Scanned, recopied or Internet copy, if there are errors, please e-mail me with corrections: Opening comments: More at the end. Ellen Timms - General Manager - Port Credit Business Association Mississauga Business Times - Sept 21, 2006 Thur. - By Mike Beggs Former villages adapting to intensification In a forest of condos, the main street of Streetsville has emerged as an example of how areas of historic character can be preserved within the province's Smart Growth plan for densification. In July, the city of Mississauga came out with strict new guidelines ensuring the downtown's heritage value will be undisturbed far into the future. The Historic Streetsville Urban Design Guidelines set a two-storey limit along the main drag, and a three-storey limit in other areas - and any changes to existing structures must be compatible with neighbouring heritage buildings. The goal here is to retain the charm of this village within a city - founded by Timothy Street in 1825 - by promoting growth and change in harmony with the provincial policies, and with the best practices in urban and environmental planning. "The challenge in developing urban design guidelines for Streetsville is to achieve a balance between the traditional character of one of the oldest communities in Mississauga, with the growth which we expect will continue in this historically significant and desirable part of the city," says Ingrid Sulz McDowell, manager, Development Team Central, in a press release from the City. This new plan has been driven by Ward 6 Councillor George Carlson, a fifth generation descendant of Henry Rutledge, one of Streetsville's founding fathers. He explains that, "There weren't any good guidelines in place for downtown Streetsville, and I asked the planning department to tighten things up a bit." "The Streetsville guys don't want a heritage district, because they're so onerous," he says. "Places like Unionville, they have guidelines for semi-heritage areas." "Basically, when you enter Streetsville, it's a unique village - with natural attributes, and village character. Now, we have it officially on the books." He notes this motion received unanimous support from the councillors, the community and the BIA, and says, "that has never happened." "We just needed some help from the city of Mississauga to help us define our vision of the village in the future, to restrict certain building heights and encourage historical facades," says Todd Ladner, owner of Ladner Clothiers, a family operation on Queen St. since 1959, and a director on the board of management for the Streetsville Business Improvement Association (BIA). "The condos are certainly going up around the village, and we've kind of circled the wagons in the downtown business area. "Densification is all around us, and within walking distance." "Our concern is just overdevelopment," he continues. "Parking is a big concern, congestion is a big concern. We don't want it to become a thoroughfare, or conduit to downtown. We want to retain a little ability to have a better walk and lifestyle in the village." He suggests that, preserving such pockets of historical significance within the overall philosophy of intensification, "adds to the fabric of the city." And this quaint atmosphere has proven profitable for many long-time shops along the strip - as it has in villages like Niagara-On-The-Lake, and Erin. "You can't play on that too much. You have to still let the public be aware you're progressive and want your business to think in current day Mississauga, but it's a great environment to operate a forward-thinking business. Its unique [compared] to the malls and Big Boxes all around us in Mississauga," he adds. "We're definitely digging in a little bit, but that's our job to say, 'Enough,' and create something unique for the residents." "I find if we keep the parking spaces and stay current with inventory and pricing, the historical presence is just one more value-added with us. People seem to really identify with it, particularly if they have any smalltown in their background." However on Mayor Hazel McCallion's home turf, it's a dramatically different business model than in the village of Port Credit, where the local BIA has welcomed densification to the Lakeshore Rd. strip, and stands behind FRAM-Slokker Canada's application to erect a pair of 20-storey-plus condo towers right on the northeast corner of Lakeshore and Hurontario St. - longstanding site of the historic Gray's Lakehouse. Marion Klinnert, chair of the Port Credit Business Improvement Association says its mandate is "basically, just to promote and beautify." "Our main concern is just to do business. The welfare of the business community is paramount," she says. "People come to Port Credit for the events, the restaurants, the music, and I think the architecture is secondary. I don't think they come for the heritage, they come for the lake." She notes, "when you look at the storefronts, we don't have a flowthrough town like Collingwood does (with historic architecture). And with area shopkeepers having tried to survive on a local population of about 8,000, until a recent boom, she says, "We need more people." "That's the general consensus within the business community," she adds. "We don't want to go back 40, or 50 years. It's a nice thought. It's not feasible financially." The Port Credit downtown has been earmarked for high-density development, due to its proximity to the local Go Train station. However, the FRAM-Slokker proposal has split area residents down the middle. Detractors wonder why, "Streetsville can go historic, but we're going to have 22 storeys." "Of course, the lakefront is where you get the pressure," Carlson observes. "We don't get quite the pressure to do the condominiumization in the Streetsville downtown." "And Port Credit had the tall apartment buildings earlier - Streetsville never had that precedent. Planning is based on precedent." Glen Broll, an urban planner with the Mississauga-based Glen Schnarr & Associates (formerly with the City), stresses that "intensification is important, looking from an urban planning point of view. We need to go up. The communities don't want to hear that, because they're comfortable with what's there currently." "It's highly controversial in that sense, and challenging to try to meet everybody's objectives." He says on the waterfront, there's different view corridors. "When the St. Lawrence Starch plant closed, all of a sudden you had this large block of land available for redevelopment. I don't think Streetsville has that large pocket that could be redeveloped." David Culham, a recently retired member of the Ontario Municipal Board, and long-time Ward 6 Councillor, points out that when Mayor Hazel McCallion was planning chair of Streetsville (back in the 1960s) "there wasn't a lot of control, and there was a great deal of controversy over what heights would be." "I think the intensification across the province, is absolutely necessary to make cities work," he says. Culham adds: "Streetsville, to survive, has to have density. People may not like that to be said." "You can probably provide the densities in the Streetsville downtown without going more than three storeys. I think in the downtown you might want to retain the three-storey limit." Ed Sajecki, Mississauga's commissioner of planning & building says when it comes to densification, there's two sides of the coin. "It's about putting the higher density in areas where it makes a lot of sense. "There are areas where density should not happen." "In the case of Streetsville, it's very much an historic area. There's 90 buildings on the heritage list. There's lower scale development along the main street and most people, we expect, would like to see it preserved. We want to strengthen the City's ability to protect these areas." That said, staff currently has a report into the Planning and Building Committee, recommending Council put in place intensification policies. And Sajecki notes that the City has already received provincial funding for Bus Rapid Transit on its own right of way (like in Ottawa), running east-west through the entire city, and for a feasibility study for similar services along Hurontario. Home Page - Main Table of Contents - Back up a page - Back to Top [COMMENTS BY DON B. - ] |
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