"Whereas, on February 8, 2022, a “Report of the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force” was released publicly and presented to the Honourable Steve Clark, Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; and,
Whereas, the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force was formed by the provincial government and tasked with the goal of formulating a number of actionable and concrete solutions to address the housing affordability and supply crisis in Ontario; and,
Whereas, the report contains a number of recommendations aimed to address housing affordability for Ontarians, and sets an ambitious target of 1.5 million new homes to be built in Ontario in the next ten years; and,
Whereas, several of the recommendations in the report, if implemented, would result in reduced decision-making powers for municipalities when it comes to identifying and planning for appropriate residential intensification within their respective communities, as well as result in fewer opportunities for public consultation and input in the local development approval process; and,
Whereas, while it is acknowledged that Ontario is in the midst of a housing crisis and all levels of government need to identify opportunities to increase the supply of housing to meet community needs, it is also essential to respect local decision-making and the democratic process to ensure that housing is appropriately planned at a local level and through a public process;
Therefore be it resolved that:
- City Council supports the need to increase the supply of housing within the Province of Ontario and within the City of Oshawa, where appropriately planned at a local municipal level and advanced through a public process that involves City Council in the decision-making process; and,
- City Council opposes those recommendations of the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force related to such matters as limiting appeal rights, reducing public participation, limiting decision-making at the local municipal level, limiting heritage preservation efforts, reducing or eliminating minimum parking requirements, removing barriers to construction that may compromise health and safety, limiting fiscal responsibility by requiring mandatory development charge and cash in lieu of parkland exemptions and permitting increased density as-of-right without local review of appropriate locations, servicing capacities and zoning by-law standards for intensification; and,
- Mayor Carter, on behalf of City Council, be authorized to send a letter to the Premier of the Province of Ontario and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to express the City’s concerns, as generally noted in this resolution, with respect to those recommendations of the “Report of the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force” which seek to limit public input and local decision-making power by municipalities concerning residential intensification in their respective communities; and,
- Development Services staff report through the Development Services Committee on any subsequent recommendations or legislative changes being advanced by the Province with respect to this matter when posted on the Environmental Bill of Rights or released publicly; and,
- A copy of this Council resolution be sent to the Region of Durham, Durham area municipalities, Durham area M.P.P.s, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and Ontario’s Big City Mayors; and,
That this motion be referred to the Development Services Committee."
And;
"Whereas, SO Developments Inc. (the “Developer”) has submitted rezoning and draft plan of subdivision applications (Files: Z-2016-15 and S-O-2016-11, respectively) to permit a residential subdivision featuring a number of single detached dwelling and semi-detached dwelling lots on the west side of Park Road South, south of Renaissance Drive and adjacent to the Lake Ontario Waterfront and the City’s Waterfront Trail; and,
Whereas, the Developer appealed the applications to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (which is now referred to as the Ontario Land Tribunal – “O.L.T.”), with the appeal case number being PL180364; and,
Whereas, the City has consistently opposed these applications primarily on the basis of protecting the majority of this property as an environmental protection area for wildlife, specifically the monarch butterfly migratory habitat located on the lands given that the monarch is a Species at Risk, and for future generations given the property’s location adjacent to the waterfront; and,
Whereas, the Lake Ontario waterfront is an important asset in the City and the City has been an advocate for protecting lands along the waterfront for environmental protection purposes and for ensuring a more publicly accessible waterfront; and,
Whereas, City protection of lands for public purposes along the waterfront include examples such as the Second Marsh which is a Provincially Significant Wetland, the Gold Point Wildlife Reserve and the Ed Broadbent Waterfront Park; and,
Whereas, the City retained environmental experts to provide evidence at the O.L.T. hearing on the Developer’s applications in order to protect the monarch butterfly migratory habitat; and,
Whereas, the O.L.T. did not accept the City’s evidence and vision for this property and made a decision to effectively allow the entirety of the property to be developed, which demonstrated in Council’s opinion that the private developer interests outweighed the considerations of the public interest; and,
Whereas, this O.L.T. decision is disappointing as the City believes the O.L.T. should have given more weight and consideration to the City’s evidence and position which represented the community’s voice for the waterfront on behalf of all the City’s residents; and,
Whereas, if the recommendations of the Ontario Task Force on Housing Affordability are implemented by the Government of Ontario then the local positions and voices of municipalities and their residents will be further marginalized and disregarded since private interests concerning housing developments would appear to take precedence over other higher order public interests such as environmental protection along the waterfront;
Therefore be it resolved:
- That Mayor Carter on behalf of City Council send a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry advising of the City’s disappointment with respect to the Ontario Land Tribunal’s decision concerning the proposed subdivision on the west side of Park Road South, south of Renaissance Drive and adjacent to Lake Ontario and the City’s Waterfront Trail, and requesting changes to the planning approval process to give considerably more weight to local municipal council positions in the public interest since council is more aware of the needs and vision of the local community; and,
- That a copy of this resolution be sent to the Region of Durham, all local municipalities in the Region of Durham, all Durham MPPs, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Ontario Big City Mayors; and,
That this motion be referred to the Development Services Committee."
And;
"Whereas, A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2020 (the “Growth Plan”) provides population and employment forecasts for all upper and single-tier municipalities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe to plan and manage growth and guide land use decision-making to 2051; and,
Whereas, the Growth Plan has a minimum density target of fifty (50) residents and jobs combined per hectare for new development in the Region of Durham’s designated Greenfield areas; and,
Whereas, aside from general open space areas, the lands within the Columbus Part II Planning Area are designated in the Durham Regional Official Plan and Oshawa Official Plan as Living Areas and Residential, respectively, and constitute a Greenfield area in accordance with the Growth Plan; and,
Whereas, the Columbus Part II Planning Area is a unique Greenfield area in Oshawa in that it contains the former hamlet of Columbus, including the existing main intersection at Columbus Road and Simcoe Street North and the approaches along Simcoe Street North and Columbus Road leading to the main intersection, commonly referred to as the Columbus Special Development Area; and,
Whereas, the former hamlet of Columbus forms the core of the Columbus Part II Planning Area and contains several identified and potential cultural heritage resources that date back to the nineteenth century; and,
Whereas, the Oshawa Official Plan contains policies to ensure that future growth within the former hamlet of Columbus occurs in a manner that is sensitive to the community’s cultural heritage, considering land use compatibility, scale of development and urban design; and,
Whereas, the community of Columbus, while unique to Oshawa, is contextually similar in terms of its built heritage resources and character to that which is found in similar, once rural, settlements across the Greater Golden Horseshoe that have subsequently become part of a municipality’s designated Greenfield area; and,
Whereas, given the existing built form and lotting fabric of many former rural settlements across the Greater Golden Horseshoe that are now within designated Greenfield areas, it is challenging to achieve the minimum density target for residents and jobs in designated Greenfield areas required under the Growth Plan while still protecting the character and built heritage resources of such settlements; and,
Whereas, the City of Oshawa, like other lower-tier municipalities throughout the Greater Golden Horseshoe, is obligated to comply with the Growth Plan’s minimum density target for designated Greenfield areas regardless of the challenges associated with preserving the existing built heritage resources and character of former rural settlements; and,
Whereas, the Draft Preferred Land Use and Road Plan developed for the Integrated Columbus Part II Planning Act and Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Act Study currently underway in Oshawa achieves the requisite minimum density target of fifty (50) residents and jobs combined per hectare overall, but only through implementing a greater number of higher-density land uses surrounding the former hamlet in order to offset the substantially lower density level of the former hamlet area itself, whose character and built form it is desirable to protect;
Therefore, be it resolved:
- That Mayor Carter on behalf of Council be authorized to send a letter to the Premier of the Province of Ontario requesting that the Province amend A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2020, to allow lower-tier municipalities to implement lower minimum density targets in terms of combined jobs and population in designated Greenfield areas where preservation of the existing characteristics of a former rural settlement, such as the former hamlet of Columbus, is desirable, and to allow the City to exclude the former hamlet area for the purposes of calculating the population density targets in the Growth Plan; and,
- That a copy of this Council resolution be sent to the Region of Durham, Durham area municipalities, Durham area MPPs,, and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario; and
That this motion be referred to the Development Services Committee."