Redevelopment of Burlington plaza seems inevitable according to local councillor

A Burlington councillor said he empathizes with a group of residents who are against a new retirement home, but admits it will be an uphill battle for them to stop the project.

The fight is over the redevelopment of a small plaza at 1600 Kerns Rd., on the southwest corner of Kerns and Four Seasons Dr.

“A lot of the neighbours don’t want this project, it’s a significant change,” said Kelvin Galbraith, the Ward 1 councillor where the project is proposed.

“But I’m waiting for staff reports on rezoning the lot before I make a personal final decision.”

The lot is not currently zoned to allow the four-storey building. However, Brampton’s official master plan, which was passed last year, does allow that use. The bylaw has not yet been updated to reflect the master plan.

“The zoning bylaws are currently undergoing review and I asked staff if they are usually updated to align with the master plan. The answer is yes,” said Galbraith.

The initial public meeting between the landowners, Fieldgate, and the neighbours took place in 2019 and the local community was strongly against it.

“I was at that meeting,” said Galbraith. “We struck a working group with several immediate neighbours, and several changes they suggested were incorporated, but we couldn’t come to an agreement.”

Whether or not a retirement home is built on the land, Galbraith said something is coming.

“Fieldgate is in the business of building retirement homes. If they want to go there, I’m sure they have a good reason. But that plaza is almost certainly going to be replaced by something in the coming years.”

The community, located just south of Tyandaga Golf Course, is largely made up of large, single-family housing on mature lots. There is a townhouse complex immediately abutting the property to the south.