Pipeline to Permit – April 16, 2026

00:00:34
You got it. Hey.

00:18:04
Good morning everyone. My name is Maryanne Meid Ward, mayor of the city of Burlington and a co-chair of the pipeline to permit committee along with councelor Shauna Stolty, the deputy mayor for housing. And I would like to call this order call this meeting to order of the pipeline to permit committee for Thursday, April 16, 2026.

00:18:25
I’ll now read a land acknowledgement. Burlington as we know it today is rich in history and modern traditions of many first nations in the Matei. From the Anesnabek to the Hnosoni and the Matei, our lands spanning from Lake Ontario to the Niagara Escarment are steeped in indigenous history.

00:18:42
The territory is mutually covered by the dish with one spoon wampom belt covenant. An agreement between the Irakqua Confederacy, the Ojiway, and other allied nations to peaceibly share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather is part of the treaty lands and territory of the Missagas of the Credit.

00:19:05
I’ll now read a safety notice for those present in council chambers. In the event of an emergency, please evacuate the council chambers by the nearest exit staircase, which is located through the doorway marked with the exit symbol. And once you’ve evacuated the building, please gather in Civic Square outside of City Hall.

00:19:27
All City of Burlington committee and council meetings are live webcast and archived on the city’s website. Today’s meeting is being captioned digitally through our agenda management software. And I’ll remind everyone to slow down and speak clearly so your words can be captured by the software.

00:19:42
We do have rules of engagement in our committee meetings and we ask everyone to be respectful while others are speaking and listen as you would want to be listened to. We’re not making decisions today, only recommendations that will go to city council for final consideration next Tuesday, April 21st.

00:20:00
and the public is welcome to once again join us or speak to the items. By way of introduction of our members, our first order of business for today’s meeting is to conduct a roll call. So I’ll turn it to the clerk now who will take attendance of members present and confirm quorum. >> Thank you. Councelor Galbreth >> here.

00:20:22

Councelor Charman >> here. >> Councelor Stolty >> present. >> Kelly McCormack >> present. >> Mike Collins Williams is arriving late this morning. Jason Sheldon >> here. >> Jackie Assada has sent her regrets. Alicia Van Clee >> present. >> Jim Dunn >> here. >> Bianca Steer >> present. >> John Doyle has sent his regrets.

00:20:43
Kristen Dong >> present. >> Mayor me Ward >> present. >> Chair we have quorum. >> Excellent. I’d also like to acknowledge that once again councelor Angelo Bentania is joining us today virtually. Welcome counselor. Great to see you with us. Staff joining today are our chief administrative officer Kurt Benson, our committee clerk, Joanne Rudy, and other staff in attendance will be introduced as agenda items come forward.

00:21:08
So, first we have the approval of the agenda. Are there any requests for changes? Seeing none, I’ll ask if Alicia would move approval. Thank you. All those in favor, show of hands. Any opposed? Seeing none, that does carry. Are there any declarations of pecuniary interest? All right. Seeing none, we have no delegations or presentations this morning.

00:21:41
So, we will move to uh first see if there are any questions or comments on the pipeline to permit dashboard. Any questions for staff? All right. I will note which probably folks uh are aware of that we got two major applications in very recently. One for 1200 King Road and uh for the entire parcel which includes multi-residentidential, an event center, community uses and a whole bunch more.

00:22:11
So we will be uh staff will be reviewing that and bringing that forward to committee of the whole uh before the summer break I believe to uh make a recommendation for us on that parcel. Uh we also have uh Bronty Meadows phase one. So the western side of Bronty Meadows, a major uh low density development that has come in as well at the same time.

00:22:31
And um we we expect to have a recommendation report before uh the summer break on that one too. So the web pages are up and live on those two projects. You can follow along and uh hear more about it. So, uh, so we’ve got quite quite a few quite an increase in our pipeline department dashboard because of all of those units.

00:22:54
All right, any other questions or comments on that? All right, seeing none, we will go right to the planning and building fee review update. And uh, I don’t think we have a presentation or anything on that. Okay. Are there any questions for staff? All right, seeing none, I’ll ask Jim for a motion to receive the information.

00:23:24

So moved. >> Excellent. Are there any questions or comments on it? All right, seeing none, uh, it has been moved. I will call the vote. All those in favor? Any opposed? Seeing none, that does carry. And I’ll turn it now to Kate Hill Montigue. We are going to get a staff presentation on the community improvement plan.

00:23:52
And take it away. Welcome to the podium. Kate is our supervisor of planning policy and is leading this project for us. Go ahead, Kate. Uh good morning, chair, members of the committee, and the public. I’m here today to provide a very brief update on the work to amend the city’s affordable rental housing community improvement plan.

00:24:23
Uh the purpose of the amendment is to identify new temporary programs that incentivize a wider range of housing options to assist in bringing more housing online in the city more quickly and that uses funding sources other than the city’s property tax base. This last Tuesday on April 14th, uh a statutory public meeting was held um to provide an overview of the proposed amendment and to hear feedback from the community and from members of council.

00:24:51
The draft amendment was attached to appendix A of staff report DGM2726 and it proposes four draft temporary community improvement plan programs. The draft amendment has also been available on the city’s housing strategy web page at getinvolberington.ca since March 23rd. Next slide please. So the next slide um is just for reference and it shows the four uh temporary programs that were discussed at the meeting.

00:25:18
The presentation on Tuesday discussed the work that has been completed to date. Um the engagement that has been taken or that has taken place with both the public as well as members of the development community and it touched on recent announcements from the federal and provincial governments related to housing.

00:25:33
The staff are continuing to monitor in relation to this work. Over the course of the meeting, a variety of delegations were received, both written and in person, and council engaged in a conversation about the draft uh temporary programs and provided their comments. Next slide, please. Uh so, the team is now taking away all of the feedback they’ve received and are adjusting the proposed amendment in response to what we’ve heard.

00:25:59
Um staff will be returning to committee of the whole with a report recommending temporary programs, criteria, and other details on May 11th. And should those amendments be approved um by council, staff will then work to be prepared to accept applications for those community improvement plan programs as soon as possible once the 20-day appeal period is cleared uh in order to get those programs online and operational as quickly as possible.

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And that concludes my presentation. Thanks. >> Any questions for staff? Alicia, go ahead. >> Thanks for the presentation. Um we’ve gone through this uh in detail and um been working with staff. Just wondering if retirement homes qualified. I didn’t see it there and it is a form of rental. So just wondering if if that’s a consideration.

00:26:55

So through the chair um we’re still sort of in our information gathering period. So I will take back this question as well. Um, so in terms of it being rental, so it would then um we didn’t call out retirement specifically, but it would fall under the umbrella of rental if it was a private rental home. Great.

00:27:14
Thanks. Any other questions? All right. Thank you. We’re a speedy group this morning. All right. Um I will ask uh Kristen, would you be willing to move the report? >> Yes. So moved. >> All right. Thank you. And this is uh for us uh just an information item. And are there any comments on the program? Okay.

00:27:50
We had quite a discussion at committee on this. Uh if you’re interested, you can tune into the uh webcast which is archived online. uh the lots of considerations around the criteria. Um uh certainly I support as simple as we can make it while also achieving our goals. So uh staff will take all of that information back and bring it forward uh I believe in May and we’ll have uh a recommendation.

00:28:13
I’m here seeing nods um for us to make a decision on. So people will want to stay engaged throughout that process. All right. Not seeing any other comments. All in favor? Any opposed? Seeing none. Okay. Uh, we now have a verbal update on Burlington’s new zoning bylaw. So, I’ll turn it over to Todd Evershed, our supervisor of special projects and urban design for an update.

00:28:45

What’s that? >> I’m sorry. I didn’t even see you walk up. I was just reading my notes. There you are, Kyle. Welcome. Not >> Yeah. Thanks very much, chair, and good morning to yourself, uh, members of committee, staff, and members of the public. Uh, my name is Kyle Plass, manager of development and design with the city’s community planning department, and I’m pleased to be here this morning to provide you with a brief update relating to the city’s new residential zoning bylaws.

00:29:15
As you may recall, members of the new zoning bylaw project team, uh, specifically Todd Evershed, have been before this committee a number of times over the last year to provide updates relating to the city’s new residential zoning bylaw. Most recently, uh, we were here last month at the March meeting of committee.

00:29:32
Uh, last month, we informed committee that the new residential zoning bylaws were approved by city council in early March. This morning, I’m pleased to announce the city’s new residential zoning bylaws have successfully made their way through the appeal process without any appeals, which that means that those bylaws are now in full force in effect, meaning that the permissions afforded by those bylaws and the new housing opportunities provided by those uh can now be realized in residential areas throughout the city.

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These new residential zoning bylaws represent a transformational step for the city. They’re grounded in today’s needs uh but purp purposefully shape how our residential neighborhoods will evolve for decades to come. As a cornerstone of the city’s long-term vision, these bylaws were designed to increase housing supply, improve affordability, and support vibrant complete communities uh with uh contextsensitive build form.

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They play a foundational role in advancing major city initiatives including our housing strategy, our housing pledge, the housing accelerator fund action plan, climate action plan, integrated mobility plan, urban forest master plan, and strategic plan to name a few. Together, these efforts chart an innovative path towards a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient Burlington.

00:30:53
Major changes in the new residential zoning bylaws include new built forms that are being permitted, more options for additional residential units, fewer residential zones, new regulations that provide more flexibility for development, improvements to support interpretation, including a simplified organization of regulations, a simplified writing style, and updated definitions.

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At the end of the day, these bylaws simplify the zoning rules and implement the city’s official plan policies by unlocking opportunities for gentle density and a broader mix of housing within the within and at the edges of our existing neighborhoods. This enables more diverse, adaptable, and future ready residential areas, ensuring Burlington can grow responsibly while maintaining the unique character that our residents value.

00:31:43
The new residential zoning bylaws also make uh clearer and easier to understand rules and use modern zoning ideas to help make it faster and easier to build several different types of homes. Now that we have our new residential zoning bylaws in place, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who helped and contributed to this important project.

00:32:00
I’d like to thank the project team for all of their hard work in getting us to this point, as well as the various stakeholders who provided valuable feedback throughout the process. Thanks as well to this committee for providing your insights and expertise in assisting with our communications to the various organizations that you all represent.

00:32:19
But our work on the city zoning bylaw is not done here. Our team is currently working on the implementation phase of the project which includes rolling out a communication strategy, supporting and assisting those who work directly day-to-day with our new zoning bylaws, and looking to refine and improve our bylaws as needed.

00:32:34
I will also note that this phase of the project only focused on our residential zones. However, we also need to review our other zone categories through subsequent phases of the project. This includes but is not limited to our employment zones, commercial zones, mixeduse zones, uh downtown zones, rural zones, etc. We are excited about the progress that has been made on the new zoning bylaw project to date and the new housing opportunities that it has introduced and we’ll continue to keep this committee updated and informed as we move towards next steps on the zoning bylaw project. With that, chair, I’d like to thank everyone uh for your time this morning and we welcome any questions that you might have. >> Thank you very much, Kyle. You do have one so far coming from councelor Galbreth. >> Thanks for the update. Uh always uh great to hear of uh the new zoning bylaw moving forward. I’m sure all the builders, homeowners, developers, planners, and everyone is very happy with it. Just wondering if um this will

00:33:34
is there going to be a lot less reliance on the committee of adjustment now that this is approved and should we just sunset that group or >> to the chair. Thanks for the question. Um, one of the goals of this project was really to identify the problem areas with our previous zoning bylaw as it related to bringing new housing online.

00:33:54
And so we did a review of all the minor variance applications that the committee of adjustment was processing and we tried to resolve some of those frequent issues that we were encountering. So ultimately we are hopeful that this will uh reduce the number of minor variance applications that need approval through the committee of adjustment and more housing forms will have as of right permission to proceed. Awesome.

00:34:13
Thank you, Kyle. >> Any further questions? All right, seeing none, I’ll ask Jason if you wouldn’t mind moving this. Uh, and this is just a verbal update. Any comments? All right, seeing none, all those in favor? Any opposed? That does carry. Uh motion to receive and file information items.

00:34:43
I’ll ask uh Bianca if you would be so kind. Moved. Thank you. Any questions or comments on the information items? All right. All those in favor? Any opposed? Seeing none, that does carry. Staff remarks. Committee remarks. Okay. not wanting to extend here our shortest meeting ever, but I I do have some uh and actually it it’s it’ll start by way of a question for uh Steve Robo uh or whoever wants to take it around the new funding that was just announced by the government, the $ 8.

00:35:23
8 billion and the development charges, you know, tied to a development charge cut of 30 to 50%. I know it’s still a work in progress and that may be the update, but uh I wanted to uh raise that and give you an opportunity to to say anything about it that that you might know uh subsequent to that announcement and how we might uh Oh, Craig’s coming up too.

00:35:48
How we might take advantage of that uh if we wanted to. >> Thank you, Mayor. I’m going to defer to Craig. I can tell you that staff are having conversations both with our counterparts and other municipalities and at the region and with the province seeking clarification, but Craig and his team I think are closer to the day-to-day details of the program or the evolving okay ever evolving level of information we are getting.

00:36:10
Yes, >> thank you. >> Okay, our chief financial officer, uh, Craig Miller, go ahead. >> Uh, thanks thanks for the question. I was actually hiding in the backs because hoping that wasn’t going to be asked. Um yeah to Steve point to Steve’s uh comment um we’re still waiting for the details.

00:36:27
Uh we did meet with regional staff yesterday. Um as you know development charges and when I speak we get in the weeds they’re very prescribed. So um there’s still a lot to understand is exactly how the mechanics are going to work. If it is project specific um what does that look like? So, I think it’s certainly very positive and and we’re looking forward to uh getting those details, but at this point it’s difficult to assess.

00:36:53
I mean, it is a lot of money, but when you get in the weeds and look across the province, it’s not really um in terms of the size of some of these large projects. So, um we’re we’re we’re waiting, we’re advocating, and uh and we’re we’re working with a partner at the region, make sure we’re at the table, too. >> That’s great.

00:37:12
Yeah, we want to we want to be there if we if it’s something that we would benefit from. Uh and we we don’t know yet. To be determined. Uh I can tell you that um uh right after this meeting, I’ll be going to the fine metropolis of Pickering for the Ontario big city mayor’s um regular meeting. This will be certainly a topic of conversation.

00:37:32
Uh we do have uh Minister Flack joining us so we’ll be able to um have a conversation around what this might look like and and share some preliminary feedback around uh the potential program. So uh that’s a great opportunity to have that engagement. Uh any any other comments, questions on that piece? Uh go ahead, Alicia. Um just a comment um in in relation to the market in general.

00:38:02
I know Mike’s not here uh to express kind of the feedback from the actual um industry right now, but the GST relief has actually shown a bit of stimulus in the industry. Um so I’m not sure if other builders around the table have seen anything. We personally haven’t, but there has been a little bit of an uptick um in interest.

00:38:26
So, this is good news and I think that the government’s announcement with the DCs will definitely help and it’ll actually stimulate some projects to come forward that haven’t been for a long time. So, hopefully good news. Well, that’s excellent. One of the keys that we’ve heard, including through our community improvement plan, is the ability to stack programs.

00:38:47
So, DC breaks on top of HST, GST cuts. And I do know uh someone who very recently was able to uh put in an offer on a new build because of the HST relief, which in their case was over $100,000 in savings, and it made the difference for them being able to get into the market. So, it’s it’s uh you know, that’s an example of one, but better than better than none.

00:39:12
So, uh great to see that other uh announcement as well. and and it really is important for every level of government to do our part uh and define what that looks like but uh be at the table so we can assist too. All right, the final uh for me the final update for committee is um couple of days ago we did as a committee ask staff to review membership of standing committees and determine the appropriate place of people who are registered lobbyists around the committee.

00:39:42
Uh so that will come back in the third quarter I think of this year. My uh personal view is and I said this at committee is that uh this committee brings lobbying into the light. We’re sitting in public public agendas recorded votes accounted for and we have a number of mechanisms uh whether that’s conflict of interest act or our code of conduct to ensure that uh appropriate behavior occurs at all of our committee meetings.

00:40:09
So, I just want to extend my thank you to everybody who sits around this table. This has been uh an an incredible committee that has provided enormous value to the city and to our planning department and that’s because of each of you sitting around the table. So, um stay tuned on that and um thank you again for your service.

00:40:32
All right, any other committee remarks? Seeing none, motion to adjourn. Janna has moved adjournment. Uh I do think this is our fastest committee meeting ever. I will now call the vote. All those in favour? Any opposed? We are now adjourned. Thanks everyone. Have a great rest of your day.