Burlington Council Opposes Millcroft Phase 2, But The Province Could Decide

The future of Millcroft Golf Course is still unsettled. Burlington council heard from eight delegates over several hours on Tuesday before backing city staff's recommendation to refuse Millcroft Greens Corporation's application to turn part of the course into a residential subdivision. It goes to a regular meeting of council on Sept. 29.

Phase 2 would put 138 new houses on six blocks spread around the golf course, taking up 25 acres and leaving another 75 unused. Phase 1 was already approved by the Ontario Land Tribunal and work has started on the course. Phase 2 is still under review.

Councillors were clear that the outcome is mostly not theirs to decide. "We've used all the tools in our toolbox," Ward 2 councillor Lisa Kearns said at the end of delegations. Two competing requests for Ministry Zoning Orders now sit with the province: the city asked for one that would stop development with Phase 1 as the last addition to the neighbourhood, and the developer asked for one covering the remaining golf course lands. Neither has been decided.

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said the fight is largely in the province's hands, and raised the idea of pushing to abolish the Ontario Land Tribunal altogether, asking a delegate to join the city in writing to their MPP, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and Premier Doug Ford. "I will get a petition going," she said.

What happens to the rest of the land is still an open question. Ward 6 councillor Angelo Bentivegna asked about the commitment on the Millcroft Greens website to hand roughly 75 acres of open space to the City of Burlington for no money. Stephen Robichaud, the city's commissioner of development and growth management, said there is nothing concrete indicating the applicants intend to do that.

Residents who have fought this for years are treating the vote as a marker, not an ending. "I am glad it was a unanimous vote, that is what we were looking for," said Cynthia Shanahan of Millcroft Against Development. "With an election coming up, things are tenuous, who knows who will be back on council. At least the staff have been given clear direction."