Simcoe County’s growth plan fails to meet Ontario’s Places to Grow policy, as its densities are too low and it doesn’t justify creating a Highway 400 employment zone.
In a May 26 letter to county CAO Mark Aitken, Municipal Affairs and Housing assistant deputy minister Larry Clay and Public Infrastructure Renewal assistant deputy minister Brad Graham say a meeting should be arranged to discuss these issues further, to ensure the plan supports development, “occurring in an efficient and cost-effective manner” and “makes the best use of existing infrastructure.”
“The County should work towards making stronger linkages between the provision of public services, such as sewage and water infrastructure and the planning for growth in an environmentally sustainable manner,” they say in a letter dated the day before county councillors overwhelmingly supported the plan that calls for the conversion of prime agricultural land to industrial adjacent to Highway 400 in Innisfil and Bradford West Gwillimbury.
The county’s plan also directs significant population growth to smaller municipalities, such as Wasaga Beach, Stayner and New Tecumseth, while basically maintaining the status quo in growth in Collingwood and Midland – which for that reason voted against the plan.
Although county councillors received several “on-desk” items as they began their debate about the growth plan, the province’s letter was not among them. A letter from Barrie raising similar concerns, however, was; many mayors and deputy mayors disregarded Barrie’s observations, because the city chose not to get involved in the county’s process.
Even before regional politicians wrapped up the process that lasted more than a year, Clay and Graham urged the county to prepare a land budget to support its proposed population and growth allocations – that is, provide a rationale, history and forecasts.
The county’s plan also needs to include “intensification opportunities and densities consistent with the Growth Plan (for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, also known as Places to Grow) and the provincial policy statement,” they said.
Places to Grow calls for densities of 50 people and jobs per hectare in settlement areas that are not labeled urban growth centres; the county is proposing 40 people and jobs per hectare in built-up areas and an even lower target, of 30, in others.
A density of 50 people and jobs per hectare looks much like the current configuration of downtown Barrie; however, as the only urban growth centre in the Simcoe County area, the city core must meet a target of 150 people and jobs per hectare, which is about triple its existing density.
The two provincial officials also note that the county’s study says there’s an oversupply of employment lands in South Simcoe communities, despite the proposal to create the Highway 400 enterprise zone.
“The county should clearly develop a rationale for the proposed new Highway 400 employment notes consistent with the Growth Plan and the PPS,” they told Aitken.
