York Region asks province for process to open up protected Greenbelt -- again

Thestar.com
October 8, 2020
Noor Javed

The Region of York wants the province to create a process that allows municipalities to convert protected Greenbelt-designated lands into those used for employment purposes, a move that’s being lambasted by a coalition of environmental groups as an attack on the provincially significant lands.

Regional councillors will vote Thursday to ask the province to consider the request, in a response to resolutions from four local municipalities, including Richmond Hill and the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, who say having access to those lands along the 400-series highways and near GO train stations would be a boost for the local economy.

“We’re unique. Almost 95 per cent of our municipality is in the Oak Ridges Moraine or the Greenbelt, so that leaves us very little developable land to expand our commercial and industrial tax base,” said Iain Lovatt, the mayor of Whitchurch-Stouffville.

“We aren’t asking for them to convert all of it, we are asking for four per cent of it -- and all of it is countryside land that serves as a buffer to the Greenbelt,” he said, adding that opening up the land would create 23,000 jobs in Stouffville.

“The province needs to allow municipalities the opportunity to be prosperous, and when businesses that want to locate on a provincially significant artery like the 404 or 400, there should be opportunities to have discussions about it.”

But environmental groups say this is merely an attempt from municipalities and developers to get access to the land that has been deemed off-limit to development since 2005.

“There is a sense out there that this is the time to push, and maybe we can completely dismantle any kind of planning system in the region, and go back to the wild west of planning,” said Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence.

Despite pressure from developers and the building industry, the province has reiterated on numerous occasions that it would not touch the Greenbelt.

“The government remains fully committed to protecting the Greenbelt, and is not considering proposals to remove lands from the Greenbelt,” said Conrad Spezowka, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “We look forward to continuing to work with York Region to accelerate opportunities that create jobs and housing, outside the Greenbelt and the Oak Ridges Moraine”

In April 2020, the Region asked staff to examine the competitive benefits of opening up the Greenbelt lands along the highway for employment use. They determined that 33 per cent of land along the 400-series highways was Greenbelt land, according to the staff report.

But the same report also states that an assessment done in 2107 determined there are 2,400 hectares of vacant employment land in the Region. But York claims in order for it to effectively plan for the next 30 years, it needs to know if the employment lands will be available to them.

“In terms of land scarcity for employment lands, there is just no basis for it. There is lots of land within the existing urban boundary that is serviced, that isn’t being built on, and the rate of using up that supply is so low that it is not at risk of being used,” said Gray, adding that speculators were to blame for the recent push.

Land “may be worth a couple of million if it’s in the Greenbelt, but it’s worth 10 times as much if it’s not, because it can be turned into a subdivision,” he said.

Gray says often employment lands become under-utilized and eventually are converted to subdivisions. “If the province caves to these demands, it sets a precedent, and then it’s pretty much open season on the Greenbelt.”

This isn’t the first time the region has made this request, asking for a similar mechanism in 2005 and 2015.

In its staff report, it says it will continue to do so:

“York Region will continue to advocate to the province for the ability to remove lands from the Greenbelt Plan for employment uses, when deemed necessary, while protecting natural heritage features. The 400-series highway corridors are significant connective infrastructure that promote and enhance the provincial, regional and local municipal economies.”

And the request made by Richmond Hill, to allow for rezoning of protected land near Gormley GO station to allow for industrial uses was sent to the province earlier this year in the form of a municipal zoning request. At the time, the province said “the Greenbelt was off the table.”

The proposal would not only affect current lands, but also lands that flank planned highways such as the GTA West corridor and Bradford bypass. In August, the province announced the GTA West Corridor would run through northern Vaughan, generally north of Kirby Road and end at Highway 400.

Gray said the highway will already cut through forests, wetlands and natural habitats, “but now they want all the land adjacent to it to be bulldozed too.”

Lovatt said he’s optimistic the province will consider the proposal -- eventually.

“I believe there is a path forward that the province can regulate it. If I was the premier, and I got a request to open up the Greenbelt to build houses, I would say no. Because houses won’t solve the problem. It’s the commercial and industrial tax base that will create jobs and boost the economy,” he said.

“What makes Stouffville so unique is the Greenbelt and the Oak Ridges Moraine and we have to celebrate that,” he said. “But we also need to take care of our own house.”