Approved - Planning and Public Works - May 27, 2009 Adopted - Regional Council - Jun 03, 2009 The Regional Municipality of Halton Report To: From: Chairman and Members of the Planning and Public Works Committee Mark G. Meneray, Commissioner of Legislative and Planning Services and Corporate Counsel Date: May 13, 2009 Report No. - Re: LPS64-09 - Adoption of Regional Official Plan Amendment No. 37, "An Amendment to Incorporate the Basic Requirements of the Places to Grow Plan" RECOMMENDATION 1. THAT pursuant to Sections 17(22) and 26 of The Planning Act, Regional Council adopt Regional Official Plan Amendment No. 37, An Amendment to Incorporate the Basic Requirements of the Places to Grow Plan provided as Attachment #1 to Report LPS64-09. 2. THAT pursuant to Section 26(7) of The Planning Act, Regional Council advise the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing that Regional Official Plan Amendment No. 37 conforms with the Places to Grow Plan and represents the first part of a two-part amendment process to fulfill the requirements of Section 26(1a). 3. THAT the Director of Legal Services be directed to prepare the necessary by-law and notice to give effect to Recommendation No. 1 of Report LPS64-09. 4. THAT the Regional Clerk give notice on the adoption of Regional Official Plan Amendment No. 37 in accordance with the provisions of The Planning Act and its regulations. REPORT Purpose The purpose of this report is twofold. Firstly, it informs Council of the submissions received on Proposed Regional Official Plan Amendment No. 37 (ROPA 37) with staff responses to them. Secondly, it recommends adoption of ROPA 37 in meeting the basic requirements of the Provincial Growth Plan, Places to Grow (Growth Plan), by the June 16, 2009 deadline, as mandated by The Places to Grow Act 2005. 1
Background Staff provided a detailed overview of the purpose of proposed ROPA 37 through Reports LPS27-09 and LPS46-09. Briefly, ROPA 37 is the first stage of a two-stage process identified by staff to bring the Regional Official Plan into conformity with the Provincial Growth Plan and other Provincial plans and policies. Among the policies incorporated into ROPA 37 based on the Growth Plan are: The density and intensification targets by Local Municipality to the year 2031 (with the exception of the Towns of Milton and Halton Hills, which will be introduced by a subsequent amendment); The appropriate locations for future growth including urban growth centres; intensification corridors, designated greenfields, built-up areas, and major transit station areas and corresponding policies to guide this growth; The protection of employment lands by providing more stringent criteria for the conversion of employment lands to non-employment uses; The requirement that the Local Municipalities develop and implement strategies to phase in and achieve the intensification targets identified in the Growth Plan; and Growth Plan definitions. As discussed in Report LPS46-09, the Region must have an Official Plan that achieves conformity with the Growth Plan before it can exercise its statutory role as the approval authority in processing Local Official Plan Amendments related to conformity with the Growth Plan. For this reason, ROPA 37 contains firm population, employment and intensification targets for the City of Burlington and Town of Oakville. Burlington s conformity amendment with the Growth Plan is currently being reviewed by Regional staff. The Town of Oakville s new Official Plan, Livable Oakville, is scheduled for adoption by Town Council on June 22, 2009. It will then be forwarded to the Region for approval. Proposed Regional Official Plan Amendment No. 38 (ROPA 38) is the second stage of the conformity exercise with the Provincial Growth Plan. It will also incorporate the result of the statutory five-year review of the Regional Official Plan under The Planning Act, as well as bringing the Plan into conformity with other Provincial plans and policies. Regional Council s decisions in late June on the preferred land use plan under the Sustainable Halton process and its endorsement of the Directions Report will provide the basis for preparing ROPA 38. A draft of this Amendment is planned to be released for public and agency consultation in September, with Council adoption scheduled for December, 2009. Because both ROPA 37 and ROPA 38 are considered amendments under the statutory five-year review of the Regional Official Plan, they are being processed under Section 26 of The Planning Act. As such, the Province is the approval authority for both Amendments. With respect to conformity with the Provincial Growth Plan, there is one outstanding issue that needs to be addressed. At its meeting of April 1, 2009, Council directed staff to prepare at least one growth option to ensure that the Region complies with The Places to Grow Act. Since all the concepts and options that were released through staff Report LPS46-09 and contained in Technical Reports 3.08 and 3.10 meet the requirements of the Provincial Growth Plan, this direction of 2
Council has been fulfilled. The detailed explanation showing how the concepts meet the provincial requirements can be found in Report 3.07, Accommodating Growth to 2031. Statutory Requirements Under The Planning Act The Planning Act (Section 17(19.4)) requires the Region to hold at least one public open house on ROPA 37 to give the public the opportunity to review and ask questions on the amendment. Staff included the public open house meeting on ROPA 37 as part the recent Sustainable Halton Public Information Centres (PICs) that were held in each of the Local Communities on the dates and times listed below: Town of Milton Tuesday, April 21, 2009, Milton Sports Centre, 6 to 9 pm City of Burlington Tuesday, April 28, 2009, Rotary Youth Centre, 6 to 9 pm Town of Oakville Wednesday, April 29, 2009, Halton Regional Centre, 6 to 9 pm; and Town of Halton Hills Thursday, April 30, Mold-Masters Sportplex, 6 to 9 pm. Residents were advised during the presentation portion of the PICs that the statutory public open house for ROPA 37 was part of the PIC. Section 26(3) of The Planning Act also requires the Region to hold a special meeting of Council, open to the public, to discuss the revisions to the Regional Official Plan that are being proposed through Amendment No. 37. This was the purpose of the Special Meeting of the Planning and Public Works Committee held on May 27, 2009. The Planning and Public Works Committee has been delegated the authority to serve as Regional Council s representative for the purposes of conducting a Special Meeting of Council under the Planning Act, in accordance with the Region s process for the holding of statutory public meetings Notices for the Public Open House and the Special Meeting of Council were provided in the manner set out in The Planning Act and to the prescribed bodies identified in its regulations. A new requirement under The Planning Act, with respect to Council adoption of an amendment undertaken through the statutory five-year review process (Section 26) of the Official Plan, is the need for a Council resolution declaring that the subject amendment conforms to or does not conflict with provincial plans, has regard for provincial interest, and is consistent with Provincial Policy Statements. Hence Recommendation 2, with the recognition that ROPA 38 will complement ROPA 37 in fulfilling this requirement. Following Council s adoption, ROPA 37 will be forwarded to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for approval. Anyone who made an oral submission at the May 27, 2009 Special Meeting of Council or who has made a written submission to Regional Council, may file an appeal with the Minister s decision on ROPA 37. Responses to Proposed Amendment No. 37 The written responses received on proposed Amendment No. 37 are included as Attachment #2 to Report LPS64-09, under separate cover, along with staff s responses to the submissions. Due to 3
the fact that several submissions were received on the last day for submissions (May 12, 2009, this document is still being finalized at the time of preparing the staff report. It will be delivered to members of Council as soon as possible and made available on the Region s website during the week of May 18, 2009. Local Municipalities and Public Agencies The Town of Oakville, Town of Halton Hills and the City of Burlington support ROPA 37. At the time of writing this report, ROPA 37 has not been presented to Town of Milton Council. Regional staff was advised by Town staff that a report was to be presented to Milton Administrative and Finance Committee on May 19, 2009 and staff have had an opportunity to review a copy of that staff report. Essentially the report s recommendation is to support ROPA 37, based on the Region s consideration of some proposed changes. Staff has consulted with Milton staff and reached agreement on changes appropriate for inclusion in ROPA 37, while deferring other changes to the review of ROPA 38. The former have been incorporated into ROPA 37. Other public agencies comments are also contained in Attachment #2 to this report. As noted in Report LPS46-09, Regional staff has worked closely with Provincial staff in preparing ROPA 37. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs through its One-Window comments approach on ROPA 37 suggested a number of minor editorial changes and recommended adding a number of other Growth Plan policies. A copy of the Ministry s letter is included with this report as Attachment #4. These proposed changes have been incorporated into the Amendment. Private Sector Comments Staff received a number of submissions from private groups, residents and development interests including P.O.W.E.R., Mattamy Homes, and the South West Georgetown Landowners Group. For the most part, the submissions included comments on ROPA 37 as well as Sustainable Halton and requested clarification on a number of issues regarding ROPA 37. Staff have responded to these requests in Attachment #2, under separate cover. Red-lined Version of ROPA 37 For ease of reference, a red-lined version of ROPA 37 showing the changes from the proposed version released to the public and the final version ready for Council adoption is provided as Attachment #3 to this staff report. Conclusion Following Council s adoption of Regional Official Plan Amendment No. 37, it will be forwarded to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for approval. Over the summer, staff will work with our municipal partners to prepare ROPA 38, which will contain the growth management policies to guide future growth in Halton to 2031, as well as changes necessary to bring the Regional Plan up-to-date and in conformity with Provincial plans and policies. A draft ROPA 38 will be released in September for public review and comment. 4
The preparation of ROPA 37 was a collaborative effort between the Region and the Local Municipalities. Regional staff would like to thank the Local Municipal staff for their cooperation, comments and suggestions on ROPA 37. FINANCIAL/PROGRAM IMPLICATIONS The cost of undertaking the Sustainable Halton Growth Plan and the Official Plan Review is funded from the Sustainable Halton Capital Account (T8023A). RELATIONSHIP TO THE STRATEGIC PLAN This report addresses Goal 1, Theme 1 of the 2009 Planning and Public Works Committee Plan - Develop and implement a Made in Halton Plan to control and manage growth by taking the first step in moving the Region s Official Plan into conformity with the Provincial Growth Plan. This report also moves the Region toward meeting, Action 1b) of completing the Official Plan policy update including the Greenbelt Conformity, Provincial Policy Statement Conformity, Places to Grow Conformity, an updated aggregate policy, implementation of the ROPA 25 settlements and implementation of the Regional Growth Strategy. Respectfully submitted, Ron Glenn Director, Planning Services and Chief Planning Official Mark G. Meneray Commissioner of Legislative & Planning Services and Corporate Counsel Approved by Pat Moyle Chief Administrative Officer If you have any questions on the content of this report, please contact: Ron Glenn Tel. # 7966 Haiqing Xu Tel. # 7208 Perry Vagnini Tel. # 7987 5