MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Several businesses and landowners from the Dundas Street corridor, are pleased by Peel Region Council’s July 7th decision to remove the lands south of Dundas Street East from Employment Areas and allow for residential mixed-use developments, despite Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee Inc.’s (Mother Parkers) recent attempt to roll back planned land-use changes and maintain the lands’ designation as Employment Areas.
In April 2022, Peel adopted a revised Regional Official Plan that would not designate the areas south of Dundas Street East as Employment Areas. The reclassification will ensure the alignment of the Region of Peel and City of Mississauga's official plans with Ontario’s 2020 A Place to Grow plan for supporting major improvements to transportation, and sustainable transit-supportive development.
Mississauga endorsed the intensification and improvements of the public realm along the Dundas Street Corridor with its Dundas Connects Master Plan, announcing support for the Dundas bus rapid transit system (Dundas BRT)– which will provide much-needed transit along the Dundas corridor between Kipling GO Station in Toronto – and the upcoming Hurontario Light Rail Transit Station at the intersection of Dundas and Hurontario.
The Province intends for the Dundas BRT to eventually expand to Hamilton along the Dundas corridor.
“We are pleased to see the Region of Peel affirm its new Official Plan and recognize the need for more transit-oriented development and housing in the region,” said Stephen Sparling, President of the Dundas Landowners’ Association. “Mississauga needs more residential housing, transit-oriented developments, walkable communities, and green space.”
Despite endorsing the Dundas Connects Master Plan, Mississauga's Planning and Development Committee (PDC) recently refused to remove the lands from the Employment Area, despite several business owners from the Dundas Street Corridor urging the city to remove them from the Employment Area designation. The PDC made the decision at its Tuesday, July 5th meeting, which ran late into the evening and during which committee members skipped a staff presentation of the controversial proposed amendments and left no time for meaningful debate or questions.
The committee's decision came after Mother Parkers, located off the main Dundas Street East corridor on Stanfield Road, lobbied the City of Mississauga against allowing residential mixed-use redevelopment of 57.5 acres of surrounding properties along the Dundas Street corridor due to supposed land use compatibility concerns. Mother Parkers is seeking to freeze the ability of land and business owners to redevelop their properties for residential mixed-use purposes.
“Requesting that your neighbouring businesses, owned and operated by hardworking Mississaugans, have our rights to redevelop our properties for non-employment uses frozen, is just wrong,” said Mr. Bob Rabbito, President of Trutone Electronics. “We see our neighbourhood as more than just employment lands and are grateful that the Region of Peel sees it this way too.”
Following the Region of Peel’s original decision in April 2022, removing the subject lands from their employment mapping, the Ahmed Group, a family-owned real estate investment firm, recently announced a new development proposal to address the housing crisis and bring much-needed rental units to the city at their 1000 and 1024 Dundas Street East properties that would front directly onto the upcoming Tomken and Dundas BRT station. Despite a Land Use Compatibility Study conducted by Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc., affirming that the residential mixed-use redevelopment of Ahmed Group’s lands would be compatible with Mother Parkers’ operations (i.e., current, and future potential noise and odours), Mother Parkers still objected.
Ahmed Group’s attempts to engage in meaningful discussions with Mother Parkers to address concerns, provide reassurance that redevelopment would not impact its operations and that the intensification of the Dundas Street Corridor is in line with all levels of government’s plans to guide future urban growth and transit equity in the region, have so far been unsuccessful.
“We pride ourselves on being a good neighbour, working together to resolve any concerns and find mutually beneficial solutions. We remain optimistic that Mother Parkers will be willing to do the same,” said Moe Ahmed, President and CEO of the Ahmed Group. “We were also surprised by Mississauga’s decision to actively go against its own plans of intensification, especially coming off the heels of such significant municipal, provincial and federal investments. Increasing housing supply should be the focus of every level of government. Peel Council’s decision means we can build a true transit-oriented community where businesses operate, people work, and families live.”
Paulo Tavora, President of Tavora Foods – a family-owned Portuguese grocery shop that has grown into a chain of supermarkets – wrote to the City of Mississauga PDC asking them to reconsider their position on building heights and requesting their property be removed from the employment zone, allowing for future mixed-use developments on their Dundas Street property. “As a long-time employer in the area, I see the benefits the major transit infrastructure developments underway in this corridor will have on small businesses. More people will be attracted to this area, and in turn, we can create more housing and new job opportunities while existing businesses can continue to thrive and serve the community.”
The Dundas Landowners’ Association (DLA), a not-for-profit entity representing the interests of small businesses and landowners along the Dundas Street corridor in Mississauga, has formed in response to the City’s short-sighted decision.
“On one hand, you have many business owners, landowners, Peel Region, the Province and Federal government fully supporting the Dundas BRT, the Dundas Connects Master Plan, and other initiatives to get ready for projected growth in Mississauga,” said Mr. Wen Qing He, President of the Mississauga Chinese Centre at 888 Dundas Street East, affectionately known as Mississauga’s Chinatown. “On the other hand, you have a city council being swayed by a single local business and working against its own interests by making decisions that counter growth plans, and transit and residential development opportunities.”
The success of the first phase of the Dundas BRT, the "Mississauga East" section, is crucial to the success of the entire transit line.
As the Dundas Street corridor undergoes a significant transition in the coming years, the DLA is committed to ensuring the concerns of its members are heard and considered at municipal, regional, provincial, and federal levels.
“We have an opportunity to create a truly vibrant mixed-use corridor where businesses, homes, and recreation spaces can all co-exist,” said Sparling. “We look forward to working with City of Mississauga planning staff to ensure we do this in a way that is compatible with our neighbours while also benefitting the entire region.”
“We would also like to thank Councillor Parrish for her dedication to chairing Peel’s Planning and Growth Management Committee, which reviewed and made recommendations for land use planning matters and long-term community vision along the Dundas Street corridor.”
Despite the Region of Peel’s reaffirmed decision, Mother Parker’s solicitor indicated that they will not consider the matter closed and would appeal to the Province to intervene and overturn the Region’s decision through a controversial Minister’s Modification of the newly approved Regional Official Plan.
About the Dundas Landowners’ Association
The Dundas Landowners’ Association (the DLA) is an incorporated not-for-profit association representing the interests of its members, primarily family-owned small business landowners along the Dundas Street corridor in Mississauga. The corridor is set to undergo a significant transition in the coming years and the DLA will fight for the most important stakeholders of that transition, its members, each step of the way.
For media inquiries:
Stephen Sparling
Dundas Landowners’ Association
contact@dundas.cc
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