Should Hamilton preserve its remaining agricultural land or open more up for residential development? You can’t tell from the city advertising but that’s the primary question in the open houses coming up in late May and early June.
Officially they are public consultations for a “municipal comprehensive review” (MCR) that is being combined with an update of GRIDS (Growth Related Integrated Development Strategy). The three open houses are being billed as an opportunity to “learn how the City of Hamilton plans for population and job growth” – a description that some may consider similar to watching paint dry.
That view is reinforced by the ad warnings that “there will be no formal presentation” and instead the sessions will be drop-in style that “will allow for questions and feedback opportunities.” They also promise to “identify strengths and opportunities for change in our land use structure”.
It’s unclear how the six consultations – afternoon and evening sessions on each of May 28, May 30 and June 6 – will quantify public opinion, but additional information found on the city’s website identifies this as the launch of the “analysis of growth options” – phase three of the MCR-GRIDS2 project.
Also not mentioned is the fact that a municipal comprehensive review is a provincial requirement for “the identification of settlement areas and the expansion of settlement area boundaries” or “the conversion of lands within employment areas to non-employment uses.” At least three groups of rural Hamilton land owners are pushing for the right to build new residential subdivisions.
The accelerated initiation of an MCR was a promise made three years to one of those groups – developers who convinced the city and the Ontario Municipal Board to exclude their 311 acres (125 ha) of land from the Airport Employment Growth District (aka aerotropolis) with the argument that these properties were more suited for residential development.
A second group of rural landowners calling themselves the Twenty Road East group were also involved in the aerotropolis process and contend that their properties should be prioritized for urban expansion.
And in upper Stoney Creek the city has spent millions developing plans to urbanize over 3100 acres (1257 ha) of farmland and natural area despite provincial resistance. City council included this Elfrida boundary expansion in the current official plan, but the province took it out so councillors joined with multiple developers to appeal the decision six years ago. That appeal has never been heard but the city has pushed ahead as though its wishes are a done deal and forecasts Elfrida will accommodate 80,000 new residents.
The MCR is required to win provincial approval of any of these conversions from farmland to subdivisions. The possibility of Doug Ford as premier may extend the threat to farmland in the provincially protected Greenbelt. Ford promised developers in a private meeting that he would open the Greenbelt for new housing, but after public outcry he subsequently said he has changed his mind.
The requirement for an MCR to convert “employment lands” to residential or commercial uses may also be a factor in the process now underway. With the addition of the aerotropolis Hamilton now has thousands of acres designated for industrial use (aka “employment lands”) although there seems to be little market interest.
In addition, the MCR-GRIDS2 open houses also promise to have an impact on planning for the LRT. That terminology is avoided in the city advertising and replaced with MTSAs (Major Transit Station Areas) which are identified as being along the Main-King-Queenston corridor where the LRT is scheduled to run.
All the open houses are being held in the lower city with both afternoon (2-4 pm) and evening (6-8 pm) sessions at each location. May 28 is in the city lounge at the football field; May 30 is downtown at the Braley Centre at Bay and Main; and June 6 is in Westside Baptist Church at 261 Whitney.