{"id":37072,"date":"2025-10-29T16:04:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T20:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=37072"},"modified":"2025-11-06T12:52:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T17:52:58","slug":"new-planning-system-could-allow-for-significant-redevelopment-in-auroras-downtown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/new-planning-system-could-allow-for-significant-redevelopment-in-auroras-downtown\/","title":{"rendered":"New planning system could allow for significant redevelopment in Aurora\u2019s downtown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new Community Planning Permit system in Aurora could lead to significant intensification in Aurora\u2019s historic downtown core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new system, which is intended to streamline the planning process for the Aurora Promenade area, bordered by Temperance Street in the west, Centre Street to the north, Victoria Street to the east, to 70 metres south of Church Street, will be up for discussion at a Special Council meeting this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal of the system, if ultimately established, will give the municipality more control on how the Town\u2019s historic core is intensified \u2013 from building materials used to height limits \u2013 while maintaining the facades of heritage-designated buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new system will set an approval timeline for applications at 45 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It prescribes minimum setbacks from the street level for intensification projects, and could lead to builds of up to eight storeys in the core set back at least 10 metres from the heritage frontages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt large, the Official Plan recognizes this area as a destination that will build on its assets and evolve into a vibrant place to live, shop, work and play,\u201d say municipal staff in a report that will be before Council on the October 29 meeting, noting the Promenade area, as well as the Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) around the GO Station, are identified as Aurora\u2019s \u201cprimary focus area for growth and intensification, accommodating the highest densities, while also maintaining and preserving the built heritage assets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is where the community meets, interacts, celebrates, shops, entertains, and is where visitors will want to come to experience sophisticated culture in a small-town setting,\u201d the report continues. \u201cThe Community Planning Permit Bylaw will become the primary tool setting the development standards in the Bylaw area. The CPP Bylaw will outline the policies, standards and provisions surrounding use, heights, step backs (the horizontal recession of an upper storey), setbacks (distances from property boundaries), parking, fa\u00e7ade articulation and materiality, amongst other matters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201ccontinued preservation of heritage buildings and facades\u201d is a recommendation within the plan, with significant step backs of ten metres on upper levels of buildings above the three-storey heritage facades and above the fifth storey. It will also set a general height limit of six to eight storeys on interior blocks within the area subject to the step backs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A maximum height of nine stories \u201cstrategically located at Wellington Street West and Temperance Street due largely to the slope in elevation and reduced impacts on neighbouring properties\u201d is also recommended, as is limiting heights to \u201cinterior blocks behind the heritage facades to protect the distinct Yonge Street heritage street wall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe initial development concepts were presented at an Open House [in June] and feedback from residents, business owners, and property owners were generally supportive,\u201d the report continues. \u201cSuggestions provided by the attendees stressed the need for protecting the heritage fa\u00e7ade and materiality of existing buildings, incorporating street beautification elements and infrastructure, and increasing height where appropriate. In addition, there were also suggestions of the CPP Bylaw going further as the bylaw will guide long-term growth in the area. There is a need for the CPP Bylaw to recognize the necessity of incorporating greater densities based on current and future housing demands and realities. However, the increase in density cannot come at the expense of neighbourhood character or heritage buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe general consensus was that balance was necessary, respecting the character of the Downtown and providing transition to lower-density areas while overall heights and densities increased in a sensible manner, and where impacts are minimal, such as the portion of lands near Wellington Street West and Temperance Street.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This initial feedback resulted in changes to what will be before Council this week, including increases in height in strategic locations and ensuring appropriate step-backs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feedback on the proposals were also offered at the Town\u2019s Heritage Advisory Committee (HAC) earlier this month.
While local historian David Heard, a delegate to the HAC meeting, expressed concern on the preservation of facades \u2013 citing examples on Wellington Street East where such facades were to be maintained but were ultimately demolished after being left to become structurally unstable, and how the site of the Fleury Foundry, now home to Bacon Basketware, could be incorporated into the vision \u2013 feedback was cautiously positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe benefit for the Town is that by taking on this Planning Act tool, which is available to us, it puts us in the driver’s seat. It allows us to be a bit more proactive in setting the actual detailed development standards for our downtown,\u201d said Town Planner Adam Robb at HAC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough this, you can actually go back and say, \u2018I want stone, I want brick, I want certain materials,\u2019 so that’s a positive here. But recognizing this, too, it’s our downtown core. Our downtown core has heritage assets galore, as we know, designated heritage properties, and the premise of all of this work is that those are to not be unsympathetically altered in any way. Those heritage facades need to be maintained.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protection of area heritage assets, Robb added, was \u201ca non-negotiable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is absolute,\u201d he said, noting passage of the new system will not impact heritage designations already in place.<\/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":"

A new Community Planning Permit system in Aurora could lead to significant intensification in Aurora\u2019s historic downtown core. The new system, which is intended to streamline the planning process for the Aurora Promenade area, bordered by Temperance Street in the west, Centre Street to the north, Victoria Street to the east, to 70 metres south […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9DW","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-24 23:04:36","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\/37072","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=37072"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37073,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37072\/revisions\/37073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}