{"id":33369,"date":"2023-07-27T19:42:33","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T23:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=33369"},"modified":"2023-07-27T19:42:35","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T23:42:35","slug":"privately-owned-public-spaces-and-strata-parks-raise-questions-as-council-considers-future-parklands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/privately-owned-public-spaces-and-strata-parks-raise-questions-as-council-considers-future-parklands\/","title":{"rendered":"Privately-owned public spaces and \u201cstrata parks\u201d raise questions as Council considers future parklands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During recent Council discussions on acquiring land for public parks within Aurora, a newly-approved bylaw raised questions from Ward 3 Councillor Wendy Gaertner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the bylaw, the Councillor questioned Council\u2019s role in determining how privately owned public spaces (POPS) and \u201cstrata parks,\u201d such as those built on top of a parking garage or other form of utility, would be developed under the criteria set out in the legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking ahead of the passage of a new bylaw \u201cto require the conveyance of parkland or the payment in lieu of parkland\u201d under the Planning Act, Councillor Gaertner noted the definitions contained in the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the proposal approved by Council, strata parks \u201cwill be accepted at a pro-rated rate based on percentage of use and ownership to a maximum 50 per cent parkland dedication to credit, subject to legal agreements\u2026.which address matters including but not limited to, maintenance, programming and operations, to the satisfaction of the Town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the subject of POPS, these will be accepted \u201cat a rate of 100 per cent parkland dedication credit towards parkland dedication\u201d subject to the same legal agreements above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Planning Director Marco] Ramunno explained that\u2019s (POPS) just got a different name where we have this now and there will be an area where the public can sit and relax but is really owned by a private owner\u2026 [but] the one that really concerns me\u2026 is the strata parks,\u201d said Councillor Gaertner. \u201cThe strata parks are publicly-available open spaces, parks, in privately-owned buildings. I have no idea how that would work. Does the public just go up to the roof garden in a private development? I think it is something we need to understand a bit better before we approve it in a bylaw.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Town Solicitor Patricia de Sario said further information could come in the form of a memo to Council, Mayor Tom Mrakas said that the way the bylaw is worded would give Council final approval over each application for a strata park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t want them, we don\u2019t have to approve them,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the Bylaw is just saying they are allowed and someone could come forward with it as a suggestion, or it could be discussed as an option.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During recent Council discussions on acquiring land for public parks within Aurora, a newly-approved bylaw raised questions from Ward 3 Councillor Wendy Gaertner. In the bylaw, the Councillor questioned Council\u2019s role in determining how privately owned public spaces (POPS) and \u201cstrata parks,\u201d such as those built on top of a parking garage or other form […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8Gd","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 20:19:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}