In Mississauga, the Dundas Landowners’ Association (DLA) is scrutinizing the City’s decision to approve several official plan amendments (OPAs) that “severely limit the creation of new walkable, climate friendly, transit oriented communities and housing.”
In August, City Council voted to transition lands on Dundas Street, between the borders of Oakville and Toronto, to mixed use, while lands between Haines and Blundell Roads were zoned for employment only.
Land and business owners hoping to redevelop their properties for residential mixed-use purposes, in an area with two future bus rail transit stations, had been fighting to remove that employment designation all summer, but to no avail.
“It is really disappointing and frankly concerning that a Council, which is supposed to represent the interests of all of its constituents, is prioritizing the unfounded concerns of a single business over a large number of long-standing small businesses and landowners that have served the City for decades,” stated DLA President Stephen Sparling. “Even more disappointing is that the City is taking a position that these OPAs are unappealable.”
Moe Ahmed, president and CEO of the Ahmed Group and a DLA member, said the decision opposes both regional and provincial guidelines and policies, which he finds “especially concerning.”
The Region of Peel adopted a new official plan in April 2022 to support Ontario’s A Place to Grow Growth Plan. The regional plan reclassifies Dundas Street for mixed use, making way for intensification, and sustainable transit-supportive development.
In a letter, the DLA states this reclassification is necessary to support the expected population and job growth along the corridor that will result from the Dundas Bus Rapid System and Hurontario Light Rail Transit.
The members also lobbied for taller building heights along the corridor to increase density around the Dundas BRT, yet the OPAs include low and restrictive height limits within the major transit station area (MTSA) plans, which DLA members say also oppose regional and provincial guidelines.
“Nowhere in Ontario has a municipality included height caps or restricted land use in their MTSA OPAs,” said Drago Vuckovic, President of the Ashley Group.. “Why is the City of Mississauga doing this to us here? As a proud home builder, I’ve never seen this amount of red tape by any municipality I’ve worked with before, and I’ve worked with many.”
The City of Mississauga replied by email when asked about the plan’s amendments.
“The Dundas Street corridor is home to many aging industrial facilities as well as thriving industrial businesses,” said Andrew Whittemore, commissioner of planning and building for the City of Mississauga. “The City’s new plan promotes a vision of predominantly midrise built form and sets out maximum building heights. The plan seeks to enable the conversion of underutilized industrial lands to residential in order to meet the new vision. However, with any former industrial neighbourhood transition, often, many existing businesses choose to remain in place.
“Consequently, in order to manage the future transition, the new plan identifies one area along the corridor not recommended for conversion until we have a better understanding of the potential impacts. As such, the City has begun the process of retaining a consultant to assist with a compatibility assessment to determine the appropriate long term uses for this area.”
