Ontario government's proposal to change lands within Greenbelt facing criticism in Caledon

Proposal removes 15 areas totalling approximately 7,400 acres and adds 9,400 acres

Bramptonguardian.com
Nov. 29, 2022
Rohan Puri

Steve Clark, minister of municipal affairs and housing, recently announced launching of a 30-day consultation to facilitate the building of more homes while expanding the Greenbelt.

The government is proposing to remove 15 areas of land totalling approximately 7,400 acres from the edge of the Greenbelt, while adding 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.

The Paris Galt Moraine extends around 150 kilometres from the Caledon area to Port Rowan, about 170 kilometres in Toronto's southwest on Lake Erie.

Meanwhile, plots in King, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Markham, Pickering, Clarington and Hamilton are some areas being considered for removal from the Greenbelt.

The statement came a week after the provincial government introduced Bill 23, also known as the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 legislation, which was ultimately passed by the government on Nov. 28. The bill seeks to address Ontario's housing supply crisis by building 1.5 million homes by 2031.

Clark said the proposal would "help build at least 50,000 new homes while leading to an overall expansion of the Greenbelt."

An investigation by the Toronto Star and The Narwhal has pointed out that -- after an analysis of property records and corporate documents -- at least six developers own parcels of land, bought since 2018, which include portions of Greenbelt now set to be removed from the protected area. One company, run by Michael Rice, bought two parcels in September worth $80 million -- land which could not be developed at the time of purchase. But if his land is removed from the protected areas list, the value of the property will be “worth far more than $80 million,” according to the Star/Narwhal article.

For Caledon's Dan O'Reilly, a community leader in the fight against Highway 413, this proposal would be a "disaster."

"There is lots of already designated land available. The cry that they're suggesting that is going to provide housing is a lie," O'Reilly said. "This sprawl will only create more sprawl development which may provide housing but not affordable housing, which is the real issue. This is just a sop to the developers."

Phil Pothen, Ontario environment program manager at Environmental Defence, said the government has been "manufacturing the notion that there is some shortage of land to build houses on."

"There are 350 square kilometres, roughly, of greenfield land that was already mined for development. It's not part of the Greenbelt," he said. "It's already within urban boundaries. It's sitting there unused. We have enough land within our settlement area boundaries already marked for development to meet our housing needs up to at least 2050 and probably in perpetuity. "

Pothen called the provincial government's proposal "a death sentence for Greenbelt."

"The Greenbelt is a security fence implemented to protect forever the pieces of land that were under the greatest threat from development," he added. "Opening up the possibility that each landowner can request conversion of the land to a strip mall or a subdivision, it paints the target on every piece of land in it, meaning soil and environmental degradation throughout the Greenbelt."

Pothen said the proposal to add other lands to the Greenbelt does nothing to mitigate this. "Most of those lands were part of these existing urban river valleys and could never be developed."

Pothen added the net result would be a "substantial reduction" in the area that's protected and an "undermining of the quality of the land that still survives within the Greenbelt."

"Even the Paris Galt Moraine was protected under the local municipal plan for that area. All of these are lands, with very few exceptions, applying to a small amount of area that wouldn't have been developed anyhow."

Press secretary for housing minister Steve Clark, Victoria Podbielski, told the Enterprise via email that Ontario is in a housing supply crisis, and the government is acting decisively to fix it.

The office said the expansion of the Greenbelt would provide new protections on important lands located within the Paris Galt Moraine, as well as 13 urban river valley areas.

This includes prime agricultural land and natural features such as wetlands and woodlands adjacent to moraine functions area, Podbielski said.

"It is the government's expectation that should these lands be removed from the Greenbelt, construction of these new homes will begin on these lands by no later than 2025, and that significant progress on approvals and implementation be achieved by the end of 2023," she said, adding proponents would still need approvals to ensure adequate environment protection before construction could begin.

"Our message is clear: If these conditions are not met, the government will return these properties to the Greenbelt," the office added.