A strategy for revitalizing Bradford’s Downtown core

By Miriam King Bradford Times January 13 2011
Bradford West Gwillimbury Council received an update from consultant Graeme Burt, of PlanningAlliance, regarding the Downtown Revitalization Strategy now in the works.

“We’re about three-quarters of the way through,” Burt told Councillors, following a “rich” collaboration with residents, at two public workshops.
Burt noted that the Town is facing “a tremendous amount of growth” – the doubling of its population within the next 20 years – as well as direction from the province that a significant amount of that growth should be a result of intensification, and near major transit nodes.
At the workshops, there was “a huge amount of consensus about where development could happen, and what a revitalized downtown could look like.” Residents, Burt said, shared a vision of the downtown as a centre of activity, 7 days a week, year-round – “a mix of commercial, residential and institutional,” that was pedestrian-friendly, “compact, walkable and human-scale.”
They wanted to see the restoration and adaptive reuse of historic buildings, integration of new development into the existing streetscape, and improvements to the “public realm”, including landscaping, to provide a “unique mix of activities and services, a vibrant and inviting street environment.”
The conclusions? That the downtown – stretching along Holland St. from the new Civic Campus at West Park Drive to the GO Station at Dissette, and including both John St. and Centre St. – could support 275,000 sq. m. of new space over the next 20 years, of which two-thirds would be residential and one-third employment-related.
The consensus that came out of the public sessions was that there should be moderate redevelopment from Professor Day Dr. to Dissette St. – and “substantial redevelopment,” including 8 to 10 storey apartments and offices, at the GO Transit Node.
Residents also identified 4 “generic locations” for a new administration building, that would house up to 150 Town staff and could be a significant economic driver for the downtown. Those four – the Campus lands on Holland St. W., the Four Corners (Barrie/Simcoe & Holland St.), the Bradford Community Centre, and the Transit Node at Dissette and Bridge St. – were to be discussed in greater detail, with possible costs, in an in-camera session on January 12.
The draft Downtown Revitalization Strategy and a “toolkit” for implementation – including tax breaks, front-ending, cost-sharing and public-private partnerships – will be presented at another public session in early February, before the final document comes back to Council.
The draft Strategy will include proposals for “what do we do tomorrow, what do we do 3 years from now… what do we do 20 years from now,” Burt said. Some immediate recommendations will include a suggested increase in the maximum height of buildings, from 18 metres to 30 metres; investigation of transit; new urban design guidelines; and a registry of heritage and historic buildings.
“A large problem, as I see it, is to get the funds to get special enhancement programs or incentives,” said Deputy Mayor Rob Keffer, asking if it was possible to get funds from the big box stores to put into downtown revitalization.
Burt said “Yes”, but suggested that a Business Improvement Area was the best way to get contributions. He noted that some of the incentives are “revenue neutral… There are a number of mechanisms that wouldn’t necessarily see you out of pocket.”
Councillor James Leduc stressed the importance of having short term, as well as long-term goals. “The business community can’t wait 20 years.”
The strategy will include “things to do tomorrow,” as well as over the long-term, Burt said.
“Short-term, mid-term, long-term – it’s important how we phase that in,” said Councillor Peter Dykie Jr., questioning how the Town can redevelop and intensify in the downtown core, given the narrow right-of-way and already heavy traffic on Holland. “How do you really deal with such a busy road?… Just the road alone is a challenge.”
“It’s definitely a challenge,” Burt agreed – but by working with the Town’s traffic consultant, to look for new off-street parking, and even restoration of onstreet parking “as Dissette gets finished… what we’re trying to encourage is a new walkability through Town. We can revitalize the downtown, even with a major arterial.”