022. It featured 22-storey (East, tiered) + 21-storey (West) towers both with 3-storey podiums, the latter with a critical 20-meter setback from the West property line (bordering Spencer Smith Park).

PC 2022 was both a reasoned and reasonable design, based on significant input gathered over 5+ years from professional urban planners such as the Burlington Urban Development Panel, the community, and the property owner himself.

You may recall that the WHPS facilitator, The Planning Partnership effectively “mothballed” this report by claiming that they had been coerced by City staff to limit tower heights (still unproven to our knowledge). This does not diminish the merit of PC 2022, in the least. At our request, Ramsay Planning Inc. subsequently & independently computed the development potential of this property with similar parameters to be exactly 21 + 22 storeys. Humm!

PC 2022 actually yields a greater measure of intensification than permitted for the Waterfront Hotel property (FSI of 6.81 versus 5.0, for those technically-minded). This provides an argument to further reduce heights, as does the elimination of a downtown rapid transit hub, and the Burlington OP 2020 permissions of 11-15 storeys on neighbouring properties just across Lakeshore Road. The More Homes Built Faster Act (Bill 23) may have another affect.

This will be a complex negotiation.

Let’s hope the City chooses a negotiator as competent, creative and motivated as the “top gun” lawyer (Osler’s Chris Barnett) they engaged to handle this application at the OLT.

We at Citizens’ PLAN B remain available to assist!

01/06/2023

Thanks to the Burlington Gazette for bringing this important update to more of our neighbours online!
Please share the good news!

By Pepper Parr January 6th, 2023 BURLINGTON, ON’   The Ontario Land Tribunal issues an order that puts a halt to the plans to redevelop the Waterfront Hotel site. What was it all about? There …

01/04/2023

We at Citizen’s PLAN B are pleased to report that the Ontario Land Tribunal, in a decision on January 3rd, 2023, has agreed with the City of Burlington that the Waterfront Hotel redevelopment application was only “made” on December 17th, 2021 and therefore was NOT grandfathered in the Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing ROPA 48 order of November 10th, 2021.

What does this all mean?

Firstly, the intensification arguments of being within a downtown Urban Growth Centre or close to a downtown Major Transit Station Area so effectively used by developers to justify 20+ storey towers in the past CAN NOT be used by Vrancor in their application for 2020 Lakeshore Road.

Secondly, the City’s legal team under the leadership of Osler’s Chris Barnett, as witnessed by us at the November 1st OLT hearing, is very competent, organized and capable of effectively defending the City’s decision to refuse Burlington 2020 Lakeshore’s application for a 30 & 35 storey development with a 6-storey podium, before the OLT. And this may indeed be the more important result evidenced by the OLT’s decision on January 3rd.

02/26/2022

Have you checked out our recently-developed website at www.planbwaterfrontredevelopment.ca? On this site you can sign-up to receive our regular updates by email, get notified of fast breaking developments by text, volunteer based on your interests & skills or access PLAN B's Go Fund Me page & donate to our efforts. We appreciate all of our followers, and hope that most of you will choose to become signed-up supporters on our web page. It's a better experience all around for everyone!

Join today to receive more information and some simple action steps to help spread awareness of the challenges and impact on our city.

02/25/2022

Plan B delegates to City Council:

From time to time a citizens group is formed that has a significant impact on decisions made at city hall. Plan B is one of those groups – it is small – less than five people; all retired or thought they were.

02/09/2022

If you care about the future of Burlington’s waterfront participate in these 2 events on February 15th and 22nd

https://burlingtongazette.ca/waterfront-study-to-re-start-on-the-15th-meanwhile-planning-department-processes-an-application-to-build-two-towers/

and go to the PLAN B website and add your name to support this cause:

https://www.planbwaterfrontredevelopment.ca/

Join today to receive more information and some simple action steps to help spread awareness of the challenges and impact on our city.

02/09/2022

An important notice for everyone in Burlington.

A number of weeks ago the city mailed out notices to residents who lived within a 200 metre radius from the proposed Waterfront Hotel re-development.

02/04/2022

PLAN B Update:

See key events coming up (February 15 and February 22) and spread the word.

https://burlingtongazette.ca/waterfront-study-resumes-february-15th-expected-to-last-four-months-meanwhile-planning-staff-work-flat-out-to-complete-their-work-before-an-april-17th-deadline/

Also see the Plan B website to understand the importance of this meeting and provide your support!

https://www.planbwaterfrontredevelopment.ca/

Located next to two of Burlington’s most significant landmarks, Spencer Smith Park and the Brant Street Pier, the City is asking for input to make sure the new development reflects a high quality of urban design that enhances the community’s access to the waterfront and the downtown.