Ontario denies Richmond Hill’s request to open up Greenbelt lands for industrial use

Mayor Dave Barrow says the minister's decision was 'disappointing'

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 4, 2021
Sheila Wang

The protected lands that the City of Richmond Hill was eyeing for industrial use will stay as they are -- at least for now.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has recently rejected a request from the city for a minister’s zoning order to convert the lands between Highway 404 and Leslie, north of Stouffville Road, for industrial uses.

The decision came eight months after city council asked Minister Steve Clark to issue an MZO for the lands, which are within the Greenbelt and protected under the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act.

On May 13, 2020, seven out of the nine councillors voted to approve a resolution, put forward by Regional Coun. Carmine Perrelli, that sought to open up these lands for industrial uses because they were “contiguous to existing urban development.”

He said the lands were “strategically located,” as they are close to a highway and Gormley GO station.

Ward 5 Coun. Karen Cilevitz, who voted against the motion, said she was “elated” after the request was rejected.

“This decision is of paramount importance to the city, the region and the province, and bolsters the call from environmental groups and activists to ensure ongoing protections of the Greenbelt,” she wrote in an email on Feb. 2.

The Liberal obtained a Jan. 27 letter from Clark to Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow; in the document, the minister said the government remains committed to protecting the Greenbelt.

“I am not prepared to consider making a zoning order to facilitate development in this area,” Clark wrote.

The minister's decision was “disappointing,” Mayor Barrow said on Feb. 2. “City staff will continue to work with staff from York Region to identify what our next steps might be.”

In an exclusive interview with yorkregion.com the following day, Ontario Premier Doug Ford stated: “We will never build on the Greenbelt.”

Ward 4 Coun. David West, who was opposed to the regional councillor’s motion, said he was “quite pleased” to hear the MZO request had been denied.

The problem, however, “goes beyond” this one request, he told the Liberal.

“Richmond Hill council has, through a number of motions and over the past year or more, provided direction to our planning staff to investigate opening a large swath of protected land in the Gormley area for development,” West wrote.

Gormley is a long-standing rural hamlet that overlaps Richmond Hill and Stouffville, divided by Highway 404.

With more than 100 years of history, the hamlet is designated as a Heritage Conservation District that aims to preserve the general existing character of the area.

A year ago, city council voted to consider allowing developers to tap into the current “countryside areas” near Gormley GO Station, between 19th Avenue and Bethesda Road.

Last October, council voted to ask York Region to extend water and sewage services to the Gormley settlement area.

There is no municipal sewer and water service to the area east of Leslie Street and south of Stouffville Road. However, once Gormley is identified as a major transit station area in the city’s ongoing official plan update, a minimum density will be increased to 50 persons and jobs per hectare, which would require municipal services.

West said these directions passed by council to open up protected Oak Ridges Moraine lands for development represented “bad planning, bad public policy, bad environmental policy, bad fiscal policy, and a bad use of our planning staff’s time.”

The MZO for the Greenbelt lands was the second one city council has requested so far.

The ministry approved the first MZO requested last fall to fast-track residential developments up to 40 storeys on former employment lands at Major MacKenzie and Highway 404.

Perrelli didn’t respond to request for comment.