This week I attended the Joint Planning and Housing Committee and the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee meeting to discuss the New Urban and Village Boundary Expansion Official Plan Application Process recommendations from staff.
These recommendations are a response to the new Provincial Planning Statement (2024 PPS) which will come into effect on October 20, 2024. The 2024 PPS shifts from a comprehensive growth strategy to a more fragmented approach allowing private applications. The City’s framework for urban and village boundary expansions maintains a collaborative process while permitting applications based on 2024 PPS criteria.
In practice, this means developers can apply to “add lands” to our urban boundary to build, and staff have outlined a process for managing, approving, or rejecting these applications at committee and council. Of course, rejected applications will likely be escalated to the Ontario Land Tribunal, where developers may appeal to the province. This new opportunity for developers raises serious concerns—concerns shared by many of my colleagues—including the cost of expanding the urban boundary and how it affects the City’s goals for density, walkability, and 15-minute neighborhoods.
Currently in Bay Ward we are nearing the completion of two Secondary Plans These plans are chart growth for the next 25 years, attempting to balance density with amenities and the need for greenspace in our communities.
These plans aim to strike a balance between density, greenspace, and community amenities. Done right, this approach can guide mixed-use development, save the City money, and avoid the costs that come with unchecked sprawl. We already know that growing outwards is expensive and takes resources away from maintaining existing infrastructure in established areas. And yet, here we are, with the potential for sprawl creeping ever further into the city’s budget and into our lives.
The more we stretch the urban boundary, the more difficult it will be to maintain what already exists in established areas, or to build new things when they begin to fail. Bay Ward needs new community houses, places where residents can gather, find services, and build a sense of belonging. But if we keep expanding outward, how will we support these spaces in older neighborhoods? Belltown Dome is another example of this. Aging infrastructure, but incredibly important to the community that uses it. With the city’s massive gap in funding to manage an existing asset, we’re told it’s too expensive to maintain, but when or how will it be replaced? We have no real certainty here. This leaves myself and residents with questions, will the next generation have the same access to community centers and affordable housing, or will those resources be stretched too thin?
As a said during the meeting, I am very concerned that this shift from the province will lead to more and more sprawl, that will be costly to the city, to taxpayers, and to our environment, and ultimately unsustainable.
On Monday evening, my office, along with Wards 8 and 9, held the 2025 Budget session.
I want to thank everyone who took the time to participate and provide their questions, comments, and thoughts of what priorities are important to them for our city. Hearing concerns from residents about how our neighbourhoods are functioning reinforces the difficulties that continuing to expand the urban boundary, especially in a piecemeal approach, will have. One resident commented “Rinks are being built farther and farther away, and newer neighborhoods getting further from the city’s goal of 15-minute neighborhoods and are not accessible to many.” I agree, for communities to thrive, they need spaces for activities, greenspaces, community buildings, small businesses, and affordable housing. Bay Ward will be seeing 7 new Stage 2 transit stations in the not so distant future which makes it a logical choice for more amenities and community infrastructure.
With a 2.9% cap on taxes for this 2025 budget, I am concerned, it will be a struggle to meet residents priorities. I hear about from communities every day with concerns, from increased traffic calming to lack of recreation space, to needing more warm weather days with lifeguards at our beaches. As we consider how to accommodate development and manage our budget, we must ensure that growth aligns with our vision for sustainable, accessible communities.