White belt to go? Vaughan councillor grills ‘aggressive’ Ontario 2051 intensification plan

Thestar.com
May 21, 2021

Coun. Marilyn Iafrate wants to involve Vaughan’s residents after a York Region urban planner unveiled Ontario’s intensification plans for 2051, which she described as “aggressive,” as it will encroach on the city’s remaining white belt.

“At the end of the day, we here are the ones that have the ear to the ground to the residents. And we're moving forward, or you will be moving forward with a set target that has never been agreed to by the communities at large that are affected,” Iafrate told Paul Bottomley, an urban planner from York Region.

Municipalities are now obligated to plan their growth 30 years out, rather than 20, and Ontario anticipates York Region will attract the most growth in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area by 2051.

York Region is expected to see growths of 22 per cent in its population and 27 per cent in jobs over that time.

The growth plan's minimum intensification target is 50 per cent for York Region, with a greenfield area density target of 50 residents and jobs per hectare.

These targets require about 2,300 hectares of community land to build the 276,000 residential units needed. It's also estimated that 1,100 hectares of employment land will be needed to create 345,000 new jobs.

Vaughan's target, however, will be set higher than the region's.

“Even though Vaughan and Markham have a large volume of forecasted intensification, their equally large volume of greenfield growth has an impact on their intensification target, and you can see that the target for Vaughan is 56 per cent; that's higher than the region's target of 50 per cent,” said Paul Bottomley, an urban planner from York Region.

The percentage is much higher than Vaughan’s intensification target over the last 15 years, which was around 44 per cent.

Bottomley said the city's higher percentage is linked to its transit-friendly appeal as it has the first subway extension outside of Toronto as well as 28 major transit station areas.

He also said some intensification is going to be seen in the white belt area in East Gwillimbury, King-Vaughan and Markham-Stouffville.

In response, Iafrate asked, “What happens if the city refuses your request to open up the white belt area?”

The lands assessment methodology is written by the province and York Region is obligated to follow it, Bottomley replied.

Coun. Sandra Racco said in light of COVID-19, the future is uncertain, and there needs to be more awareness about how this pandemic will affect us long-term before charting these policies.

From Racco's side, Deputy Mayor Mario Ferri urged York Region to work on a communication strategy to explain these plans to local residents.