{"id":32301,"date":"2022-12-08T14:28:22","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T19:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=32301"},"modified":"2022-12-15T18:05:11","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T23:05:11","slug":"greenbelt-environmental-issues-at-centre-of-provinces-housing-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/greenbelt-environmental-issues-at-centre-of-provinces-housing-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenbelt, environmental issues at centre of Province\u2019s Housing Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Debate over the Province\u2019s plan to build more homes in Ontario continues after the passage of Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, at Queen\u2019s Park last Monday, November 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its passage, concerns over the Bill\u2019s environmental impacts continue to rage, with advocacy groups raising alarm bells over the amount of farmland in the GTHA that will be lost to meet housing targets, as well as opening up portions of the Greenbelt for further development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Issues surrounding the Greenbelt\u2019s future were voiced to Newmarket-Aurora MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy and prompted a statement from the Progressive Conservative member last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are taking further action to support our ambitious goal of building 1.5 million homes in the next decade by launching this consultation. These proposals will help build at least 50,000 new homes, while leading to an overall expansion of the Greenbelt of approximately 2,000 acres,\u201d said Ms. Gallagher Murphy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOntario is expected to grow by more than two million people by 2031, with approximately 1.5 million people living in the Greater Golden Horseshoe Region. To accommodate that growth and support the building of more homes, our government is proposing to remove 15 parcels of land totalling approximately 7,400 acres (approximately 2,995 hectares) from the edge of the Greenbelt area,\u201d she continued, noting that the proposed change affects 0.37 per cent of the Greenbelt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lands in question are close to existing settlements and transit and, she said, \u201cit makes sense to remove these lands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are also proposing to add an additional 9,400 acres to the Greenbelt, including a portion of the Paris Galt Moraine and 13 urban river valleys in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, for an overall Greenbelt expansion of approximately 2,000 acres. Should these lands be removed from the Greenbelt, it is the government\u2019s expectation that the landowners develop detailed plans to build housing quickly. Significant progress on approvals and implementation must be achieved by the end of 2023, with construction begun no later than 2025. If these conditions are not met, our government will return these properties to the Greenbelt. These proposals will support our municipal partners\u2019 plan for responsible growth and help build housing faster and in a targeted manner, while leading to an overall expansion of the Greenbelt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction on the Greenbelt is nothing new, she said, adding that over 800,000 hectares there are homes and infrastructure on the parcels in question and existing legislation allows for \u201chighways and gravel mines to be built through its heart\u201d and existing settlements are allowed to be developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill 23 was at the centre of the first Council meeting of the 2022-2026 term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While much of the discussion last month focused on the powers of municipalities to dictate growth as well as a decision from the Minister of Housing to amend the Region of York\u2019s Official Plan to prescribe construction of a minimum 12-storey building on the southwest corner of Leslie Street and Wellington, environmental issues were also touched upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward 3 Councillor Wendy Gaertner, for instance, said the Bill would result in significant ecological damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNatural heritage systems [are] complex machines and if you take individual parcels you\u2019re not looking at how they fit together so that they can function effectively,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really quite a serious problem to take environmental systems apart,\u201d she said, adding that the loss of farmland could result in food insecurity, an issue important to all residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also looking at the matter through an environmental lens, Ward 2 Councillor Rachel Gilliland questioned what Bill 23 might mean for Green Development Standards passed by the previous Council to steer local development in a way that minimizes environmental impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are ahead of some municipalities across Ontario utilizing this tool to incur some inceptives and from what I gather this completely eliminates the opportunity to give any comment or suggestions to developers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MPP Gallagher Murphy said municipalities have used Site Plan Control processes to put through Green Development Standards, including energy efficiency measures, and the Bill was \u201cnot intended to prevent municipalities from addressing these types of matters \u2013 but to prevent municipalities from using site plan to implement unnecessary visual design requirements\u201d like certain exterior fa\u00e7ade finishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough the legislative process, the government proposed changes to Bill 23 that would give municipalities the authority to apply green development standards through site plan control by referencing opt-in Building Code standards that we will be developing, if they pass by-laws to this effect,\u201d she said. \u201cWe recognize the important work being done by municipalities by providing them with a solid foundation for requiring green building standards in both site plan control and the Building Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the Ontario Building Code already contains high standards for energy efficiency that apply across the province, the additional improvements for energy efficiency and other green measures to be developed for the next edition of Ontario\u2019s Building Code will make Ontario a national leader in green building standards and provide a consistent approach for municipalities that choose to apply these requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Debate over the Province\u2019s plan to build more homes in Ontario continues after the passage of Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, at Queen\u2019s Park last Monday, November 28. Despite its passage, concerns over the Bill\u2019s environmental impacts continue to rage, with advocacy groups raising alarm bells over the amount of farmland in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32301","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\/p3D2k4-8oZ","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-10 23:00:11","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\/32301","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=32301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}