This story previously appeared on StratfordToday.ca.
Planning is going to be a key factor as the Grand Trunk Renewal project moves forward, and the city’s director of building and planning will make sure it’s done right.
Adam Betteridge gave a brief presentation to the GTR ad hoc committee August 29, talking about several key planning aspects to the project. Part of that included reminding the committee of city council’s Grand Trunk Anchor District section of the official plan, which is under review at the current time.
“ The Grand Trunk Anchor District is and remains a key component of Stratford’s official plan, emphasizing its importance as part of the downtown core,” he said. “As stated in my presentation, the plan sets goals to restore vibrancy to the area by encouraging public and institutional uses, complementing the overall character of the downtown, and commemorating the historical significance of the Grand Trunk building. Despite the official plan being reviewed, I don’t consider the policies ‘older’. These goals remain highly relevant, however given the evolving nature of urban development and the potential opportunities arising from new policies and community needs, it’s likely that this portion of the plan as it pertains to this site could benefit from updates, and that is amongst what the ad-hoc committee is collaborating on.”
Betteridge mentioned that part of the hold-up on the project has been competing priorities facing the city’s decision makers. Things like the Grand Trunk site redevelopment and the Climate Action Plan take significant attention, but he noted that there has been progress made on both which would allow a shifting of focus to other areas.
“We can shift our attention to the Official Plan Review,” he said. “Those projects themselves, as I tried to touch on, are not mutually exclusive from the OPR; findings, recommendations, and goals from other projects can be worked into the official plan.”
He went on to say that active maintenance is an important part of the process, making sure that key parts of the plan are kept current as much as possible.
“Once council adopts an updated plan, active maintenance involves regularly reviewing and updating it to reflect the city’s evolving needs and remaining in alignment with the ever-changing provincial directives and legislation,” Betteridge said. “At the GTR site, and as the site gets developed over multiple years if that is the approach, this means consulting the public and making policy adjustments to ensure they remain relevant - keeping them in the public’s interest - and effective in guiding ultimate site development.”
Things that Betteridge brought up that should be considerations for the project included incentivized ‘great’ development and policy innovation. He went on to say that ‘great’ would be things the city is looking for by means of a combination of community benefits as part of the site’s development.
“The existing policies for the site contain the following - child care centre, bicycle sharing infrastructure, significant public realm improvements, public art contributions, heritage conservation, zero-carbon buildings (as built), reduced carbon emissions, affordable housing, accessible design beyond minimum legislative standards and smart technology implementation,” he said. “Those are all found under section 4.11.5 of the city’s official plan and that’s what I meant by great.”
The ad-hoc committee meets again on Monday, Sept. 16, at 4:30 p.m.
