Growth Plan that went to Regional Council on Wednesday got flipped.

By Pepper Parr

February 17^th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

Will the decision by Halton Regional Council yesterday to not convert farmland to commercial or residential use be seen as historic?

In a very short period of time – less than 15 days, a Preferred Growth Concept prepared by Regional planning staff, and the subject of two lengthy workshops, was flipped into a modified growth plan that would not change any of the urban boundaries and not convert farmland into housing or commercial uses.

Some of the best farm land in the province is in the Halton Region

Regional Councillors from Milton and Halton Hills were not happy – they felt they were given the short end of the stick.

The Preferred Growth Concept included:

implementing a compact and transit-supportive Regional Urban Structure by directing significant population and employment growth to strategic growth areas,

Milton claims that it is doing the required intensification and will need farm land to meet the growth targets.

including around GO Stations and planned higher order transit corridors;

accommodating more than 80 per cent of population growth (contained in more than 85 per cent of new housing units) and almost 80 per cent of employment growth between 2031 and 2051, within the Region’s existing urban areas;

a significant shift in the future housing mix of the Region towards apartments, from approximately 25 per cent to more than 50 per cent of total housing units, directed to strategic growth areas, between 2031 and 2051;

The farmers had the climate change people behind them.

a measured urban boundary expansion of 1,120 hectares of new community land in the south and east of Milton (710 hectares) and a southerly expansion of Georgetown in Halton Hills (410 hectares), for residential, commercial and institutional uses, to provide a market-based supply of ground-related housing as directed by the Province, and accommodate important community uses (i.e. hospitals, parks);

a major shift in the future employment mix of the Region towards mixed use office employment, directed to strategic growth areas, between 2031 and 2051;

a measured urban boundary expansion of 1,070 hectares of new employment land located primarily along the Highway 401 and 407 corridors in Milton (670 hectares) and Halton Hills (400 hectares), to accommodate market demand for advanced manufacturing, logistics/warehousing, and supportive uses, which require access to 400-series highways.

That is what was going to the Regional Council meeting on February16th.  When it got there it was met with a motion from Mayors Burton of Oakville and Meed Ward of Burlington that took a radically different approach.

The Motion that was approved on a 15-9 vote reads as follows:

WHEREAS the Region of Halton is in the process of updating the Regional Official Plan to conform with the 2019 Growth Plan, as amended, in accordance with the Places to Grow Act, 2005, and to plan to accommodate a total population of 1.1 million and total jobs of 500,000 to 2051; and

WHEREAS the Region is committed to meeting the Provincial conformity deadline of July 1, 2022; and

Burlington Marianne Meed Ward teamed up with Oakville Mayor Rob Burton to present a motion to flip the Staff Preferred Growth Plan

WHEREAS by letter dated November 12, 2019, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing clarified that municipalities may choose to take a phased approach to their municipal comprehensive review through multiple official plan amendments; and

WHEREAS the Region is completing its municipal comprehensive review using a phased approach, including updating the Regional Urban Structure, considering a Draft Preferred Growth Concept arising from the Integrated Growth Management Strategy that has explored issues and opportunities related to growth management, and considering a Policy Directions Report to guide the development of updated official plan policies; and

WHEREAS the market for housing and employment is constantly evolving due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shifts in demographics, work from home opportunities, housing affordability, and other factors that are anticipated to significantly change the way people live, work and play in Halton; and

WHEREAS on February 8, 2022, Ontario published a report from the Housing Affordability Task Force that may have significant implications on the supply of market housing to address the housing crisis and which implications are unclear;

WHEREAS the Draft Land Needs Assessment provided in support of the Draft Preferred Growth Concept indicates that the majority of pre-2041 population and employment growth can be accommodated without expansions to the existing approved urban boundary; and

WHEREAS it would be prudent for the Region consider all relevant information that is available to it during its municipal comprehensive review exercise to make a determination on land requirements and other fundamental planning decisions that will dictate growth in Halton to 2051;

Oakville Mayor Rob Burton put forward the motion that might be seen as historical in the future.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

THAT Halton Regional Council directs Staff to prepare a Regional Official Plan Amendment (ROPA 49) that advances a modified Preferred Growth Concept in two phases to accommodate growth pre-2041 and from 2041 to 2051:

1. 1. 1. 1. For accommodating growth pre-2041, directing population and employment growth to the existing approved urban boundary;
         2. For accommodating growth from 2041 to 2051, providing a clear framework for when, and how planned growth should be distributed based on principles of minimizing land consumption, making the most efficient use of land and infrastructure, and achieving other principles of the Growth Plan;

AND FURTHER THAT Staff be directed to schedule a Statutory Public Meeting and Open House to obtain comments on an updated draft ROPA 49 no later than April 30, 2022;

AND FURTHER THAT Staff be directed to prepare its recommendation report and bring it forward to Regional Council such that ROPA 49 could be adopted and forwarded to the Province for approval to meet the July 1, 2022 conformity deadline, subject to being directed by the Minister to meet an alternative date, as requested the Region and other municipalities;

AND FURTHER THAT this resolution be circulated to the City of Burlington, Town of Halton Hills, Town of Milton and Town of Oakville.

Historically what will it mean?  Only time will tell – what we did hear were delegations from 58 people who kept reminding the Councillors that they had all voted that there was a Climate Emergency and food sustainability was a real issue – protecting some of the best farm land in the province was vital.

There were some strong words from Milton and Halton Hills Councillors who believed their ability to meet the the provincially mandated population growth was no longer possible without building on farm land.

They argued that it was up to each municipality to decide what is best for their  community and that older more mature municipalities had no right to bully smaller municipalities.

There will be a Statutory meeting on the issue sometime in April – the fight would appear to be over – but there are issues to deal with.

The Region is required to present their Growth Plan to the province on July 1st – the document from Halton will read – Modified Growth Plan – which they hope will be accepted.