Region one of two to exceed Ontario smart growth targets Waterloo Region is one of only two municipalities on pace to exceed the provincial growth plan meant to intensify urban centres by building up instead of out, according to a new report. The 128-page report from the non-profit urban think-tank Neptis Foundation, titled Implementing the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, found the City of Toronto is the only other municipality to exceed the minimum intensification target in the province’s growth plan, which calls for 40 per cent of all new residential development to be in built-up areas by 2015 and beyond. Waterloo has set its intensification target at 45 per cent, exceeded only by development in Toronto, which is considered all intensification and infill. The region really has no choice but to follow through with the growth plan if future growth is to be managed properly, said Rob Horne, regional planning commissioner, which is why Waterloo has developed such an aggressive urban sprawl reduction strategy. “Compact growth for our region is probably more important than it is for other municipalities because we’re groundwater dependent, and if we go out any further we start to threaten our groundwater discharge and recharge areas,” Horne said. Planners expect the population of Waterloo Region to increase by nearly 40 per cent over the next two decades, from 559,000 today to about 742,000 by 2031. It is expected to increase to about 835,000 a decade after that. By studying the planned rates of intensification and growth in 110 communities across the Golden Horseshoe — from Waterloo to Peterborough — the report found “little has changed as far as land consumption goes since the government carried out its original studies for the growth plan.” When the province set its growth targets, it failed to include any penalties for municipalities that failed to meet the target and has granted so many exemptions that the result is a patchwork of inconsistent policies across the province, the report found. This needs to be corrected if the long-term vision of the plan is to be accomplished, said Horne. “This ambiguity around what the growth plan says to some municipalities and not to others needs to be resolved. In our opinion these are requirements, not soft targets,” he said. The region’s efforts haven’t been easy. Last spring, Waterloo said it was going to court to try to reverse the Ontario Municipal Board’s decision to open more than 1,000 hectares of land to new development. The region’s official plan called for just 85 hectares of new land to be made available, but developers appealed the decision to the OMB, the provincial land use tribunal. Municipalities that have failed to meet the 40 per cent intensification target set by the province include Brant County (15 per cent), Haldimand County (32 per cent), Wellington County (20 per cent) and Simcoe County (32 per cent), though individual towns or cities within those areas have met or exceeded the target. Kevin Thomason, co-founder of the Smart Growth Waterloo Region website, said Waterloo is unique among municipalities trying to reach the growth targets due to a high level of progressive thinking and decision-making. “It just comes down to change and innovation inertia. There is a lot of resistance to change and change is difficult — it’s hard to innovate and to be a leader,” he said. The provincial growth document needs to implement hard growth targets and firmer deadlines, as well as penalties for those who fail to reach the targets, Thomason said. Peel Region, made up of the Town of Caledon and the cities of Brampton and Mississauga, currently has an intensification target of 40 per cent but is set to increase that target to 50 per cent in 2026. It would be the highest intensification target in the province outside of Toronto. Arvin Prasad, director of integrated planning in Peel Region, doesn’t believe the province needs to set hard targets or penalties for municipalities that fail to reach the growth plan requirements. “I don’t think we need the province to micromanage planning at the local level. They’ve set a really good policy direction and the municipalities are moving forward with implementing that direction,” he said.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 16:51:42 +0000
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