Peel Region decision could spur Caledon boom

Caledon has lost control over much of its own residential growth after a decision by Peel Region council to step in.

Thestar.com
Nov. 18, 2015
By San Grewal

A historic decision by Peel Region council could lead to the creation of the GTA’s next boom city, as much of Caledon - long resistant to growth - will now be forced to develop according to provincially mandated guidelines.

The move came last week, after a recent feud over the way Caledon was planning its growth led to the town filing a lawsuit against its own higher tier regional government. On Thursday, Peel council voted to accept provincial mediation of the dispute, which means the lawsuit will not go forward.

It also means the region, guided by provincial growth policies, will dictate Caledon’s planning around its major growth centre, Bolton.

The trouble began at regional council in June, when Caledon councillors and Mayor Allan Thompson staged a mid-meeting walkout in protest against Mississauga and Brampton council members, who sought to take over control of much of Caledon’s planning.

At the time, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie stated, “Caledon is resisting the growth plan set out by the province.”

Crombie and a majority of her regional council colleagues, against the wishes of their Caledon peers, brought in a provincial development facilitator to review the town’s planning and make recommendations.

With Thursday’s decision, Caledon - the GTA’s largest geographic municipality, even bigger than Toronto - will effectively lose control over most of its own residential growth, around Bolton.

“Council agreed to provincial facilitation in order to find a settlement that was equitable for all parties,” Crombie told the Star on Wednesday. “Facilitation recommended an open and transparent process for allocating future growth in Caledon.”

With Thursday’s decision, Caledon’s population, currently at just over 60,000, could in a few decades reach that of its regional neighbours to the south, Mississauga and Brampton. They have boomed over the last 30 years and are now Canada’s sixth and ninth largest cities, respectively.

Caledon councillors, including former longtime mayor Marolyn Morrison, have publicly warned for years that the town’s population could grow even larger than that if pressures from developers and the province went unchecked.

Crombie and other councillors from Brampton and Mississauga had argued that Caledon had long failed to follow proper growth strategies, instead developing where it made little sense, costing the two larger cities millions of dollars in growth-related costs to build infrastructure out to disconnected places. For example, one development plan north of Bolton came with estimated costs of $100 million just to service the lands. Smart growth advocates have been arguing that denser growth should be planned to spread out from around Bolton, Caledon’s only real urban area.

“This decision has significant resource implications for the Region of Peel as these lands will have to be serviced by the Region, with Mississauga picking up two-thirds of the cost,” Crombie said of last week’s move. “The result of this open planning process will be that future residential and employment lands are located in the right place and that they are properly serviced.”

Thompson voted against Thursday’s motion and says Caledon has followed proper planning procedures.

“The minutes of settlement support Caledon’s position,” he stated in an email to the Star. “I supported the recommendations of Regional staff because I’m so confident in the planning process that Caledon undertook.”

Thompson and Caledon Councillor Gord McClure are both facing Municipal Conflict of Interest Act complaints in Ontario Superior Court for allegedly trying to push development to the mostly rural southwest corner of Caledon where they or their family own or owned land. Thompson told the Star that he did not violate the act. McClure stated: “I have conducted myself to the best of my knowledge and understanding in my role as local Councillor. In future, when in doubt I will seek a legal opinion.”

As of Wednesday neither had filed a response in court to the allegations against them. A hearing is set for early December.