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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday July 5, 2006 - 9 Low-rise redevelopment for Maurice Drive By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Town of Oakville has listened to Maurice Drive area residents and will keep redevelopment -- that's chomping at the bit to get going in the area --to a maximum height of three storeys. It should also occur so that while the area that's been lowdensity, residential for years is redeveloped, long-time residents won't feel forced out or pressured to sell to developers. As Ward 2 Councillor Cathy Duddeck described as the best example in the thorny issue -- a 60-year resident of the area won't have to sell his home until he's good and ready. At last week's Planning and Development Council, councillors did their best to balance quality of life for long-time residents with pressure, from both developers and the Province, for Oakville to intensify. Intensification, or using both land and infrastructure more wisely by creating higher density, is seen as a partial answer to saving green fields from urban sprawl. As the Province has firmed up its commitment to intensification, developers are eyeing south Oakville with interest. In the case of what has become known as the Maurice Drive Land Use Study, entire blocks were being purchased. As applications for redevelopment were filed with the Town, planners called in the developer and the public, in an attempt to come up with a plan everyone could live with. However, when planners showed up last spring advocating for up to nine-storey heights, area residents winced, and loudly. That's when council told staff to go back to the drawing board and come up with a less dense plan -- and buildings that weren't so tall. And they did last week. Not everyone was happy, including the developer, whose agent was on hand to tell council so, but the plan addressed many concerns and received approval. The Maurice Drive Land Use Study involves Dorval Drive to Maurice Drive between Rebecca Street and Lakeshore Road. Some 25 lots exist there, 22 of single-family dwellings. Half a dozen were previously bought by the town and then removed along what used to be Margaret Drive, now the south end of Dorval Drive when that road was widened. "You can't redevelop a mature area without substantial tree loss." Allan Ramsay, Town of Oakville planner It's opposite St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School and is now the truck route into downtown Oakville. In recent years, nearly a dozen of the other properties were purchased by a developer. When two development applications were filed, the town moved quickly to study the area to nail down a plan for its future so development wouldn't happen piecemeal. A study, conducted by the town and researched by a consultant, was paid for by Matas Homes. The developer and residents participated. At first staff was recommending six to eight storeys at the corner of Dorval Drive and Lakeshore Road -- across from the high school and St. Jude's Cemetery. Planners saw this as a corner for the highest building, a gateway to the downtown. Six storeys had been recommended along Dorval Drive across from the high school, with six storeys along Rebecca Street and three to four storeys to the east. That drew residents out in force over height and traffic. It also led Ward 2 Councillors Duddeck and Fred Oliver to ask that calls for medium density be changed to low to medium density. The result was a call for multiple, attached residential units no more than three storeys high and a density of up to 50 units per hectare. Ground floor commercial along Lakeshore Road West between Dorval Drive and Maurice Drive will be allowed. The 17 existing lots within could ultimately be redeveloped into 48 units. The area is also divided into three blocks -- two on Lakeshore and one on Maurice -- and council has asked that a developer own all of a block and do traffic studies before a block could be redeveloped. While Ward 4 Councillor Renee Sandelowsky questioned how long-time residents could suddenly find the area around them changing, Mayor Ann Mulvale explained intensification is a direction of provincial legislation -- and local council is left as the front line to explain it to residents -- who often feel local council is not representing them. Residents heard last week, however, that if they wish to redevelop their single-family home, or sell it to someone else to redevelop it as a single-family home, they can do so. The downside of such massive redevelopment of an area does exist however. Residents and council heard that there will be "a fair bit of tree loss." "You can't redevelop a mature area without substantial tree loss," said Town planner Allan Ramsay. Mulvale noted that the value of mature trees -- par- ticularly to a developer and prospective purchasers -- would be a motivation for tree preservation. As properties are amassed, there's potential for slippage on property standards, too, heard council. Properties may not be as cared for if they are not lived in, as if an owner were living in them and keeping them up. Ruth Victor of Matas Homes said, "We are disappointed in the direction of this," and predicted it would result in continuing pressure on the patterns of land use in the area. Duddeck said the scenario at present is the best answer to both sides and could result in something both sides could live with. -- Angela Blackburn can be reached at angela@oakvillebeaver.com. "Masonry & Fireplace Design Specialists" IMMEDIATE INSTALLATION AVAILABLE & Reface your old fireplace Don't forget to get that old chimney repaired. 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