Growth that fits — with roads that keep up

Why this matters here

Ward 6 sees a lot of building — and still waits on parks, roads, and recreation that keep up. I'll support homes Burlington needs — rental, missing middle, non-market, attainable ownership — and say so publicly when luxury is sold as affordability.

★ Growth-with-Services Checklist

Before I support or advance major Ward 6 development, I'll ask for a public summary covering eight checks:

1. 1 of 8

   Parks & green space

   Parkland, trees, trails, shade, and stormwater planting

2. 2 of 8

   Stormwater

   Capacity, creek impacts, and smarter site design

3. 3 of 8

   Traffic & safety

   Intersections, school routes, transit

4. 4 of 8

   Schools & recreation

   Room in schools and programs — and shared-use options

5. 5 of 8

   Housing honesty

   Rental? Non-market? Missing middle? Luxury ownership?

6. 6 of 8

   Infrastructure timing

   Funded before people move in — or pushed down the road?

7. 7 of 8

   Development charges

   What charges fund which Ward 6 roads, parks, and services?

8. 8 of 8

   Who decides

   City, Region, Province, or the Ontario Land Tribunal?

Growth without services is not smart growth.

What we need more of

• Purpose-built rental that actually helps on price
• Halton Region non-market housing — City helps coordinate; Region delivers
• Missing middle: duplexes, towns, stacked towns, mid-rise near services
• Ownership measured against household incomes and carrying costs — not a tax-rebate threshold
• New neighbourhoods with parks and roads reserved before the build-out locks in
• Infill near transit, schools, and services where the design fits

Development charges — show the full deal

• Track Burlington's temporary Housing CIP — program limits, recipients, unit types, milestones, and expiry. No claim that temporary HAF support is a permanent annual City budget.
• No fake “made whole” claim — any DC-reduction agreement must show forgone charges, eligible infrastructure funding, the municipal contribution, and costs that senior governments do not reimburse.
• Measure affordability honestly using household income and carrying costs. A temporary HST eligibility band is not an affordability definition.
• Oppose unbackfilled DC cuts and publish a Ward 6 growth-charges ledger so neighbours can see where the money goes.

Infrastructure funding — show the application

• Burlington already receives formula-based federal infrastructure money through the BCSF Community stream, formerly the Canada Community-Building Fund.
• I'll ask staff to disclose whether Burlington submitted separate BCSF Direct Delivery or Local Impact applications — project, request, City share, readiness, and Ward 6 benefit.
• No application or grant will be counted as revenue until it is verified and awarded.

★ Make Evergreen Canada's next model neighbourhood

Evergreen at Dundas and Tremaine is Burlington's last residential greenfield — roughly 1,300 homes, approved in 2024 and now in detailed servicing design. That means the window to get the energy system right is open now, and it closes when the pipes go in. Markham's Berczy Glen just became the first neighbourhood in Canada where every home runs on a shared geothermal loop: the energy company financed, built, and owns the system, homebuyers pay a rate pledged not to exceed conventional costs, and Ottawa contributed $8.8 million. Burlington's adopted Climate Action Plan already calls for exploring exactly this.

• Convene, don't mandate — provincial law bars municipal green-building mandates, so this is a voluntary compact: developer, Burlington Hydro, and an energy partner at one table before gas gets locked in.
• City cost is small and honest — a feasibility study (federal green funding covers half, up to $200K) plus staff time. In the Markham model, system capital is privately financed — not a City utility, not City debt.
• Design it to age in — push for the park, school, and community spaces to be planned together, so Evergreen works for an eight-year-old and an eighty-year-old.

Evergreen, Millcroft, and the corridors

• Evergreen Phase 2 — work in good faith under the checklist, not a blank cheque.
• Millcroft remaining land — work with neighbours and be honest about what an OLT approval leaves the City able to decide.
• Walkers Line & Appleby — publish where the work actually stands.
• Dundas as a future main street — Halton's widening already builds lanes designed to convert to bus rapid transit. I'll push for clear conversion criteria at Regional Council and a staff-costed land-use study so mid-rise at the Dundas nodes is ready when the service comes.
• Rural north — say clearly what City Council can and can't decide alone.

How it rolls out

First 100 days

1. Publish the Growth-with-Services Checklist and the watchlist
2. Publish a who-decides one-pager (City / Region / Province / OLT)
3. Publish where Walkers Line and Appleby work actually stands
4. Host a growth and Millcroft town hall
5. Ask staff for a Ward 6 capital and development-charges list residents can follow
6. Publish the first growth-money ledger outline (DC, community benefits, parkland, fees)
7. Say clearly how I’ll treat Evergreen Phase 2 and Millcroft remaining land under the checklist
8. Move the Evergreen community-energy motion and invite the developer, Burlington Hydro, and an energy partner to one table