Following the release of the "Crombie Report" in December, 2015, the province has proposed amendments to four major land use plans which affect the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The comment period is open until September 30, 2016.
As we earlier commented, neither the Places to Grow Plan, nor the earlier implemented Greenbelt, Oak Ridges Moraine or Niagara Escarpment Plans, have specific policies expressly addressing climate change. The Crombie Report, amongst many other recommendations, suggested the addition of policies to address this gap.
The draft amended plans now all include policies specific to climate change. This includes the following in the Greenbelt Plan:
1.2.2 Protected Countryside Goals
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6. Climate Change
a) Integrating climate change considerations into planning and managing the Agricultural System, Natural Heritage System and Water Resource System to improve resilience and protect carbon sequestration potential, recognizing that the Natural Heritage System is also a component of green infrastructure; and
b) Integrating climate change considerations into planning and managing growth by incorporating techniques to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in resilient settlement areas and infrastructure located within the Greenbelt.
And the following in the Places to Grow Plan:
4.2.10 Climate Change
1. Upper- and single-tier municipalities will develop policies in their official plans to identify actions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change adaptation goals, aligned with the Ontario Climate Change Strategy, 2015 and Action Plan.
2. In planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the impacts of climate change, municipalities are encouraged to:
a) develop strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to improve resilience to climate change through land use planning, planning for infrastructure, including transit and energy, and the conservation objectives in policy 4.2.9.1;
b) develop greenhouse gas inventories for transportation, buildings, waste management and municipal operations; and
c) establish municipal interim and long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction targets that support provincial targets and reflect consideration of the goal of net-zero communities, and monitor and report on progress made towards the achievement of these targets.
Key take-aways from these proposed policies are the concepts of "resilience", "green infrastructure", and tying the work of municipalities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the overall provincial strategy and action plan.
In addition to improvements related to growing the Greenbelt by adding key natural heritage systems and features, the proposed changes also seek to increase the current "density targets" in greenfield (undeveloped lands) development targets from 50 to 60 residents and jobs per hectare. The intensification target would also be increased from a minimum of 40 percent to 60 percent of all residential development occurring annually within a built-up (developed) area.
If you want to provide feedback on the amendments, you can find the comment form here.
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