County hands rural growth decision back to Erin

GUELPH – It may be up to Erin to determine how much Puslinch grows.

Wellington County council has passed a controversial amendment to the county’s official plan that, if approved by the province, effectively allows Erin to pass on rural growth originally destined for the town.

Erin’s provincially-directed and county-assigned rural growth target falls short 120 lots of what the town can produce under current rules.

The county says rural Erin properties need to be split up through severances to create more development potential.

Some Erin residents want severances, but are restricted by a 2005 cutoff date; a mechanism intended to address housing needs while limiting residential sprawl.

But Erin Mayor Michael Dehn says the town is taking on plenty of growth without having to split up rural properties.

“As council we look at what’s best for the whole community not just individuals,” Dehn told the Advertiser.

Puslinch, however, has spent years pushing for additional growth by asking for flexible severances, residential boundary expansion and quicker decisions from upper-tier government.

By 2051, the county’s population is expected to increase to 160,000 residents, up from 97,286 in 2021.

Over the next 25 years, at least 21,880 new residential units are forecasted.

Puslinch is expected to add around 700 households by 2051 – in Aberfoyle, Arkell and through severances on non-prime agricultural land – bringing the total households to 3,560, up from 2,860 in 2021.

In Erin, the number of households is expected to more than double in 30 years to at least 9,100 — up from 4,230 in 2021.

To meet the forecast, the county assigned a growth target of 580 rural lots to Erin in July 2024.

(Urban growth in Erin and Hillsburgh villages, totalling around 4,340 households, was handled through other parts of the county's planning framework.)

Of the rural lots, 460 are available, meaning there’s opportunity to build on designated vacant rural land, vacant lots and land already eligible to be severed under Erin’s 2005 cutoff date.

The county suggested options such as hamlet expansion and severances to address the 120-lot shortfall, but the town instead decided to handle growth through additional residential units (ARUs).

But the ARUs, secondary suites like basement apartments or granny flats, don’t count toward the province-county assigned target because the county doesn’t track rural ARUs the same way it does urban ones.

They’re a bonus from the county’s perspective — and the lot shortfall remains.

With the 120 lots unaddressed and unwanted by Erin, and given concerns from county council and complaints from residents, the county turned to an official plan amendment to get out of the way and send the decision back to the town.

Council supported the amendment at an April 30 meeting to give Erin agency over how much of the shortfall it’s willing to absorb through the town’s local official plan.

Reallocating the shortfall to Puslinch would unlock more development potential there, but the lots assigned to Erin aren’t simply being swapped.

If the province gives the thumbs up – a process that could take years based on other official plan amendments – Erin will need to formally submit its position to the county, and amend its local official plan.

Erin county councillor Jeff Duncan referred to the county amendment as a “hot potato” that won’t make everyone happy, but said it’s “a good decision” taking Erin’s wishes seriously.

“It is allowing the Town of Erin to decide its own rural growth policies ... what they wish to do, and it is a very Erin-unique situation,” Duncan said.

“This is really an Erin decision and a Puslinch decision,” added councillor Doug Breen.

“I don’t see how we can stand in their way any longer.”

Developers at odds with county

Meanwhile, Thomasfield Homes, owner of development land on the south side of Maltby Road in Aberfoyle, is now caught in the middle, with a policy addition in the amendment putting on hold nearly half its development.

In a letter to the county on behalf of Thomasfield, planning firm GSP Group wrote the hold is a “politically dependent mechanism” that “effectively sterilizes” the development of around 100 homes and ties land use to “external political outcomes.”

GSP Group urged the county to remove the hold and reallocate Erin’s shortfall to Puslinch automatically.

County policy planning manager Sarah Wilhelm explained the hold is necessary to keep Puslinch from going over its growth target. If Erin officially chooses to pass the lots on to Puslinch, Wilhelm said, Thomasfield’s second phase development will be unlocked.

Timberworx Custom Homes and Sloot Construction, owners of a 19-hectare parcel adjacent to Arkell, asked the county to include a proposed 50-unit development in the official plan amendment by expanding the hamlet’s boundary.

Puslinch council backed the request earlier this year, but the county’s planning committee did not.

The development, on the books for the past 20 years, will need separate approvals to proceed and remains years away from being realized.