Stoney Creek Update

[mishap]

Originally Posted by matt602

Box and No Frills are basically the same format store, so I'm sure the No Frills will just be replacing the former. The Box was just a really scaled down version, I'd almost imagine that it was a temporary thing intended to test the waters for a full No Frills store.

A lot closer than same format... both are Loblaws. Box is No Frills with fewer, uh, frills. But Negative Frills probably wouldn't work as a name.

[thistleclub]

Hamilton preserves former Augustus Jones house
(Stoney Creek News, Kevin Werner, Jan 25 2016)

It may have happened in reverse order, but Hamilton councillors and the Heritage Committee both accelerated designating 1 Jones Street as a heritage building of value.

Stoney Creek councillor Maria Pearson, who is a member of the Heritage Committee, urged her council colleagues to accept the designation at council’s Jan. 20 meeting, a day before the heritage committee was set to vote on the same recommendation.

She said the property owner recently sold the house, commonly referred to by heritage advocates as the “Jones House,” and they wanted to keep it safe when it sold.

“The owners are supportive of designation,” said Pearson. “They want the heritage attributes to be maintained. I’m just thrilled, absolutely thrilled with the outcome.”

She said the new owner will be responsible for protecting the two-storey, wood-framed and stucco building. There are a few no trespassing and no parking signs dotting the property.

Pearson said she has already talked to the buyer of the home, Jas Sohal, who will help to preserve the building.

“He knows the property has to be protected,” said Pearson. “There is no issue.”

The property is already in the register of property of cultural heritage value or interest. It means the owners have to provide the city 60 days’ notice before demolishing or removing any structure on the property.

The former City of Stoney Creek had identified the property had historical merit to be designated. Hamilton heritage members had placed the property on a list of buildings of concerned.

Pearson said she has been in contact with a person willing to purchase the property, located at the corner of Jones Street and Mountain Avenue North in downtown Stoney Creek, and accepts the heritage designation.

The property may have been the home of Augustus Jones, a United Empire Loyalist who came north from the United States in the 1780s.

The house is believed constructed by Jones’ nephew Stephen Jones , and was lived in by Ebenezer and Joseph Jones, brothers to Augustus. When the brothers were killed in an accident, Augustus inherited the house. The Jones family owned the property from 1791 to 1911.


Read it in full here.

[thomax]

Hamilton Community News: Review backs Stoney Creek school-closure plan

Volunteers' quick decision surprises superintendent

By Richard Leitner | February 25, 2016

The consensus is in, at least for the group of parents and teachers advising trustees: a staff recommendation to close six public elementary schools in lower Stoney Creek and rebuild three of them is the best of three choices on the table.

“I didn’t see that coming,” school superintendent Jeff Gillies told members of the accommodation review committee after they quickly agreed to scrap two less ambitious options in favour of the one to rebuild Eastdale, Memorial and Collegiate Avenue.

The plan, which will need an estimated $36.5 million in provincial funding, would shutter R.L. Hyslop, Mountain View and Green Acres, with a goal of opening the new schools in the fall of 2019.

The other options – upgrading all six schools for $21.8 million or closing R.L. Hyslop and fixing up the rest for $27.1 million – aren’t recommended by staff and also found little or no support at a Feb. 3 public meeting.

Both require the schools to compete for the $20 million the Hamilton public board gets each year to maintain all of its 103 schools, while the staff plan will try to tap a special $750-million fund the province created to encourage school closures.

The six schools are between 50 and 67 years old.

“The money is there. It’s going to go somewhere,” Hyslop parent representative Linda Wallace said. “If we don’t take it, someone else will.”

Stoney Creek trustee Jeff Beattie said he’s “surprised, but pleased” the committee didn’t take long to reach consensus.

“It’s reflective of the community, for sure, that they’re ready to move on and work on what they see as the better position, the better recommendation,” he said.

“The community’s been ready for this process, waiting for this process, for a very long time.”

Prior to making its decision, the committee toured Hyslop, built in 1966 and the second replacement school in the area since an original school opened in 1880.

Hylsop has the lowest enrolment of the six schools, at 167, and has no student washrooms on its second floor.

Principal Brian Playfair, who led the tour, said water runoff is a regular issue at the school and has flooded areas in the past because Hyslop is built into the foot of the escarpment.

Hyslop parent rep Monique Moore afterwards encouraged board staff to incorporate the cornerstones from the school’s three incarnations into the design of the new schools.

“That could go a long way in soothing the heartstrings, so to speak, bringing the old into the new,” she said.

Superintendent Pam Reinholdt said a transition committee can address how to honour the closing schools, noting the bell from the former Winona school is in a prominent spot at the replacement school’s new location.

“It would be nice to have some kind of memorabilia from each of the schools that are being closed,” she said. “I think it’s a very valid point and it does help people be connected to the new building because they see part of themselves in it.”

The committee will hold three more working meetings – the next is at 6 p.m. on March 2 at Eastdale – before hosting a second public meeting at 6 p.m. on April 12 at Orchard Park Secondary School.

Committee members have asked staff to ensure the April 12 meeting’s presentation explains their advisory role, the different funding sources for the three options and that class sizes must adhere to provincial standards no matter how big a school is.

The new Eastdale, Collegiate and Memorial schools will have student capacities of 460, 500 and 550, respectively, compared to a range of 219 to 389 at the six existing schools.

Trustees are expected to make a final decision by June.

[thomax]

Hamilton Community News: Hamilton approves upper Stoney Creek housing near Eramosa Karst

By Kevin Werner | March 30, 2016

Hamilton councillors have approved a residential development proposed to be constructed near the Eramosa Karst, which would force the relocation of a wetland to the northern portion of the environmentally sensitive area.

The development by Losani Homes, involves the construction of 871 residential units of varying housing styles from single detached homes to condos and a mid-rise apartment. The project is planned for 25 hectares of land north of the Eramosa Karst, stretching from the proposed Upper Red Hill Valley Parkway extension from Highland Road West to Rymal Road East, and bordering on Upper Mountain Albion Road.

Part of the residential development, called Central Park, involves the construction of a 1.95-hectare neighbourhood park that will include soccer fields and baseball diamonds, and a 2.34-hectare Eco Passage Corridor that will link the East Mountain Trial Loop with the Mount Albion Conservation area.

Darrell Smith, manager of development approval, called the relocation of the wetland “very complicated” since the city and developer will have to maintain the water flow to the wetland during construction.

“We are continuing some existing flows to the site,” said Smith. “All water balance must be maintained through the planning.”

The Eco Passage Corridor, which is proposed to be 60-metres wide, will “maintain the natural wildlife movements” through the development.

Residents in the area, and Glanbrook councillor Brenda Johnson, were concerned that any blasting and construction that takes place in the area could create new sinkholes, and expand existing sinkholes on current residential lands.

“What will it do to the fragility of the area?” said Johnson.

Margaret Reid, chair of the Friends of the Eramosa Karst, who also lives on Upper Mount Albion Road, expressed her group’s issues with the proposed development’s impact on the surrounding land.

City planners and Losani’s agent, James Webb, of Webb Consulting, said the developer has been planned in consultation with the Hamilton Conservation Authority since the beginning.

A karst study, along with studies involving the relocation of the wetlands, and preliminary design of the corridor have been done, and the HCA has approved those documents, said Webb.

“We are quite confident the HCA is satisfied,” said Webb.

There were no HCA officials at the March 22 planning committee meeting, a point a few councillors found disconcerting.
Alvin Chan, city planner, said city staff will “monitor and protect the Karst sinkholes.”

Even though the city is putting about 60 conditions on the development, which planning staff have acknowledged is a “complex” project, the conditions are needed “for clarity,” said Tony Sergi, senior director of growth development.

The proposed development will also mean impacts on area roads, said Chan.

City staff said Highland Road will have to be closed for possibly six to eight months. That means Upper Mount Albion Road, which was closed by the city in 2013, will be open at one end during the construction phase, said city staff.

Smith said Upper Mountain Albion Road will also be urbanized, including the installation of sidewalks and reconstructing the roadway.

Residents along Upper Mount Albion said there are about 500 students from the nearby Bishop Ryan High School walking from the school across Rymal Road and along the Mount Albion.

“We need to make Winterberry and Upper Mount Albion as safe as possible,” said Stoney Creek councillor Doug Conley.
Webb said Upper Mount Albion Road will remain a “long” cul-de-sac, even after it is urbanized.

Reid said residents “are very concerned” about closing Highland, and opening up Upper Mount Albion Road.

She said Upper Mount Albion will have to be closed “immediately” at Rymal Road during the construction.

“Timing is very important to us,” she said.

Conley said closing Highland will also boost the volume of traffic along Winterberry, and create a parking nightmare.

Conley said he was opposed to the idea of installing lights at the corner of one of the streets entering the new development and Upper Red Hill Valley Parkway. The parkway is currently being constructed, with an expected completion in August 2016.

Conley said he was afraid of pedestrians crossing a four-lane roadway, and the potential for collisions. He said already there have been collisions involving pedestrians along Winterberry and Mud Street, another four-lane roadway.

“I’m really upset with the light (at the proposed intersection),” said Conley. “There will be accidents there. We can’t have residents go over the expressway.”

The committee requested city staff examine alternatives to creating an intersection with lights at Upper Red Hill Valley Parkway.

Politicians are scheduled to approve the development at the March 30 council meeting.


Here's a rough outline of the site:

Google Maps


When it's built, there will be around 2000 more cars that depend on the Red Hill Valley Parkway. Great planning...

[king10]

well i mean what else do you expect? of course as more neighbourhoods are built on the mountain they will need to use the linc and red hill

[Beedok]

I'm sure some will work in the wharehouses and whatnot nearby.

[thomax]

Originally Posted by king10

well i mean what else do you expect? of course as more neighbourhoods are built on the mountain they will need to use the linc and red hill

The problem though is that Hamilton already isn't hitting provincial intensification targets, the Red Hill already carries 40,000 more cars a day than what was originally expected so it already needs to be widened for existing traffic, and there are homes for +30,000 more people already under construction in Upper Stoney Creek. Now this gets approved and adds even more people to that

It's horrible planning.

[thistleclub]

Taro dump owner does about-face on expansion
(Stoney Creek News, Richard Leitner, June 16 2016)

After years of fighting the Taro dump, Brad Clark will help the upper Stoney Creek site’s new owner try to pile more waste there – enough to require a full-blown environmental assessment.

Clark, who was the area’s councillor before his 2014 unsuccessful mayoral run, says he’s been hired as a consultant by Terrapure Environmental to assist its bid to dump waste where previous owner Newalta Corp. promised to put clean fill.

Newalta made the commitment three years ago when it got approval to raise the industrial dump’s height by nearly a third in return for eliminating a 15-hectare disposal area by Green Mountain Road.

At the time, Clark denounced the change, warning neighbours would be staring at “a mountain of crap.”

On Monday, he said he will help Terrapure, which bought the dump in February of last year, find the best way to reinstate the former 57-hectare footprint but keep the higher 18.5-metre elevation – raised by 4.5 metres in 2013.

The plan will be presented at a public open house on June 21 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Salvation Army Winterberry Heights Church.

Clark said his new role brings him “full circle” from when he led Stoney Creek Residents Against Pollution, which unsuccessfully fought the dump, approved by the Mike Harris government in 1996 without public hearings.

“I think I have an awful lot to offer to ensure that this facility reconfiguration that is proposed is environmentally sound, viable and minimizes the impact to the residents,” he said.

“I can either do that on the outside or do that on the inside as a consultant who can raise the concerns in an appropriate manner.”


Read it in full here.

[RaginRonic]

I just got off the phone with someone who works at the Upper Gage and Fennell Canadian Tire, and she told me that the store will be closing permanently in October, for a move to the Walmart Supercentre Plaza at Upper Centennial at Rymal East.

[thomax]

Four buildings, and a huge chunk of land in Old Downtown Stoney Creek is up for sale. The site is zoned for a 6-8 storey mixed use building....

realtor.ca - 23 KING Street East , Stoney Creek - $2,200,000 



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Click here to go to the location in Google Street View

[thistleclub]

Ministry quietly lifted Taro dump tonnage cap
(Stoney Creek News, Richard Leitner, Dec 15 2016)

The Ministry of the Environment removed a tonnage limit for the Taro industrial dump without any public notice, effectively extending the site’s life by five years and allowing it to take more than two million tonnes of additional waste.

The amendment to the site’s licence, buried in Appendix F of a 2005 annual report for the site, is detailed in a Nov. 28, 2005 letter to then-owner PSC Industrial Services Canada Inc. from ministry director Greg Washuta.

It came just five days after PSC applied for the change.

The letter notifies PSC that the ministry is revoking the existing licence Condition 21 allowing up to 10 million tonnes of waste and 6.32 million cubic metres, and replacing it with a new one specifying just the cubic-metre limit.

At the time, PSC estimated each cubic metre of disposed waste weighed 1.94 tonnes, meaning the new condition increased the site’s tonnage to 12.26 million tonnes.

New owner Terrapure Environmental Inc. is now seeking to further raise the upper Stoney Creek dump’s capacity to 10 million cubic metres, or double the original maximum tonnage, based on a revised formula of two tonnes per cubic metre.

Throughout the process leading up to the dump’s controversial approval by the Harris government without public hearings in July 1996, citizens and politicians were repeatedly told the site would receive up to 10 million tonnes of waste over 20 years.

In his 2005 letter, Washuta states his decision to remove the tonnage limit is “all in accordance with the application for approval dated November 23, 2005, and supporting information and documentation prepared by PSC Industrial Services Canada Inc.”

“The maximum approved volumetric capacity of the landfill is not consistent with the maximum tonnage approved for the site due to inaccurate estimates of the density of the waste made during the study of the landfill,” the letter states.

The impact of the change on the dump’s original 20-year lifespan was immediate.

While the 2004 Taro annual report estimated the site had 12 years of capacity left – putting it on pace to be full this year – the 2005 report increased that estimate to 16 years even though another year had passed.

Subsequent Taro annual reports now all state that “the estimated life of the site was approximately 25 years” – rather than the 20 years in every report prior to 2005.

The Condition 21 change came at a time when the ministry had allowed PSC to walk away from a community liaison committee for the dump and set up a hand-picked Taro Neighbourhood Liaison Committee in its place.

The new committee never met in public during its six-year tenure and appeared to violate conditions of Taro’s licence requiring two members from city council.

But it did keep minutes and they show PSC mentioned the Condition 21 change at a Dec. 5, 2005 evening meeting at Boston Pizza attended by four people: Michael Jovanovic and Lorenzo Alfano for PSC, and citizen members Nancy Hackett and Kathy Wakeman.

An unattributed statement characterizes the change as “an administrative amendment.”

“There was an inconsistency in the tonnage and the volume that would have resulted in the landfill design having to be amended,” the minutes state.

“PSC applied to correct the inconsistency so the approved design can be utilized to its fullest extent. No other implications to change other than administrative clean up.”

As he was then, Alfano is the Taro’s site manager, while Jovanovic, now a Terrapure vice-president, was in a similar role for PSC in 2005.

Terrapure communications director Greg Jones pointed to the Boston Pizza meeting as evidence PSC disclosed the change publicly and said the tonnage limit was inconsistent with another licence condition detailing the dump’s final contours.

He said the number of tonnes per cubic metre of waste was always estimated to be higher than the implied math behind the 1996 approvals.

“The ministry agreed with that and it was considered, in ministry terminology, to be an administrative amendment,” Jones said.


Read it in full here.

[thomax]

HamiltonNews.com: After 59 years, Bowlerama Stoney Creek closing May 13

By Mike Pearson | Apr 17, 2017



After 59 years, Bowlerama Stoney Creek will close its lanes forever on May 13.

Known in its early years as Lucky Strike, the bowling alley has hosted countless tournaments, fundraisers, birthday parties and first dates.

When the alley first opened back in 1958 at 121 Hwy. 8, automatic pin setting was just starting to catch on. And computerized scoring was still decades away.

Bowlerama is believed to be the only east Hamilton alley offering both five- and 10-pin bowling, with 12 lanes for each format.

Bowlerama general manager Greg Schultz said a May 13 tournament is scheduled as the facility’s final event. Staff found out about the closure in February, he said.

For Schultz and nine others who will lose their jobs at Bowlerama, the closure is a difficult time.

“I’ve been here for 10 years, so I remember all the people, all the bowlers,” he said.

Schultz noted the alley remains a popular recreation venue, especially on Saturday nights.

In past years, Bowlerama has hosted events for Big Brothers and Grimsby Special Olympics. The facility is also home to 15 bowling leagues.

The property, located directly across the street from Fiesta Mall, could soon be converted to housing in a joint venture between Branthaven Homes and Marz Homes.

Provincial land registry documents show the property was sold for $1.5 million to Branthaven Marz Inc. on Jan. 18.

Caistor Centre resident Tyler Coon, a former Grimsby Special Olympics bowler, said Bowlerama played a vital role when the former Stryx Bowling Centre in Grimsby closed down in 2010. At that time, the Grimsby Special Olympics five-pin team moved to Bowlerama Stoney Creek for practices.

Coon is part of a Facebook group called Save Bowlerama Stoney Creek.

Coon, who has a form of autism, decided to sign up for 10-pin bowling at Bowlerama.

“As a Caistor Centre resident, Bowlerama is only 20 minutes away from where we live,” he wrote in an email. “After hearing about the fact Bowlerama is going to close, the question is: where else in the Niagara Region can we find a venue for both five and 10-pin?”

Recent online reviews paint Bowlerama in a favourable light.

“Cute old style bowling alley. Many people say it’s outdated but it just adds to the charm. The staff are friendly and really take care of the facility. Very clean. We enjoyed Bowlerama as much now as we did when we went as kids!” Kelly Bingham wrote in a March review.

“Lots of space and cool glow in the dark settings. Great for family outings or just friends getting together,” Samantha Lyons wrote in December.

[thistleclub]

Stoney Creek dump expansion eyes even bigger volume
(Stoney Creek News, Richard Leitner, Apr 27 2017)

The proposed expansion of the Taro industrial dump just got potentially bigger.

A city review of six new options put forward by owner Terrapure Environmental in February concludes three of them will increase the upper Stoney Creek site’s overall capacity to 12 million cubic metres by keeping an area for clean fill as is.

That’s up from 10 million in two original options last summer that sought to put waste in the clean-fill area, created when former owner Newalta Corp. got approval in 2013 to raise the site’s height by a third in return for shrinking its waste footprint.

Taro’s existing waste limit is 6.32 million cubic metres and the other three options are consistent with the original ones, earmarking the clean-fill area’s estimated two million cubic metres of capacity for waste.

Doug Conley, the area’s councillor, said Terrapure’s proposals to both keep the clean-fill area and boost the dump’s waste capacity came as “a complete surprise,” especially since the company has repeatedly insisted there’s no market for clean fill.

He said he’s worried the company will use the same argument to place waste in the clean-fill area by Green Mountain Road if it gets approval for an overall capacity of 12 million cubic metres.


Read it in full here.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by thomax

Four buildings, and a huge chunk of land in Old Downtown Stoney Creek is up for sale. The site is zoned for a 6-8 storey mixed use building....

realtor.ca - 23 KING Street East , Stoney Creek - $2,200,000 



Google Earth


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source

Click here to go to the location in Google Street View

urgh.. I grew up in stoney creek.. I always loved this area because it never changed.. I hope they don't tear these down to build more retirement homes..

[thomax]

Stoney Creek United Church explores plan to downsize, put in affordable housing

Jul 04, 2017 | by Laura Lennie



Stoney Creek United Church hopes to address changing times and assist young families.

The church is looking to replace its building with a smaller one and add affordable housing to the site through a partnership with Hamilton East Kiwanis Non-Profit Homes Inc.

Council chair Doug Caldwell says the church’s “nest is emptier than it was.”

“We don’t have the capacity and resources to maintain such a large building,” he said. “This would enable us to remain in the community and take care of our neighbours in the process.”

Stoney Creek United Church – originally a Methodist church – became one of the first united churches in Canada in 1925 at 1 King St. W.

Caldwell, who’s been a member for 17 years, said he doesn’t know how many parishioners attended the church in the early days, but 400 people were going to its services in the 1960s.

That doesn’t happen anymore at Stoney Creek United or most protestant churches, he said.

“Before I became a member here, I was at other united churches and I believe numbers began to drop in the 70s and that trend has continued on,” Caldwell said. “The church is seen by many as exclusive, judgmental, privileged. It’s seen as a lot of things that it hasn’t anymore.”

Stoney Creek United has about 150 to 200 parishioners today.

It also needs an estimated $400,000 in repairs.

Caldwell said to compensate for lower attendance and increasing maintenance costs, the church had two choices: sell and relocate or downsize.

“Our members want to stay in the community and they know downsizing is the only thing we can do,” he said, adding they also “overwhelmingly” support adding affordable housing to the site. “Housing is critical – it’s the No. 1 thing for people at the bottom and it’s also the No. 1 thing for people in the middle. We’re here to help in any way we can.”

Hamilton East Kiwanis Non-Profit Homes Inc. executive director Brian Sibley said the church and Kiwanis have a mission in terms of the people they want to serve.

“The reason it works is because we’re looking at affordable housing for families – that’s who we are – and it’s one of the biggest needs in the community,” he said. “We know that we have the assets to build and incorporate the church’s part of it, and what they bring to table is the land.”

Sibley said Kiwanis already has acquired the services of a developer.

The next step is a feasibility study, followed by a rezoning application and the site plan process, he said.

“The rezoning will take a while – I would assume a year – so we’re probably talking 2020 before we would be ready to open the door,” Sibley said. “The current building would need to be demolished and then we’d be looking at maybe a six or seven-storey building with a number of family units in it. The church would have a portion of that building – probably integrated within the building – it would be a church space and community space.”

Caldwell said he’s hopeful the city will approve the zoning change, so the church can move forward with the plan.

“It’s really up to council, whether we’re able to do this,” he said. “I think council certainly believes in affordable housing and I think unless there’s some sort of huge groundswell of opposition stronger than the notion that people need a place to live, than we have an obligation to help our neighbours. I have a lot of trouble thinking of anything stronger than that, but what will be will be.”

[ScreamingViking]

It's always seemed a shame to me that the front of the original church was covered over by that earlier addition. Hopefully the older part can be incorporated somehow into the new build, and the addition gets taken down.

[thomax]

New sign up in front of Bowlerama...

"LIFE STYLED CONDOS, COMING SOON FROM THE $300's, branthaven.com/condos"


my photo

[thistleclub]

Taro dump plan looks bigger, higher or both
(Stoney Creek News, Richard Leitner, Dec 13 2017)

The Taro industrial dump will get bigger, higher or possibly both, if owner Terrapure Environmental can convince the province to approve one of six expansion options for the upper Stoney Creek site.

Five options presented at a Dec. 7 open house enlarge the site’s waste footprint, with the only one not doing so creating a mound 30.5 metres — or 100 feet — above ground level, more than double the height allowed when the dump opened in 1996.

All options boost the existing waste capacity of 6.32 cubic metres, by between 20 and nearly 60 per cent.

They do so in some cases by moving the dump closer to property limits to the north, south and east, while maintaining a minimum 30-metre buffer.

Two of the three options seeking the biggest capacity increase — to a total of 10 million cubic metres — also retain an area along Green Mountain Road set aside for 2 million cubic metres of unregulated fill.

That’s led the city to question if the dump’s real new capacity will really be 12 million cubic metres.…

None of the options impressed Suzanne Bacik, one of 38 people to drop by during the four-hour open house, held at Winterberry Heights Church.

She said it’s time for Terrapure to find another spot because the dump is high enough and now surrounded by housing, unlike when it opened.

“It’s a frickin’ eyesore,” said Bacik, who also criticized the company for hiring former Stoney Creek politicians Brad Clark and Larry Di Ianni as consultants.

“You don’t hire two ex-politicians to help you in the community if you don’t want to do what’s good for yourself as opposed to the community, and to finesse who to talk to, where to go and how to present your case.”


Read it in full here.

[thomax]

The Hamilton Spectator - Centennial Parkway preparing for an economic and transit transformation


Barton Street and Centennial Parkway, where this Burger King franchise is located, is poised for a multi-use redevelopment project that will include residential units and commercial space. The project is part of what the recent neighbourhood secondary plan, approved in February by councillors, is encouraging along Centennial Parkway over the next 30 years. - Kevin Werner/Metroland


A planning document approved by Hamilton councillors a few weeks ago has the potential to transform Centennially Parkway from a drab, retail-dominated area into a vibrant mixed-use economic powerhouse within the next 30 years.

Ward 5 Coun. Chad Collins, who represents the Centennial Parkway area, said the Centennial Neighbourhoods Secondary Plan and the Centennial Neighbourhoods Transportation Management Plan, which oversees an area that stretches from the Queen Elizabeth Way to King Street to the south and the Red Hill Parkway to Lake Avenue to the west, updates the 1960s and 1970s planning of the area to “facilitate higher development and growth.”

Collins points to the Confederation GO transit station near the QEW and the impact it will have within the entire neighbourhood. He says every other new GO station that has been constructed has prompted residential and commercial growth, such as in Burlington and along the Lakeshore transit hubs.

“Our area will be no different,” he said. “I’m excited by the plan. The change will happen over the next 20 to 30 years.

The Confederation station, which had its ceremonial ground breaking in February, is scheduled to open in 2019-2020, the same time when construction of the light-rail transit system in downtown Hamilton begins.

Collins said there are already applications for residential and commercial developments along Centennial Parkway. He said, for instance, the owner of the plaza where the Burger King is located at Barton and Centennial has sold the property. Collins said the new owner is looking at “hundreds” of planned residential units on the land, with ground floor commercial, as dictated by the secondary plan.

There are six large commercial plazas in the area, of which Eastgate Square is the largest. The plan allows for the gradual build out of the properties to assist in the transition of the area.

Hamilton may have been late to the new development philosophy for plazas that incorporate residential and commercial uses that has already taken hold in the Greater Toronto Area, but it has become the norm across the province.

“The secondary plan prepares the area for new investment,” said Collins. “Instead of plazas, there are big box stores.”

The plan proposes to “create a more compact, mixed use form of development in the area over the long term while protecting the commercial function” of the area. Planning officials expect an in excess of 100,000 square metres of retail floor area within the community.

The plan is “pedestrian focus” that includes limiting the height of buildings to two metres along Centennial Parkway; requiring commercial uses on the ground floor; allow new buildings to be constructed up to the street line and offering parking to the side or rear of the structure. The plan allows for higher buildings the farther away from Centennial Parkway anywhere from six to 20 storeys depending upon the location.

One of the strategic areas of change will happen is at the intersection of Centennial Parkway and Queenston, which includes Eastgate Square, the end point for the LRT.

The plan also includes creating “gateways” at Queenston Street and Red Hill; Centennial Parkway and Queenston; Centennial and Barton Street; and at the Confederation Go station. Staff estimate the cost for the streetscape and gateways will cost over $2.7 million.

Bike lanes are proposed for Nash, Lake, Warington and the South Service Road.

The plan proposes extending HSR routes to connect with the LRT terminus at Eastgate Square and the GO station; extending the B-line rapid transit for Queenston to Eastgate Square by 2024; implementing the S-line rapid transit system along Centennial Parkway to the GO station.

Staff say that by 2031 Barton and Queenston, west of Centennial will be experiencing “higher levels of congestion” of traffic within the area.

Collins said so far there have been no indications of an appeal to the plan. Staff has been meeting with property owners to mitigate any issues, such as for drive-thrus that have been grandfathered into the plan.

“There have been very successful negotiations, with minor changes done,” he said.

Centennial Neighborhoods Secondary Plan Study Summary Report (pdf.)


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[bigguy1231]

[QUOTE=thomax;8099536]Centennial Neighborhoods Secondary Plan Study Summary Report (pdf.)

You do realize that not one bit of this plan is in Stoney Creek. It is all within the former boundries of Hamilton. Maybe a Centennial Pkwy thread should be added if there isn't one already.