Despite the local pandering in Oakville. A Ford election will be positive for land use in Ontario.
This recent move in Durham Region could bode well for Cherry Downs. The guess is a couple hundred surplus acres are in the White Belt.
After a decision by council that goes against expert advice, Durham Region will shift gears and plan to urbanize thousands more acres of farmland than what staff had recommended.
"Despite warnings from Durham Region’s own staff and advisory committees, Regional Council has endorsed a developer-recommended growth scenario to urbanize more than 9,000 acres of farmland," Mayor Shaun Collier said in a statement following the May 25 council meeting that lasted 10 hours.
Durham Region is undergoing a municipal comprehensive review to address growth targets handed down by the provincial government: 1.3 million people and 460,000 jobs by 2051.
As part of the exercise, staff provided different land needs scenarios and recommended one to the planning and economic development committee earlier in May. However, the committee went in a different direction and at the May 25 meeting, council endorsed, in a recorded vote of 16 in favour and 11 against, Scenario 2A, which includes 9,300 acres of farmland development.
Staff had recommended Scenario 4, which includes 2,348 acres of new land for housing and 3,338 acres for employment. It also had called for a unit mix consisting of 28 per cent low-density units, 28 per cent medium density and 41 per cent high density.
Instead, the approved scenario calls for 33 per cent low-density units, 38 per cent medium density and 29 per cent high density.
The day before the May 25 meeting, commissioner of planning and economic development Brian Bridgeman sent councillors a supplemental report outlining his concerns with 2A.
These include: it overstates the land need; it detracts from the achievement of regional sustainability policies and obligations; and it de-emphasizes regional priorities to focus growth in existing communities, where services and infrastructure are either already in place or can be provided more efficiently.
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Ultimately, Bridgeman recommended “that council revise committee’s recommendation to support staff’s recommendation of Community Area Alternative Scenario 4.”
Whitby Coun. Steve Yamada said he did not appreciate the late memo, and noted lands that will be expanded are within the whitebelt, which he described as a “future urban area.”
When he questioned the legality of the direction council chose to go following some comments made at the meeting, director of legal services Jason Hunt indicated Scenario 2A is not necessarily illegal, but there is concern that “it may not conform with the province’s expectations under the ‘growth plan.’”
He said Scenario 4 conforms with the growth plan and would survive any scrutiny or challenge from the province.
Pickering Mayor Dave Ryan said, “When all of this is said and done, 80 per cent of Durham Region remains green.”
He said Durham is vibrant and people want to move there, and there must be a range of housing options available from high rises to ground-level homes.
A number of residents spoke against 2A at the meeting — many asking for no urban boundary expansion — as well as local groups.
Stop Sprawl Durham made its opinion on the decision clear in a Facebook post after the decision.
“Ignored staff, community stakeholders, regional advisory committees and the #ClimateEmergencyDeclaration,” the post said. “It's a sad day for #DurhamRegion and the #EnvisionDurham work.”
The post also lays out who voted for which scenario.
Collier shared his concerns how this new plan could impact an area of land that's been a big topic of discussion this year.
“This short-sighted decision makes the urbanization of the Carruthers Creek headwaters not only possible, but likely,” he said. “Leapfrogging the Greenbelt to develop a community of 60,000 people in northeast Pickering greatly increases the risk of downstream flooding in Ajax. To date, developers have proposed only the minimum measures to mitigate the negative impacts.”