Milton approves interim control by-law - Employment density concern

NRU
April 22, 2015
By Edward LaRusic

Concerned that it is not achieving sufficient employment density, Milton has approved an interim control by-law for future employment lands. Meanwhile staff is studying how it can achieve its growth target of one job for every two residents by 2031.

The future employment lands are largely agricultural, open space and environmentally sensitive lands that lie outside of Milton’s designated urban boundary, but are slated for future employment growth between 2021 and 2031.

“When you look at the implementation of the growth plan as interpreted through the Sustainable Halton plan, we need to bump up our employment densities,” said Milton planning and development director Barbara Koopmans. The town has a large number of logistics and warehousing operations that, if they continue to locate in Milton, will make it difficult to achieve its target without setting aside more land for employment.

The growth plan conformity official plan amendment targets grow in Milton at 238,000 people and 114,000 jobs by 2031. This means an overall greenfield development density of 58 people and jobs per hectare.

The interim control by-law, Koopmans said, is to give staff a window to study how the town can reach its employment targets through land use policy. Anticipated to take a year to complete, the study will help inform future secondary plan processes, as well as the Halton Region official plan review.

“We felt [an interim control by-law] was the appropriate tool for the situation, that we need to properly plan for our employment lands and we need to do that in a relatively short period of time ... We’re constantly receiving tremendous pressure for development. We need to know from a community perspective how we are going to develop.”

For Milton council, the study and interim control by-law are taking on a symbolic meaning as the town fights a Canadian National Railway proposal to add a rail and truck distribution facility on approximately 400 acres of land in south Milton.

Ward 1 councillor Robert Duvall, whose ward encompasses the majority of the lands under study, as well as the CN lands, said the CN proposal would severely impact employment densities in Milton. CN is proposing only 130 direct employment jobs on its 400 acres.

“What staff is doing is that they’re trying to make sure that our impact study says loud and clear to the powers that be that we are not going to be able to hit our numbers with a situation like this,” said Duvall.

Koopmans said the CN lands fall within the interim control by-law area, but it would not apply to railway and related transportation works. Any application by CN would be governed by federal laws and regulations. But Koopmans added that any application from CN would impact Milton’s employment density targets.

Koopmans said that the interim control by-law affects no current applications.