| Advertisement |
|
|
|
Province Opposes Aerotropolis Reserve
|
by
Don McLean
March 25 - 31, 2010 |
|
Ontario government officials are telling the city of Hamilton it can’t reserve hundreds of hectares of foodlands south of the airport for a future industrial lands boundary expansion. It’s the latest provincial move in a long dispute with the city about the size of the proposed aerotropolis, and city planning staff are urging council to reject it.
“The city strongly objects to the removal of the policy which would allow the city to establish an employment reserve to protect future lands for employment uses,” reads the staff recommendation to councillors.
As recently as last summer, the aerotropolis was proposed to be over 1300 hectares, but updated studies and behind–the–scenes negotiations with provincial officials carved that down to a 660 hectare stage one proposal, with the remainder to be reserved for use after 2031.
City planners hope to get council approval later this spring to bring the stage one lands into the urban boundary – with 156 hectares being opened for development immediately, and the remaining 504 after 2021. But they have drafted a secondary plan that includes the stage two lands as a future development zone and made reference to that in the new official plan approved by council last July.
In its formal review of that new plan, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is asking for removal of that reference, something city planners can’t stomach.
“Staff have expressed concern to the Province on numerous occasions that the city should have the ability to protect employment lands for the long term (after 2031) since infrastructure planning is evaluated and built for at least a 50 year infrastructure and time frame,” the staff report argues.
The province will make the final decision on the official plan, although the city could subsequently challenge it at the Ontario Municipal Board.
Other contentious provincial comments on the new official plan include: not specifying the boundaries of a possible future urban boundary expansion in Elfrida; limiting the size of office towers in industrial zones; banning hotels, health centres and recreational facilities from industrial zones; not allowing new auto and home centres such as Canadian Tire stores in downtowns and other high density mixed use areas; and, changing the mapping of the Eramosa Karst ANSI (area of natural and scientific interest).
The provincial review endorses the overall direction of the new official plan and says that it generally “represents a progressive and integrated approach to creating a vibrant, healthy and sustainable city” and is supportive of provincial growth policies.
“The emphasis on revitalizing existing built–up parts of the City together with the goal of creating compact, complete and transit supportive communities are keys to the future,” says the provincial letter to the city. “These are augmented by policies which provide guidance on appropriate densities and built form in nodes and corridors to support existing and planned transit infrastructure, promote intensification, improve urban design and provide greater clarity on planning for employment.”
Staff also want councillors to fight to allow hotels, health clubs and private recreational facilities to be defined as industrial uses. This could affect the aerotropolis plans, since one of the points of contention was the city’s insistence that the size of the airport growth district be enlarged to accommodate such services.
The battle over the location of large offices may also be related to the aerotropolis. The province wants major office uses located in downtowns where they can be served by transit and help make it more viable. But the associated large concentration of employees in a greenfield location like the airport lands could help the city achieve the required 50 jobs or residents per hectare.
|
Share on
 |
No comments yet... be the first! |
|
