Leamington Council defers vote on waterfront plan

By Mark Ribble

At their council meeting of May 10, Leamington council heard the details on the Waterfront Master Plan from administration and designers.

In the end they voted to defer the decision until June 14 to allow council members to dive deeper into the plan.

In August 2019, the municipality issued a request for proposals to complete a Waterfront Master Plan, which was awarded to Think Design.

The Master Plan was unveiled to the public via Let’s Talk Leamington online, due to the COVID-19 pandemic interruption to in-person public consultations.

Michael Tocher of Think Design was on hand to walk council through the different steps of the plan, which was divided into eight sub-sections.

The sub-sections included an overall plan, Seacliff Park, Gold Coast Road, Robson Road, Rick Atkin Park, Lakeside Marina, Erie Street and Pier, and the Waterfront Promenade.

During the web-based public interactive stage, about 340 local residents made comments and suggestions, which included thoughts on development, parking and pedestrian areas.

Designers came up with a 15-year master plan that would provide a complete transformation of the waterfront in Leamington.

Cost will come in around $33.7 million over that 15 years with an average of about $2.5 million per year. Of that $33.7 million, about $12 million would be taken up with property purchases.

According to Tocher, the community responded well to the public consultation phase.

“We received lots of good input,” he told council.

Among the recommendations for Seacliff Park were additional shade opportunities, more picnic areas, bicycle parking, a lookout deck and basketball courts.

Highlights of the plan for Gold Coast Road include acquiring private lands south of the roadway, connecting the pier to Seacliff Park and expanding the public beach with development opportunities for restaurants and retail.

Over at Rick Atkin Park, the plan is to redo the playground structure, improve accessibility throughout and add new public washrooms.

At the Lakeside Marina, the plan includes parking lot reorganization, crosswalks, a new pavilion and lookout and fishing platforms.

The Leamington Dock — a longtime destination for cruisers, couples and families – will also be in the plan for upgrades with a connection between the promenade and Seacliff Beach, updates for the pedestrian pier and fishing platforms.

The promenade itself will get a facelift with enhancement of the current amenities and a connection to Foster Avenue.

There are many components to the plan, with public input collected over the past few months being considered every step of the way.

The plan is broken down into three phases with a five-year plan, a 10-year plan and a 15- year plan encompassing the various phases of improvement.

Councillor Tim Wilkinson asked specifically about the traffic issues near the dock and Burgess Refreshments area and said he thought the plan for the pier fell a little short.

“What’s been shown for the pier isn’t what I was hoping for,” he said. “We need a cherry on top when it comes to the dock. We need a signature restaurant, rooftop patios and that sort of thing.”

Town Engineering Project Manager Alex Del Brocco said that he wasn’t sure if the dock could support another restaurant the size of what used to be there.

“There is an opportunity to have those things along the Gold Coast area,” he said.

Wilkinson was also concerned about parking for big events such as Hogs for Hospice. The plan does call for some additional parking in the area but would never be enough to accommodate the number of people who attend those big events.

Mayor Hilda MacDonald spoke about a deferral until council has a chance to dive deeper into the plan and Wilkinson made a motion to do just that.

The motion was carried and council will discuss the plan further at their June 14 meeting.