Town moving forward with new draft Midtown Oakville Official Plan Amendment

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Oakville’s new draft Official Plan Amendment (OPA) for Midtown Oakville went before Town Council last night where staff responded to questions from Mayor and Council and engaged with members of the public gathering valuable feedback on the updated OPA and its changes.

The purpose of the draft OPA is to update the land use policies for Midtown Oakville in the Livable Oakville Plan (Official Plan) to the year 2051 and beyond. The new draft OPA provides an important update for how this area will grow over time and guides the development and evolution of a new liveable community in Oakville. It integrates additional research and key findings gathered over the last several months.

In addition, a notable update in this draft is the inclusion of Community Planning Permit System (CPPS) enabling policies that allow the town and developers to work together to achieve common goals regarding mixed land use, affordable housing and more. The CPPS is a new-to-Oakville tool that can help streamline the development process.

Overall, the new draft OPA retains many of the positive attributes that were already included in the original Official Plan policies for Midtown while being responsive to current and future social, economic, and environmental needs of the town and supports the vision for Midtown.

Key highlights of the new draft Midtown OPA include

Height threshold and density management

Like the existing Official Plan policies, new development is subject to a height range in the new draft Midtown OPA. Increases to height thresholds may be considered as part of the development permit approval authorized through a Community Planning Permit System (CPPS).

Updated population numbers

Based on current market conditions and demographic trends, the new forecast for Midtown results in a conservative estimate of 29,900 residents and jobs combined by 2051. The previous target established in the 2009 Livable Oakville Plan was 20,000 residents and jobs by 2031.The town recognizes that population forecasts are prone to fluctuations, and it is important to keep that in mind for long-term projects spanning over two to three decades.

Community benefits

The new draft Midtown Oakville OPA continues to promote parks and open spaces, and offers additional connectivity to the rest of Oakville through pedestrian, cycling, and transit improvements. Through new policies, the OPA also provides direction regarding the provision of community amenities, a broad mix of land use, and options for diverse and affordable housing.

Staff will bring forward a recommended OPA at a statutory public meeting hosted by the Planning and Development Council in January 2025. A decision of Council is expected after this public meeting. To provide comments on the new draft Midtown OPA for council’s consideration, members of the public can delegate at this meeting or email townclerk@oakville.ca.

Before the end of this year, an open house will be held for members of the public to meet with town staff and ask questions to better understand the new draft Midtown OPA. For more information visit the Midtown page.

Background

On September 26, 2024, town staff circulated the new Draft Midtown OPA to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) for comment. The ministry’s commenting period mandates a 90-day review, followed by a 20-day public notice period before Council hosts a statutory public meeting on the OPA.
On October 10, town staff presented the new draft Midtown OPA to Council and responded to Council’s questions about the changes. Watch the October 10 Committee of the Whole: Midtown Oakville meeting to learn more.