Cambridge Secondary Plans - Hespeler Road + Main/Dundas Re-Development

[bravado]

Hey,

I'm just browsing through the official documents about Cambridge's new ambitious plans to re-classify and develop 2 large commercial car sewers and I thought it really deserved a new thread. I think it's very unusual to get the chance to re-design such a large chunk of a city, all thanks to Ion phase 2.

Hespeler Road Corridor Secondary Plan
https://www.cambridge.ca/en/learn-about/...5-2022.pdf

Main + Dundas Secondary Plan
https://www.cambridge.ca/en/learn-about/...--prot.pdf

Hespeler Road Secondary Plan

This is a big one, Hespeler Road is like Victoria + Fairway combined and just a hot mess of stroad fuckery.

Just some observations:
1. Affordable Housing
Housing developments in the Plan Area shall comprise a range and mix of housing types, unit sizes, and tenure, including adequate numbers of dwelling units to accommodate households with children, larger families, seniors, people with special needs, and rental households.
Lots of specific conditions follow...
To achieve a mix of unit types, and to support the creation of housing suitable for larger households, development containing more than 80 new residential units will include larger units, as follows:
a) A minimum of 15 percent of the total number of units as 2-bedroom units; and
b) A minimum of 10 percent of the total number of units as 3-bedroom or larger units.


2. Height Restrictions
A range of height restrictions depending on building category from 3 to 20 storeys. Seems counter-intuitive to density, but whatever.

3. Auto-Oriented Use Restrictions
The Hespeler Corridor includes a number of auto-oriented uses and activities, including auto dealerships, service stations and fast food restaurants with drive-throughs. All existing auto- oriented uses are permitted and considered to be legal uses (where permissions have been established legally) at the date of adoption of this Plan. No new auto-oriented uses are permitted within the Mixed Use designations of this Plan. In addition, no new drive-through restaurants within the Mixed Use designations are permitted.

4. Commercial Restrictions
Smaller scale retail commercial uses are also permitted (less than 1,860 square metres of gross leasable floor space). Larger format retail commercial uses shall be subject to a Market Impact Study to be prepared by the applicant where the proposed amount of gross leasable area is greater than 1,860 square metres. Institutional and recreational uses are also permitted.

5. Streetscape Restrictions
Notwithstanding the permitted uses described herein, no street townhouses or stacked townhouses shall be permitted on lands fronting onto Hespeler Road. Ground floor commercial uses that animate the street should be located on the ground floor in buildings facing Hespeler Road. Uses that incorporate commercial or office uses on the ground floor with residential units above are encouraged.

For lands which front onto Hespeler Road all new development shall be in a mixed use format. The preferred format is for ground floor commercial or institutional uses, with upper storey residential uses. Stand-alone uses, such as high density or medium density residential development may be permitted as infilling elsewhere on the site (e.g. rear lot area).

Orient buildings entrances toward public streets and other public spaces, in order to clearly define the public realm, create a consistent street wall, and to create a safe and attractive street environment for pedestrians.

6. New Parks
Over the long term, the Corridor will need to provide at least 17 hectares of new park and public space (based on the City’s standard of 1 hectare per 300 units)1. The expectation is that this demand will be accommodated through two larger Community Parks and a series of smaller parks and public spaces distributed along the Corridor.

7. Cambridge Centre Mall
Lands designated SSP1 on Schedule D (Cambridge Centre Mall): With future redevelopment, these lands are expected to be master planned as a complete community that includes park and/or community recreation space.
RIP Cambridge Mall, you sucked and you should be demolished

8. Plenty of new trails
Including a very important one behind the massive development at Langs Rd


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Main + Dundas

Just some observations:

Guiding principles:
Build 15-minute neighbourhoods via active transportation

1. A ban on the following:
New Drive-Thru facilities
New auto-related uses (mechanic, gas station, car washes)
New large-format commercial (more than 2000 sq ft of ground floor area)

2. At-Grade restrictions:
Developments at street level must provided "at-grade uses"
They must be street-related, provide visual interest, "animate the streetscape", 
Surface and structured parking is not permitted along "active frontages"

3. Lots of planning restrictions for existing drive thrus and large format commercial that is a bit over my head at the moment...

4. Affordable Housing
Lots of suggestions for adding affordable units, but I don't see much enforcement.

5. Maximum height restrictions
A series of height restrictions depending on your category from 5-12 storeys.

[bravado]

Here's a map of the areas of Cambridge that are planned to get Secondary Plans in the future, but these 2 above are the only 2 so far.

[SF22]

Thanks for sharing these! I saw the development plan for the proposed towers at Hespeler/Langs recently, and wondered if we might see the same sort of densification along Hespeler that we've seen in DTK with the (eventual) incoming LRT line, and I'm glad to see that Cambridge is heading into that expected densification with detailed plans in place. Hespeler has to be the worst stroad in the region, and I can't wait to see lane space rededicated to the LRT and active transportation uses instead.

[bravado]

Thanks for sharing these! I saw the development plan for the proposed towers at Hespeler/Langs recently, and wondered if we might see the same sort of densification along Hespeler that we've seen in DTK with the (eventual) incoming LRT line, and I'm glad to see that Cambridge is heading into that expected densification with detailed plans in place. Hespeler has to be the worst stroad in the region, and I can't wait to see lane space rededicated to the LRT and active transportation uses instead.

I’m legitimately curious to see what people have to say at the public seminar/meeting tonight.

[dtkmelissa]

Thanks for sharing these! I saw the development plan for the proposed towers at Hespeler/Langs recently, and wondered if we might see the same sort of densification along Hespeler that we've seen in DTK with the (eventual) incoming LRT line, and I'm glad to see that Cambridge is heading into that expected densification with detailed plans in place. Hespeler has to be the worst stroad in the region, and I can't wait to see lane space rededicated to the LRT and active transportation uses instead.

I’m legitimately curious to see what people have to say at the public seminar/meeting tonight.

How was the meeting?

[bravado]

It was pretty tame, the presentations were all fine. The new Mayor arrived a few minutes into it but didn't have anything to say.

Based on the public comments, these seem to be the local priorities:

1. Not enough housing for elderly people, especially with wider doors
2. Hespeler Road is full of traffic and we can't take away lanes
3. If we take away lanes then Franklin Road will get worse
4. Need more affordable units (obviously)
5. How will the Galt Curling Club change into medium density office zoning in the future?

You'd never know there was a housing crisis with nonsense like this!

[ijmorlan]

2. Hespeler Road is full of traffic and we can't take away lanes

I assume by “full of traffic” they mean “carries as many people in 6 lanes as a comfortably loaded LRT service which takes the space of 2 lanes”.

[plam]

2. Hespeler Road is full of traffic and we can't take away lanes

I assume by “full of traffic” they mean “carries as many people in 6 lanes as a comfortably loaded LRT service which takes the space of 2 lanes”.

I wonder how we get the word out about car inefficiency and induced demand. Like I think there's been a fair amount of marketing attempts about cars but I guess it doesn't compare to the billions of dollars that Big Car puts into advertising cars.