Burlington city staff investigating 45 appeals to new official plan

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Published January 11, 2021 at 2:45 pm

Staff for the City of Burlington are currently looking into 45 appeals that were submitted in regard to the city’s new official plan.

In an interview with inhalton.com‘s Khaled Iwamura, Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward discussed the status of the plan and confirmed its completion as of December 2020 after changes were made to the downtown area and policies were approved by Burlington City Council and the Halton Region.

At the end of December 2020, the region sent a letter confirming that the official plan was approved.

However, according to Meed Ward, in order for the plan to go into effect, 20 days must pass following the approval pending no appeals.

Meed Ward confirmed that the city received a total of 45 appeals which city staff are currently looking into.

The mayor also confirmed that while the whole plan cannot be appealed, policy or property-specific aspects may be.

“What it means practically, is that our old plan is still in legal force and effect. However, the policies of the new plan can help to inform our decision-making going forward,” said Meed Ward.

“It’s not quite as strong as being legally in force and effect, and it still has a lot of weight going forward so that’s really good news and we will fight vigorously to defend it.”

Meed Ward told Iwamura that on top of the 45 appeals, there were also around 30 more that were filed for the city’s interim control bylaw and major transit station area work.

“When you take a stand for your community and you’re willing to do the right thing,” said Meed Ward, “Expect to fight to defend it and we will,” she concluded.

For more information on the city’s official plan, click here.

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