Planning and development in Halton Region - preparing for growth

NRU
Feb. 7, 2018
By Miriam Bart

Keeping up with the pace of growth is going to be the biggest challenge for Halton planning staff this year. Although the region has improved its alignment between transportation and land use planning, staff say provincial infrastructure funding is needed.

NRU spoke with Halton planning service director Curt Benson about the region's biggest accomplishments in 2017 and major challenges for 2018.

Benson said there were a number of milestones in 2017, including the preparation of area service plans for key employment areas, the launch of the first year of the regional community improvement program, and the creation of a regional mobility management strategy in anticipation of population and employment growth.

"The mobility management strategy is really important for us to ensure that we can move people and goods around the region. The province is making significant investment and focusing on their infrastructure—Metrolinx

Regional Transportation Plan, 15-minute GO service. Major transit station access is going to be a big issue for us to tackle. We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to unlock the potential of the areas surrounding major transit station areas so they're realizing full development potential. There are some barriers for people to get on local transit and access the broader network. We want to focus on removing barriers and taking full advantage of our priority transit corridors."

The mobility management strategy is a step in the right direction, but it will be challenging given the pace of growth and need for more certainty around provincial funding.

"Moving people around the region and capitalizing on some of the significant public infrastructure that's been made on major GO lines is going to be very challenging and important. I know our local partners have each been doing their own work to define their urban structure and make sure that when it comes to major growth and development around those major transit station areas the policy is very clear. We're at an interesting time where we are starting more and more to marry land use with transportation vision. It's really critical that we do that."

However, Benson says that Halton needs the tools and mechanisms to ensure that growth pays for growth. Regional council and staff would like to see more stable and predictable funding from the province to ensure that they can recover the costs of growth.

"A lot of our growth management work is tied to the availability of the major transit lines and all-day two-way GO service. So if we're going to start unlocking the potential in the Milton Urban Growth Centre, we have to have that two-way all-day GO service to Milton. And likewise, we need a little bit more support from Metrolinx to address the station access issues and first mile last mile issues. So we can plan those major transportation nodes, like midtown Oakville and Burlington GO, while realizing major development opportunities and seamless movement of people in first mile last mile areas."

Halton's priorities for 2018 include the official plan review and a number of projects such as the Canadian National Railway proposal for an intermodal facility, the development of Allendale Campus, and proposed affordable housing and assisted living programs.

"I think what's really exciting for us is the working relationship we have with our partners and the significant leadership that we have from our council. They certainly understand planning and there's a desire to move forward with a very strong planning agenda. Good planning means good service delivery which means fiscal accountability. I think councillors and senior management support a strong planning program."