With the opinions of Bradford West Gwillimbury councillors and residents in tow, the proposed Town-Wide Urban Design Guidelines will be presented for council ratification in September.
Councillors got their first look at the guidelines during their June 7 meeting, during which they lauded the report from The Planning Partnership for its thoroughness. Two public consultation sessions followed June 28.
The guidelines are being developed to help shape the form and character of future development in the town’s urban area, supporting its transition from a small rural town to a medium-sized urban centre. They hope to maintain and enhance the community’s character and existing elements, by providing strategies and recommendations for compatible designs.
The presentations showcased examples to demonstrate how the guidelines can work, but the town isn’t setting out to be the taste police through this exercise. Rather, the guidelines can be used by developers for infill and new developments in downtown Bradford and Bond Head to create projects that reflect the municipality’s design objectives.
A previous guideline document was created in 2005 for land then known as Community Plan Area 2, which encompasses Line 6 and Holland Street West from Melbourne Drive to Sideroad 10. The process to create a town-wide document began in June 2020.
In the guidelines, four areas are highlighted to receive focus: Downtown Bradford, GO Station/Bridge Street, Bond Head Village and the Highway 400 Employment Gateway Area.
For both Downtown Bradford and Bond Head Village, heritage preservation is a key component. In both cases, development is encouraged, but it has to reflect the character of what exists. For downtown, the guidelines suggest any redevelopment should incorporate existing heritage buildings. In Bond Head, the infill development must fit with the established area character
Both sections also emphasize the pedestrian experience, particularly essential in Downtown Bradford, as densities increase. That’s why the scale of the buildings will be so important, as the guideline calls for buildings of more than four storeys to be set back a further 2.5 metres at the fourth storey.
“The building setback is related to the recommendation to maintain a fairly consistent height of the street while recognizing that redevelopment and intensification are going to happen (and) also that those buildings might be taller than what you have in the downtown today,” explained Wai Ying DiGiorio of The Planning Partnership. “Something you can control is that scale at the pedestrian street level, where you’re going to really experience that new built form massing the most.”
Increased density may also be found in the GO Station/Bridge Street area, given its proximity to public transit options. Yet new development along the Bridge Street corridor may prove difficult, based on the experience of one local real estate broker who took part in one of the public sessions.
“What is Bradford doing to get that going, in terms of re-zoning,” said Stephanie Sinclair, who currently represents a landowner on Bridge Street and has been informed that the Lake Simcoe Regional Conservation Authority is opposed to redevelopment along the Bridge Street corridor. “(The town) has zoned much of it future development, but that doesn’t mean too much.”
Funds have been budgeted for a study on what development can look like along Bridge Street, explained Peter Loukes, director of development and engineering services, which will include engagement with the conservation authority on the matter. Loukes also shared hope that the conservation authority would be more receptive to development once a fuller proposal is prepared, rather than dealing with issues on a case-by-case basis.
Within the four areas, additional considerations are spelt out based on the type of development that would be occurring, such as the construction of new neighbourhoods and employment lands, or the redevelopment of existing properties.
The survey conducted by the consultants that helped shaped the plan saw strong opinions about the need for on-site parking, as opposed to on-street parking.
In drafting the guidelines, the consultants considered the “desire for additional residential parking, protection of residential neighbourhood character, protection of environmental benefit and function of plantings, on-site infiltration and stormwater management and consideration of town infrastructure capacity,” a staff report from the June 7 committee-of-the-whole meeting summarized. “The project team has worked together to consider the often-competing interests and formulate criteria that can provide greater flexibility for additional front yard on-site parking and amenity space while providing measures to protect the above considerations.”
Coun. Gary Lamb hoped it would at least allow for a little more variety in development, if not help solve the issue of streets overflowing with parked cars.
“We now may have a document that will maybe for developers to stop the cookie-cutter approach,” he said. “We can say ‘we like this, we like this; we like small front yards and laneways in the back.’ Because if we keep building townhouses, and the affordability is so high, you’re going to have more multi-families in smaller homes and cars all over the place.”
The guidelines also look at the public realm, in terms of complete streets and parks, open spaces and trails. This was an important piece for area resident Rick Turner, who sought to see a greater connection with what’s being done in Bradford West Gwillimbury in the creation of a long trail system and with other municipalities.
The proposed Riverfront Trail fits that description and Coun. Jonathan Scott was glad to see it given a vote of confidence by the guidelines as a project with the potential to “transform the east end of Bradford, both in terms of gateways and also in terms of active transportation,” he said.
Scott further lauded the riverfront trail as a real amenity both residents and tourists could enjoy. Having it enshrined in the guidelines will only help make it a reality.
“It’s great to have that enthusiastic support an expert voice, especially around ‘green fingers’ connecting into existing parks,” he added. “Whether it’s Taylor Park or the Community Centre or Scanlon Creek, I think there are some really great ideas that would animate the east end of Bradford.”
To view the draft plan, click here.
