By Lawson Hunter
Every five years or so, every municipality and regional government in Ontario must update its official plan, the lengthy document that outlines land use and other aspects of planning to inform residents and building developers of what they can and cannot expect to see as their community grows.
All official plans must conform to provincial regulations and demands for such things as allowance for population growth, mobility of goods and people within the area, and the protection of green spaces.
As you may have noticed, the current provincial government has been making a number of changes designed to make Ontario “grow and prosper.” The Region of Halton is currently reviewing its official plan to ensure that it adheres to the new demands of the province and has invited Halton residents to participate in a year-long public consultation process. The final official plan is due to be completed by the end of 2021.
Halton Director of Planning Services Curt Benson has been guiding councillors and residents from the four municipalities in Halton (Burlington, Oakville, Milton, and Halton Hills) and managing the process as it winds its way towards completion. Staff from Benson’s department also prepared five discussion papers, which included notes and background information to explain what the province was asking and some options for how the region might respond.
Following a 75-day call for public submissions and feedback to a series of questionnaires, the region held a special workshop for council on November 18, 2020, to bring councillors up to speed on the consultation process and to allow members of the public and other interested parties, i.e. developers, to delegate in person or submit written comments.
“Over 200 submissions have been received,” stated Benson, as he quickly overviewed the stages and opportunities for the public to provide further input. The next step will be to summarize public input into a Preferred Growth Concept and Consultation Summary.
At the special council meeting, via Zoom of course, sixteen people took the time to delegate and state their hopes and concerns regarding the future of land-use planning in Halton. Suggestions ranged from “liveable communities,” “reduce waste,” and “hard urban boundaries” to “fewer restrictions that limit farming operations.” All of the speakers wanted the region, and indeed the country, to reach their greenhouse gas emission targets to reduce our effect on climate change. Some seemed to question what the provincial government’s objectives and methods were. Others asked for clarity on such things as limits to building heights, investment in public transit, conformity in the four municipalities’ climate action plans, and a balance between expected growth (both economic and in population) and the protection of natural heritage features.
Kerry Towle, of Sofina Foods (parent company of Fearmans Pork), whose concerns were the opposite to the rest of the group of speakers, was there to lobby against a possible conversion of employment land zoning near the Appleby GO station to mixed-use zoning, which might force the Fearmans meat packing plant on Harvester Road to relocate so that housing could go in.
Lisa Kohler, of the Halton Environmental Network, suggested a green development standard that would outline environmentally sustainable design requirements in new developments and that council look at all decisions through a “climate lens.”
Janet Duval, from Halton Hills, told her story of making a choice to live in a condo within walking distance to many amenities to allow her to give up her car.
Kim Bradshaw, of Sustainable Milton, spoke of the “15-minute community,” an ideal in which everything one needs on a daily basis is within a 15-minute walk from home, and noted that the cost of adaptation to climate change impacts would be four times the cost of proper land-use planning and mitigation of climate change.
Vanessa Warren, speaking on behalf of the Burlington Agricultural and Rural Affairs Advisory Committee, told council that many in the rural community believed that 2009’s Regional Official Plan Amendment 38 (or ROPA 38), the last official plan review, was “a disaster” in that it ignored the stewardship philosophy of many farmers by overly restricting changes in farm operations. Warren asked for a balance between the “public assets of private land and the right of use” that farmers need to adapt to changes in their livelihoods and consumer preferences. The current set of guidelines are not clearly shared with the rural community, Warren noted. “Farmers often do not understand what is allowed on their property until they violate some kind of restriction,” she said. Then, they come under the penalty of the law.
During questions from several councillors after Warren spoke, it was mentioned that 50% of farms in Halton are owned by non-residents, often development companies with long timelines and deep pockets. It was noted that previous land-use planning restrictions seemed to close the door to shifts in rural activities but open the window for residential development on some of the most productive agricultural land in the province.
Speaking of developers, of the fourteen written submissions to council, all but one had to do with specific housing development issues. Some reports ran pages and pages long urging an exception here or an allowance there — all so that the region could match provincial targets of expected population growth, in some cases, asking to surround urban growth boundaries with 150–200 people per hectare. Most of these requests were submitted by lawyers or planning consultants on behalf of their clients.
The need for public consultation continues as the Regional Official Plan Review (ROPR) winds its way through the system. There will be other opportunities to add your views to the process; to find out more, visit halton.ca/ropr.
Lawson Hunter is a resident of Burlington, a freelance writer, and is semi-retired.
