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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-06-11 Minutes Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington Meeting th Thursday, June 11, 2015 Members Present: John Cartwright Brenda Metcalf Tom Barrie Elgin Greenham Les Caswell Eric Bowman Ted Watson Don Rickard Mary Ann Found Henry Zekveld Regrets: Councillor Partner, Jenni Knox Staff: Faye Langmaid, Nicole Zambri Brenda welcomed all to the meeting, with introductions. Adoption of Agenda 015-14 Moved by Tom Barrie, seconded by Les Caswell th “That the Agenda for June 11, 2015 be adopted” Carried Approval of Minutes 015-15 Moved by Donald Rickard, seconded by Eric Bowman th “That the minutes of the May 14, 2015 meeting be approved with minor corrections” Carried Presentation: Proposed Official Plan (changes from current Official Plan) Nicole and Faye provided a detailed presentation on the Official Plan. The presentation was in two parts, the first included an overview of the process to date and the foundation of the Official Plan being sustainability and community input. Then Faye reviewed how the Natural Heritage System is mapped, the mapping comes from the Conservation Authorities and Province and aerial photography of the Municipality. The mapping more accurately defines the features compared to the previous Official Plan due to technological improvements. Faye compared the Environmental Protection land use changes from the 1996 Official Plan to the proposed Official Plan, the area that is being shown has increased on the maps but when reviewed against the policies we are just now showing what the policies already said with more accuracy and the 30 metre buffer to ensure setbacks for any development applications. Faye reviewed the change from “General Agriculture and Green Space” to “Rural” in the proposed. Definitions have been updated and some new definitions added. Rural Settlements are very limited in any expansion, Minor-rounding out are recommended in Maple Grove, Hampton, Kendal, Leskard, and Solina. No new country residential subdivisions (estate residential) or Rural Clusters are allowed. Minor landscape industry uses to be allowed and major recreation by zoning amendments. Please have a look at all proposed changes and provide comments. Nicole provided an overview of the population and household forecasts in context with historical new housing unit construction trends on an annual basis. She reviewed the changes proposed to each of the Urban area land use designations, the addition of residential lands in Courtice and Wilmot Creek and industrial in Orono. The addition of commercial areas and corridors. Nicole presented what intensification means in the relation to the Places to Grow legislation, the difference between Greenfield and Built-up areas and the minimum targets we have to meet for both areas and the policies that underpin how this will be achieved. Development phasing and growth management policies are key to ensuring these goals can be achieved over the next 20 years. Finally, we discussed the Trails Vision and Next Steps in the review process. Business Arising from Minutes Trans Canada Pipeline – responded to members that had voiced concerns at the last meeting about lack of customer service and communication; contact was made by local representatives immediately after the last meeting. Greenbelt Review process – Eric brought the recommendations of the Clarington Council to the Durham Agriculture Advisory Committee’s attention. Correspondence, etc. Clarington Report PSD-033-14, Part 2 of comments on the 4-Plan review. Minimum Distance Separation Provincial review - Letter submitted to the Environmental Bill of Rights posting. Ontario Pollinator Health - restrictions and regulations have been announced, Faye circulated to committee members. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture is disappointed as are the majority of farmers. It will be difficult to implement. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Certification - John and Les attended an affair at Harley Farms on Heritage Line in Keene to see the operation that is the first in th Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington June 11, 2015 Ontario to receive Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Certification. An information sheet was circulated to committee members. Liaison Reports Durham Agriculture Advisory Committee– Durham Agriculture Advisory Committee Tour is set for September 18, 2015, Windermere Farms, the focus is going to be the horticultural industry with Uxbridge Nursery and greenhouse tours. Speaker will be Frankie Flowers http://frankieflowers.com/. th Durham Region Federation of Agriculture – Celebrate Agriculture is October 29, call for nominations has been issued and it is hoped there will be a number of applications th submitted. September 26 is the date for the High School Program from Farm th Connections. June 27 is the Annual Barbeque in Uxbridge, Mary Ann has tickets. Clarington Board of Trade – Don and Curry Clifford met with 4 Minister’s at Queen’s Park in a “speed dating” type event where they were able to outline concerns from Clarington. This is the first effort and anticipated to continue. Clarington Board of Trade is monitoring the task force that has been struck to review Council representation for the th Region. June 18 is the Golf Tournament. Other Business Comments on the Official Plan review will be formulated from the discussion. It was determined that major points would be emphasized. Overall the committee feels that there is a strong focus on protection of agricultural lands and this is only possible if the Municipality commits to the growth management and phasing that is proposed. The committee was very pleased to see that the urban boundaries (for the most part) are not recommended to be expanded and when next review happens would like to see them continue to remain. Members are very interested in the recommendations that will be coming out of the Transportation Management Plan and would like a presentation on it at the appropriate time. Future Agendas Les and John provided contact for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals representative for a future meeting. Engineering Services on the Transportation Master Plan Jennifer Baron the new Business Manager at Covanta. Eric Bowman moved to Adjourn. th Next Meeting, July 9, 7:30 p.m. Room 1C at Municipal Administrative Office – July, Pauline VanRoon and Chris Brown from Ministry of Transportation on Highway 407, Basia Radomski, Communications. th Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington June 11, 2015