{"id":23116,"date":"2019-03-01T16:25:35","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T21:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=23116"},"modified":"2019-03-01T16:25:35","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T21:25:35","slug":"more-time-needed-to-weigh-in-on-new-provincial-growth-targets-say-councillors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/more-time-needed-to-weigh-in-on-new-provincial-growth-targets-say-councillors\/","title":{"rendered":"More time needed to weigh in on new Provincial growth targets, say Councillors"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Province needs to give municipalities like Aurora more time to review new growth targets for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, according to Council.
\nLocal lawmakers are set to formally request an extension on commenting on proposed amendments to the Province\u2019s growth plan from 45 days, a deadline which would hit this Thursday, February 28, pushing the comment period to April 14.
\nThis, they said, would allow them more time to consider significant changes when it comes to intensification and areas of designated business growth, and how it might impact Aurora.
\nThe Growth Plan in question establishes minimum density targets within strategic growth areas, giving municipalities a frame work on how to make land use more efficient, reduce and control sprawl, and \u201ccultivate a culture of conservation,\u201d according to a report to Council by planning staff.
\nOf particular concern to Aurora, they say, is a change in process on how lands currently designated as employment lands can be converted to non-employment uses, such as residential or recreational, and loosening the restrictions on a municipality doing so.
\n\u201cThe Province has identified 29 Significant Employment Zones and removed the Prime Employment Area Designation,\u201d say economic planners at the Town. \u201cThese 29 employment zones cannot be converted outside of a municipal comprehensive review (MCR) process. There are no Significant Employment Zones being proposed in Aurora; however, a municipality may make a request that the Province review and update provincially significant Employment Zones. In order to ensure the long-term protection of employment lands in Aurora, staff strongly support the designation of a Significant Employment Zone in the Highway 404 corridor.\u201d
\nChanges to intensification targets are also on Aurora\u2019s radar, particularly in greenfield areas.
\n\u201cThe 2017 Growth Plan introduced a significant increase to the minimum designated greenfield area density target, up to 80 residents and jobs per hectare \u2013 which would have had the effect of requiring new urban expansion areas to be planned for higher densities in order to compensate for the lower densities of the predominant lower densities already planned for in existing greenfield areas. The Province then revised the policy for municipalities (including those in York Region \u2013 leaving the target at 80 residents and jobs per hectare, but having it apply only to new urban expansion areas \u2013 much easier to manage and more achievable in the York Region context.
\n\u201cThe proposed new policy is a lower numerical target, but reverts back to being measured across the entire greenfield area \u2013 60 residents and jobs per hectare. However, new urban expansion areas are still the only lands where future densities can be planned to achieve the greenfield target on average. Due to differing calculations, the proposed 60 residents and jobs per hectare over the entire greenfield area will likely not result in densities much different than the current 80 residents and jobs per hectare in new urban expansion areas.\u201d
\nThe report was presented to Council members at the General Committee level, where the recommendations handed down by the Province received considerably mixed reviews. What elected members shared, however, was that staff need time well beyond the Provincial deadline to consider how the proposals might impact the Town.
\n\u201cI am a little concerned that we\u2019re not being given much time,\u201d said Councillor Sandra Humfryes, noting she had specific concerns with greenfield density targets. \u201cIt sounds like we\u2019re going backwards.\u201d
\nShe questioned if municipal staff had a \u201cbackup plan\u201d to voice concerns if the Province does not agree to an extension. Doug Nadorozny, CAO for the Town, said that the report was written assuming that no extension would be given.
\n\u201cIf they don\u2019t give us that extension, there is probably little more we can do in a time frame [other than] what is in this report,\u201d he said. \u201cAll we can do is ask. Whether the Minister replies or not is in their hands.\u201d
\nCouncillor Humfryes was not alone in her concerns. Calls for an extension were echoed by Mayor Tom Mrakas and Councillor John Gallo.
\nMayor Mrakas told Council an extension was also being eyed by the Region and he hoped more municipalities would come together to send a message to the Province that more time was needed.
\n\u201cWhere it talks about identifying strategic growth areas as preferred locations for intensification and that municipalities are directed to identify the appropriate type and scale of development in strategic growth areas and that we can identify those areas,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that is a good thing because the Growth Plan basically takes precedence over the provincial policy statement and so, therefore, if we identify these areas, we\u2019ll stop getting these applications that are coming in and asking for intensification within the areas of our municipality that we don\u2019t want to see that intensification occur and we can say no without fear of losing that battle.
\n\u201cI am encouraged about that piece of it, but I would like to have a full look at the full scope of the changes and amendments that they are looking at presenting and have a full discussion with staff so we can put forward some good comments to the Province and make sure that we\u2019re heard.\u201d
\nAdded Councillor Gallo: \u201cI was so happy to see that in [the report] because I couldn\u2019t agree more that intensification should happen within public transportation corridors and that is where it should happen to avoid urban sprawl and all the other reasons. I was really happy to see that and I am hopeful that we can identify those and really promote them so that intensification can happen on the sites.\u201d
\nCouncillor Gallo also reiterated the importance of Aurora maintaining its employment land designations and not converting them to other uses, a view underscored by Councillor Wendy Gaertner.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Province needs to give municipalities like Aurora more time to review new growth targets for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, according to Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-60Q","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 19:04:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}