MILTON INTENSIFICATION AND INFILL STUDY - Town of Milton

INTENSIFICATION IN MILTON’S
URBAN GROWTH CENTRE
Existing Conditions
Current Land Use and Development Pattern
The dominant land use in the Downtown Milton Urban Growth Centre is single-storey commercial
uses. The Milton Mall is the largest retail area, but major retail uses also exist
next to the GO station. The dominant use in the central part of the UGC is the Milton GO
station and its associated parking lot. North of the GO station are a series of industrial
condominiums housing a number of service commercial uses and auto-related uses. A
mix of office and service commercial uses also exist along Nipissing Road south of the
GO station.
At the south end of the UGC boundary, south of the mall site, lies the Region of Halton’s
Allendale property that includes a senior’s residence and various regional services.
Residential uses are limited in the UGC, and consist primarily of low density housing
southwest and northwest of Ontario and Main Streets.
Park space is completely absent from the UGC, although recreational uses and the proposed
arts and entertainment complex lie at the eastern boundary along Thompson
Road.
Current Policy Permissions
The current Milton Official Plan (OP) was adopted in 1997. This pre-dates the province’s
2006 Growth Plan that identifies the Downtown Milton Urban Growth Centre, so the OP
does not specifically identify the Urban Growth Centre as an intensification area, or establish
any density requirements for it. However the area that is now identified as the Urban
Growth Centre lies mostly within the current OPs Central Business District Secondary
Plan Area. This area currently permits building heights ranging from 4 to 7 storeys and
allows for a variety of land uses including residential, commercial and mixed use.
Figure 6 shows the current OP’s height limits. These maximum heights would provide for
development that would accommodate approximately 170 people and jobs combined per
hectare, less than the 200 people and jobs combined per hectare now required by the
province’s Growth Plan. In addition, the current land use permissions of the OP, which include
large areas for commercial development, would fail to yield the 5,300 residential intensification
units required by the Region of Halton. As a result, if the current OP is unchanged,
additional intensification would have to be distributed elsewhere in the Town.
Figure 6: Current Milton Official Plan Central Business District Secondary Plan Height Limits
PANEL 4
Factors to Consider in Developing an Intensification Vision for the Urban
Growth Centre
Legislative Requirements:
• Province’s minimum density requirement of 200 people and jobs per hectare.
• Accommodating a significant portion of the 5,300 intensification units required by
Halton Region in order to reduce intensification pressures elsewhere in the Town.
Physical Attributes:
• Destiny Milton 2 seeks to make the CBD the main focal point – administrative,
cultural, entertainment, commercial, social and historic – of the community.
• Several large parcels that provide significant opportunities for future redevelopment.
• The GO station is a major trip generator and presents an opportunity to shift a
significant proportion of trips from private automobiles to public transit.
• The low density and car-dependent nature of existing commercial development and
amount of land devoted to surface parking.
• Destiny Milton 2 directs higher density development to arterial roads and transit
corridors; Main Street, Ontario Street and Thompson Road bisect the UGC.
• The function of Main Street as the main east - west arterial road leading to a
significant new business park now being planned to the east of James Snow Parkway.
• Recent age of many of the commercial uses at the southwest corner of Main and
Thompson, and resulting reduced likelihood of redevelopment in the near term.
Alternatively, the age of the Milton Mall means that redevelopment potential is
greater in the short term.
• Need for new residential development to support local stores and businesses.
• Preservation of views of the Niagara Escarpment
Physical Constraints:
• Proximity to low-density residential neighbourhoods at the edges of the UGC.
• Lack of park space.
• Water and wastewater servicing constraints.
• Poor connections between the UGC and the historic town centre along the western
part of Main Street.
• Traffic congestion is already significant along Main and Ontario Streets and there are
limited alternatives for east-west and north-south travel movements.
• The fragmented nature of the ownership of the multi-unit buildings on the north side
of Main (multiple Plans of Condominium).
The current Milton Official Plan allows for a density
of approximately 170 people and jobs combined
per hectare, not enough to meet the density
requirements of the Province’s Growth Plan.
pA planningAlliance