GUELPH – Wellington County councillors are still looking for clarity on exactly what the province’s decision to reverse its unilateral expansion of some urban boundaries, both here and across the province, means to local municipalities.
At the Oct. 26 council meeting, Centre Wellington Mayor Shawn Watters praised the government for reversing the controversial urban boundary changes to official plans for Wellington County, as well as the cities of Barrie, Belleville, Guelph, Hamilton, Ottawa and Peterborough, and the regions of Halton, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo and York.
“I’d like to thank the province for doing that. I think it put everybody in dire straits … And it’s nice to see that some common sense is coming back a little bit in terms of that,” said Watters.
“I know that all our municipalities here in the county and throughout the GTA have been struggling with this and now it gives us time to do this in a … more methodical process.”
Watters continued, “We are all partners in this housing crisis, both at the local level, the county level and the province and we need to work collegially at this and figure this issue out in terms of how we deliver housing to our community. So I look forward to these changes.”
Guelph/Eramosa Mayor Chris White said local municipalities need more information on the Oct. 23 announcement the province would be rolling back unilateral modifications to an amendment to Wellington County’s Official Plan, adding more than 1,000 acres of mostly agricultural land to urban boundaries around Fergus, Elora, Rockwood and Clifford.
“One of the things we’ll be looking forward to in our community is the restoration of the original Rockwood boundary … this doesn’t mean we’re against housing and all of those things, but it needs to be planned and in the right place,” said White.
“So the question for [Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra] is are they going to take the border that they unilaterally moved and put it back? Or do I need to do something? Do I need to write a letter?
“Does it have to come through the county council? How do I confirm that my original borders are going to be restored?”
White added, “Then the county and the local community can make a decision if they do want to define a new border, to add something to it.
“I don’t want to come out of this thing with any confusion at all. I want to be absolutely clear, is that in order going back or do I need to do something?
“I don’t want this showing up in 18 months with someone wanting to build something (within the expanded boundary) … We ought to be clear on how the province is proceeding.”
Councillor Jeff Duncan said clarification is also needed on the status of 7,000 acres of land in the Town of Erin that was moved into the Greenbelt at the same time as the since-reversed removal of 7,400 acres around the GTA.
“They backtracked on the various … other changes and the actual Greenbelt expansion and urban area expansion,” said Duncan.
“They acknowledged that those were done with not a lot of forethought or planning or public input from the other municipalities or the county and we assume the same thing probably happened to additional lands (added to the Greenbelt in Erin).
“I’m just wondering if there’s any action on that and, if not, if it’s something we could ask the province to review.”
If the Erin lands are to remain in the Greenbelt, Duncan said the province should specify that the designated lands follow a logical pattern.
“They should be following
a watershed boundary or some sort of natural wetland area; they should be following some soil types or something. But right now, they don’t do that,” he stated.
“Well, the province is going to do what the province is going to do,” said county CAO Scott Wilson.
However, Wilson noted the deputy minister of municipal affairs had scheduled a telephone call with county planning director Aldo Salis to discuss the recent changes.
“It’s a 15-minute call, the content of which we’re not sure. Aldo will find out and report back,” said Wilson.
“The information that I saw when they made the announcement indicated there will be some opportunity for input from municipalities,” said Warden Andy Lennox.
“But, as I’m sure planning staff are asking, ‘Okay, what does this mean really?’ Right now, we’re all asking that question … I think maybe this sounds like this phone call is the first step in that process.”
“Correct. We’ll find out … what the minister’s office has in mind in terms of this re-examination or reversal of the decisions they made,” said Salis.
“We will report to the committee in November and then report to council in terms of what we’d like to recommend.”
