Residents of Clarkson get their first formal chance this week to weigh in on a provincial plan for seven residential towers on the north commuter parking lot at Clarkson GO station.

Infrastructure Ontario, the provincial agency leading the project, will hold a virtual public meeting on Thursday, Jan. 22, at 6:30 p.m. An in-person session follows on Thursday, Jan. 29, at 6:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express, 2125 North Sheridan Way. Registration is through Infrastructure Ontario.

What's proposed

The transit-oriented community would put 2,434 homes on the 3.86-hectare lot at 2130 Bromsgrove Road, near Southdown Road. The towers would range from 25 to 45 storeys, the tallest about 148 metres, on six-storey podiums wrapped around Sheridan Creek, which runs through the site.

The pre-application submission, designed by Zeidler Architecture, includes:

  • 513 resident parking spaces and 58 visitor spaces

  • 1,020 spaces for GO commuters, the same number the north lot holds today

  • about 2,161 square metres of retail space

  • about 6,570 square metres of privately owned space open to the public

  • more than 2,100 bicycle parking spaces

SkyriseCities reported that a zoning bylaw amendment would still be required. No builder has been named and no construction timeline has been given.

Councillor says city has been sidelined

The project is part of Ontario's push to build housing at major transit stations. Ward 2 Coun. Alvin Tedjo, who represents the area, has said the proposal undercuts about five years of work the city did on its own plan for the site. He said the city's plan had more family housing, shops, green space, better local transit and a more human scale.

Now let’s be absolutely clear, decision-making around the Clarkson GO station has been completely removed from our residents and the City of Mississauga and now will be solely made by Infrastructure Ontario and the provincial government.

— Ward 2 Coun. Alvin Tedjo

Tedjo urged residents to attend the meetings and share their concerns with their MPPs. In materials for the project, Infrastructure Ontario says the plan could bring new housing, jobs and public spaces for relaxing and play next to the station on the Lakeshore West line.

A second station site

Clarkson isn't the only GO station in Mississauga in line for this kind of development. A similar proposal next to Cooksville GO calls for about 3,000 homes in eight towers.

Besides the north lot, the station has a south parking lot and a parking garage.