Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPSD-016-01 , ~., "'." ~ . Clw:-ilJgron REPORT PLANNING SERVICES DEPARTMENT Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2001 Resolution #:(JlJl4r;f-o) Date: Report#: PSD-016-01 File # PLN 1.6.5 By-law # Subject: "A GTA COUNTRYSIDE STRATEGY - JULY 27,2001" - DRAFT POLICY DOCUMENT RELEASED BY THE GREATER TORONTO SERVICES BOARD Recommendations: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report PSD-016-01 be received and endorsed as the Municipality's comments regarding "Draft GT A Countryside Strategy - July 27, 2001 "; 2. THAT a copy of this report and council's resolution regarding this matter be forwarded to the Greater Toronto Services Board for their consideration; and 3, THAT the Clarington Agricultural Advisory Committee be thanked for their input and comments. Submitted by: .I~ - ReviewedQ~~ . David J. Crome, M.C.I.P., R. P. P. Franklin Wu Director, Planning Services Chief Administrative Officer HB*BN*DJC*sh September 10, 2001 672 " REPORT NO.: PSD-016-01 PAGE 2 1.0 BACKGROUND 1.1 In 2000, the GTSB adopted "A GTA Countryside Strategy - Draft Strategic Directions" a document that established guiding principles of the Countryside Strategy. Staff reviewed and responded to this document in a report dated October 2, 2000 (PD-104-00) providing comments on the draft to the GTSB. 1.2 The July 2001 Draft GTA Countryside Strategy follows a release of a preliminary draft in January 2001 to member municipalities for comments. Revisions were made and comments incorporated in the February 2001 revision of the strategy. It was subsequently tabled by the GTSB Countryside and Environment Working Group at their March 2, 2001 meeting pending the development of a communication strategy. 1.3 Since March, a number of provincial and GTSB initiatives have been launched dealing with the Oak Ridges Moraine, Smart Growth and the development of a Growth Management Strategy for the GT A. On July 6th, 2001, the Countryside and Environment Working Group stated that the Draft Countryside Strategy "deals in a fundamental way with the meaning and importance of both the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Principles of Smart Growth" and that the strategy be received and distributed to the Municipalities for comment. 1.4 The GTSB has requested that comments be received by September 17th, 2001 for further consideration by the Countryside and Environment Working Group at their meeting on October 5th, 2001. In the interest of time, a copy of this report has been forwarded to the GTSB and Council's resolution endorsing the report will be forwarded by the Clerk along with an approved copy of the report at a later date. 673 , REPORT NO.: PSD-016-01 PAGE 3 2.0 THE DRAFT GTA COUNTRYSIDE STRATEGY 2.1 The draft strategy recognizes that the urban and rural areas are interdependent and that within the GTA a key component of maintaining liveable cities is a healthy countryside. The draft strategy has identified common issues and opportunities across the GTA, In order to ensure a permanent countryside, GTA - wide actions are necessary, actions that include development of new initiatives, partnerships, funding sources and tools. 2.2 This draft strategy proposes goals and actions dealing with "Smart Growth" (reduce urban sprawl), "Environment and Resources" (preservation and protection of resources), "Agricultural Sustainability" (preservation of agricultural land and way of life), "Economic Vitality" (self-sustaining communities) and "Shared Implementation" (development of partnerships, tools and funding). 3.0 DISCUSSION 3.1 The draft strategy goes beyond the 20-30 year timeframe commonly used for Official Plans and is not intended to be a land use plan, nor will it supersede local planning authority. The strategy's goals are similar to those contained within the Clarington Official Plan and generally we concur with the content of the strategy's goals and actions. 3.2 Although we are generally in agreement with the content of draft strategy, there exist some issues that require clarification or re-examination. These include urban sprawl and permanent rural areas, fringe issues, financial incentives and compensation, cross jurisdictional issues, role of the GTSB, environment and resources, agricultural sustainability and economic vitality. The Clarington Agricultural Advisory Committee (CAAC) have reviewed the draft strategy and their comments follow in Section 3.8 of this report. 674 " REPORT NO.: PSD-016-01 PAGE 4 3.3 Containing Urban Sprawl and Establishing Permanent Rural Areas The draft Countryside Strategy takes a strong position on containing urban sprawl in order to preserve the countryside, including agricultural land. It proposes the development of a Growth Management Strategy that will establish population and employment targets, delineate urban growth boundaries and identify major nodes and development corridors where intensive development is encouraged. The Clarington Official Plan shares these goals and has proven very effective in ensuring urban sprawl is contained and the countryside is preserved. Caution is expressed regarding the identification of the need to delineate urban growth boundaries in order to support a growth management strategy for the GTA. It is also cautioned that the use of principles established by the GTSB to guide expansion of urban boundaries, or to preserve rural lands in perpetuity may not reflect Clarington's planning environment. As the strategy's time horizon exceeds local planning time horizons, urban growth may be dictated by those broad policies adopted by the GTSB, policies which may not reflect the needs or desires of Clarington. It is recommended that the strategy provide for fall public consultation on urban boundary expansions and recognize the role of local Official Plans Growth Management policies. 3.4 Fringe Issues The GTSB member municipalities are bordered by municipalities not located within the GTA. The question has been raised as to whether these border municipalities will ignore the goals of the Strategy. This issue has only been briefly identified in the discussion of the draft strategy. 675 " REPORT NO.: PSD-016-01 PAGE 5 It is recommended that more thought be given to adequately addressing the impact the Strategy may have on border municipalities. In addition, a proposal must be prepared to ensure that consultation and representation of these border municipalities is addressed. 3.5 Financial Incentives For each goal, the draft strategy proposes a number of actions, some of which will require securing substantial funding. Financial incentives and development incentives could be implemented to encourage intensive development, particularly in those edge municipalities where residential development has historically been low density development. The draft strategy needs to identify realistic funding options including financial incentives. 3.6 Cross Jurisdictional Issues The Countryside Strategy is to provide guidance and direction, ensuring that common issues with the GTA are being treated equitably. Cross-jurisdictional issues are broad ranging and can include impacts of urban growth including infrastructure and servicing decisions, co-ordination of watershed studies or impacts from aggregate haul routes. More thought is required as to what mechanisms will be required to ensure that cross-jurisdictional issues are dealt with fairly, equitably and are financially balanced. 676 .' REPORT NO.: PSD-016-01 PAGE 6 3.7 Role ofthe GTSB Until the Province tables revised legislation regarding the GTSB, it is unclear as to what powers the GTSB will have in coordinating best practices, infrastructure, servicing, transportation and countryside planning. It is recommended that further consideration be given towards determining how the role of the GTSB will overlap with that of the Regions and local municipalities. 3.8 Environment and Resources 3.8.1 The draft strategy proposes policies with respect to Sustainable Water Management (groundwater, surface water and watersheds), Oak Ridges Moraine and Greenlands System (wetlands, woodlands, floodplains, valleys, streams, lakes, plant and wildlife habitat), and Aggregates. The goals for Sustainable Water Management, the Oak Ridges Moraine and Greenlands System are to protect the resources, ensuring sustainability for future generations. The following revisions to the list of identified actions would be desirable. Policies and regulations regarding the taking of groundwater is a factor that should be reviewed, monitored and cumulative impact assessed. In addition, the actions should be generalized to address the entire GTA. 3.8.2 The GTSB wishes to establish a balanced GTA-wide approach that recognizes the importance of aggregate resources to economic development whilst minimizing environmental and social impacts of aggregate extraction. The discussion with respect to Aggregates has been revised placing a greater emphasis on demand and need for aggregates, plus weakening the previous position supporting timely rehabilitation of pits and closure of licenses. 677 " REPORT NO.: PSD-016-01 PAGE 7 It is recommended that the aggregate resources policies be strenghtend to ensure adequate management of the resource to protect host municipalities. Aggregate operations must be rehabilitated and the licenses terminated within a reasonable time period upon obtaining a license to extract. Broad extraction and rehabilitation plans must be a requirement to deal with environmental impact, land form conservation and natural corridor linkages. 3.9 Agricultural Sustainability 3.9.1 It is recognized that agriculture contributes significantly to the GT A and provincial economies. The continued viability of the agricultural industry is dependent on ensuring the preservation of the agricultural land base as well as guaranteeing that the agricultural industry can and will remain an economically viable pursuit. The Clarington Agricultural Advisory Committee (CAAC) provided input on the strategy, concentrating on the Agricultural Sustainability component. The CAAC did, however, provide comments on other sections of the strategy. 3.9.2 Generally, the CAAC agrees with many of the statements contained in the Strategy and they concur that sustainability is a desirable goal. The CAAC noted that generally the strategy promotes the protection of family farms. At the same time, the CAAC believes the Nutrient Management legislation will ultimately result in the elimination of the family farm. The CAAC advises that one cannot assume that increasing production is the ultimate solution that will solve the agricultural industries woes. Increasing production is just one piece of the puzzle, other pieces include funding and financing options. The CAAC recommends that more consideration be provided to funding for the development and production of value-added products, subsidies supporting the agricultural industry needs to be initiated, financial incentives to ensure the family farm persists need to be developed, solutions to service the debt of family farms are needed, and financial 678 .. REPORT NO.: PSD-016-01 PAGE 8 options that entitle farmers to gain a fair and equitable return on their investment in land should also be examined. 3.9.3 The CAAC noted that within the Land Conservation component, none of the actions proposed provide any suggestions on how best the land can be protected from urban encroachment. Actions that effectively implement the stated goal should be incorporated. It was also recommended that when preparing an agricultural impact analysis to be used as input to the GTA Growth Management Strategy, consideration must be given to soil type, heat units and productivity to accurately reflect the agricultural capability of land. 3.9.4 The CAAC believes the land use planning process must be revisited. It should no longer be assumed that transit and infrastructure corridors are the first element when making land use decisions as the location of these often result in dictating development patterns, potentially restricting or eliminating the availability of agricultural land. The CAAC also noted that caution is required when discussing the reduction of pesticides. Pesticides include those methods by which other pests are dealt with including mice, rats, ants, earwigs, etc. The CAAC recommends that rather than propose the "reduction or elimination of pesticides" it would be advantageous to promote the "wise use of pesticides". 3.10 Economic Vitality A key component of Economic Vitality is self-sustaining communities. To this end the Strategy recommends that a GTA Rural Economic Development Strategy be prepared. Careful consideration must be given to the local land use planning policies when locating commercial and industrial uses and government facilities within the countryside. 679 ~ REPORT NO.: PSD-016.01 PAGE 9 It is recommended that the actions state that the location of new land uses shall be in conformity with the goals and directions of local planning policies. 4.0 FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GTA COUNTRYSIDE STRATEGY 4.1 Mechanisms to implement the strategy were not incorporated within the Draft GTA Countryside Strategy. Implementation tools are necessary to ensure that the goals and actions are realized. The next step will be the creation of an implementation document, one that will identify the tools and mechanisms needed to achieve the goals and actions, including identification of those partners and stakeholders that will be responsible for implementation. It is recommended that a draft of the implementation document will be made available to member municipalities for their review. 5.0 CONCLUSION 5.1 The Countryside Strategy provides a good basis for future planning in the GT A. Generally, we are in agreement with the goals and actions contained within this strategy particularly since in many ways they mimic the goals and objective contained within the Clarington Official Plan. Clarington has been active in helping to guide and formulate the direction and content of the strategy, and many of our previous comments have been adopted and incorporated within the strategy. 5.2 It is recommended that this report be endorsed as the Municipality's comments on the Draft GTA Countryside Strategy - July 2ih, 2001 and that the GTSB undertake to incorporate those suggestions and recommendations that have been highlighted in bolded text. Attachment 1 - Draft GTA countryside Strategy, July 27,2001 (forwarded under separate cover) 680 ~ REPORT NO.: PSD-016-01 PAGE 10 Interested parties to be notified of Council and Committee's decision: Elizabeth McLaren Greater Toronto Services Board 1000 Murray Ross Parkway TORONTO, Ontario M3J 2P3 CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L 1C 3A6 T(905)623-3379 F (905)623-6506 681