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Places to Grow

Places to Grow. Planning for Growth in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe 7 Years Out. THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION November 4, 2013. Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe. • 110 municipalities (21 regions/counties) • 32,000 km 2

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Places to Grow

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  1. Places to Grow Planning for Growth in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe 7 Years Out THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION November 4, 2013

  2. Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe • 110 municipalities (21 regions/counties) •32,000 km2 •Urban, suburban, rural, recreational, agricultural and resource-areas •10 of Canada’s 30 most populous cities • 2001: 7.8 million 2031: 11.5 million

  3. Province’s Role in Land Use Planning • Land-use planning in Ontario has traditionally been governed by the Planning Act and the associated Provincial Policy Statement (PPS). • PPS provides policy direction on land use matters of provincial interest. • Includes policies related to urban boundaries, appropriate development, managing resources such as aggregates, protecting natural features and agricultural areas, improving water quality and quantity, cultural heritage, etc. • Municipal planning decisions must be “consistent” with the PPS

  4. Developing the Growth Plan (2001-2006) • • “Smart Growth Panel” created by the Provincial Government in 2001 • Representatives from municipalities, development industry, environmental groups and academia. • April 2003 report with 44 recommendations. • •“Places To Grow” initiative launched in the summer of 2004. • Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe released on June 16, 2006.

  5. The Growth Plan Vision ♦ Where and How To Grow ♦ Infrastructure to Support Growth ♦ Protect What is Valuable

  6. 10 key policies and innovations in Ontario’s Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe

  7. Key Policies and Innovations • 1. A Regional Plan, Backed-up By Legislation • All planning decisions must conform with the Growth Plan’s policies (includes provincial, municipal and Ontario Municipal Board decisions). • Local Official Plans must be brought into conformity with the Growth Plan within three years (i.e. by June 2009).

  8. Key Policies and Innovations • 2. Coordinated Growth Forecasts For All Counties and Regions • The Growth Plan allocates population and employment growth forecasts for every county and region. • Municipalities must use these forecasts as the basis for their local planning.

  9. Key Policies and Innovations 3.Clear Requirements for Density 25 downtown areas Density of 150 to 400 people and jobs combined per gross hectare. Future greenfield areas Average density of 50 people and jobs combined per gross hectare.

  10. Key Policies and Innovations 4.Clear requirements for intensification. • A minimum of 40% of new residential development in each region and county must take place in areas that are already built-up. 40% of new development

  11. Key Policies and Innovations 5.Focus on Downtown Nodes • Growth Plan identifies the downtowns of the large and mid-sized cities as “urban growth centres” (25 in total). • Focal points for intensification and higher density development. • Minimum density requirements for each centre.

  12. Key Policies and Innovations 6.Tests And Criteria For Future Urban Boundary Expansions • Municipalities must initiate, not developers. • Must be done “comprehensively”, not site-by-site. • Look “inside” at intensification opportunities before you look “outside” for new land to accommodate growth. • Maximum 20 year land supply. • No expansions into the Greenbelt. • Land needs must be determined based on application of the Growth Plan’s population and employment forecasts, and achievement of the intensification and density targets.

  13. Key Policies and Innovations 7.Limited Development Outside of Settlement Areas • Only development related to resource management, resource-based recreational activities, or rural land uses that cannot be located in settlement areas. • No estate residential developments. • No new settlement areas.

  14. Key Policies and Innovations 8.Protect Employment Lands • Only municipalities can initiate an amendment to convert employment lands to non-employment uses. • Conversions of employment lands to non-employment uses must meet several criteria, including a needs test.

  15. Key Policies and Innovations 9.Where To Grow. Where Not To Grow. • 1.8 million acre protected Greenbelt includes the region’s most prominent natural systems: the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine.

  16. Key Policies and Innovations 10. Integration Of Land-use Planning and Infrastructure Investment • Explicit commitment by the province to give priority to infrastructure investments that support the policies of the Plan.

  17. 7 Years Later …

  18. 7 Years Later • Local conformity • Places To Grow Act required all OPs to be brought into conformity with the Growth Plan within the 3 years. Actual conformity process in most cases took much longer. As of October 2012, all upper- and single-tier municipalities had adopted conformity amendments, but still less than half of lower-tier municipalities had done so. • Criticisms of uneven implementation and a patchwork of differing approaches to growth management rather than a coordinated regional approach.

  19. 7 Years Later • Changing housing mix • In 2011, multi-unit housing starts reached their highest level since 1988, while other forms of housing were at near record lows. • Source: Five-Year Progress Update on the implementation of the Growth Plan, Province of Ontario, July 2011 • Outer • Ring • Inner • Ring

  20. 7 Years Later • Intensification Rates • Of the 63,000 new residential units added to the GGH between June 2009 and June 2010, approx. 67% represented intensification. • Half of these were in Toronto, and 25% were in the urban growth centres. • Source: Five-Year Progress Update on the implementation of the Growth Plan, Province of Ontario, July 2011

  21. 7 Years Later • Intensification Targets • Most municipalities have adopted the minimum intensification target. • Five have set lower targets (ranging from 15 to 32%). • Only two have set a higher target (Waterloo Region at 45% and Region of Peel at 50%). • Source: Implementing the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, Neptis Foundation, October 2013

  22. 7 Years Later • Greenfield Densities • Most municipalities have adopted the minimum greenfield density target. • Nine have chosen to use lower alternative density targets (ranging from 29 to 39 p+jper hectare). • Only one (Waterloo Region) has proposed to exceed the minimum (55 p+jper hectare). • Source: Implementing the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, Neptis Foundation, October 2013

  23. 7 Years Later • Sprawl • Growth forecasts do not depart from historic trends. Do not direct growth away from the rural areas beyond the Greenbelt and towards the more heavily urbanized areas in the Inner Ring. • Nearly half of the land designated for urbanization is in the Outer Ring, even though the Outer Ring is expected to attract only 1/3 as many new residents and 1/4 as many jobs as the Inner Ring. • Source: Implementing the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, Neptis Foundation, October 2013

  24. Remaining Challenges

  25. Remaining Challenges • The fate of the “whitebelt” • Approximately 58,696 ha of land available beyond currently designated lands for urban expansion in the whitebelt. Municipal OPs have identified a need for an additional 10,115 ha to accommodate greenfield population and employment to 2031. • “Planning by Numbers”. • The criticality of good urban design. • Planning for evolution over time – planning as process not fixed product. • Time returns as a critical element in planning (lessons from “The Unplanned Era”).

  26. Remaining Challenges • A finer grain of densities. • Distinguishing Urban Growth Centres, from Intensification Corridors, from Mobility Hubs, from greenfields areas, respectively. • Intensification targets … what happens when the “low hanging fruit” is gone? • Intensifying urban areas that were not necessarily planned for it. • Planning for new greenfields to intensify in future • The question of stable neighbourhhoods

  27. Remaining Challenges • Infrastructure investment. • Leading by example with public institutions • Public school campuses, LCBOs, redevelopment of rail stations. • Is the way that retail is happening now undermining everything else? • Achieving greenfield densities despite increasing public land takings and “green sprawl”. • Pre-designation of greenlands in advance of urban development and without consideration for it, is creating problems in emerging new urban communities.

  28. Remaining Challenges • Planning for employment in concert with existing and proposed residential areas, transportation corridors and Urban Growth Centres. • Focus on 400-series highway corridors alone is resulting in separation of employment from residential areas • Need to plan for a finer grain of employment - from home-based, to neighbourhood, to district, to regional • Planning for a full range of agricultural production. • More-intensive forms of “urban” and “near urban” agriculture in appropriate locales. • Protect and encourage larger, full-time operations within the Greenbelt Areas.

  29. Jason Thorne + John van Nostrand Principals, planningAlliance 110 Adelaide Street East – Toronto, ON 10104–103 Avenue NW, Ste 2401 – Edmonton, AB 416.593.6499 jthorne@planningalliance.ca jvannostrand@planningalliance.ca www.planningalliance.ca For more information about Places To Grow: www.placestogrow.ca

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