Councillor Craig's Current - Urban Boundary Expansion Supplemental

The Ontario government has passed new legislation that takes urban boundary expansion decisions out of the hands of municipalities. Bill 185 now allows land speculators to apply for urban boundary expansions (UBE) at any time. Hamilton City Council can deny the application, but the final decision on approval or denial lies with the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) which is not accountable to the people of Hamilton and is not required to respect our firm urban boundary position.

This new bill enables the possibility of sprawl destroying our unprotected farmland and wetlands, increasing our municipal taxes, and hampering the City’s ability to maximize the creation of more housing in Hamilton.

Historically, decisions at the OLT have not favoured municipalities (Hamilton Spectator: Ontario Land Tribunal decisions have favoured developers 97 per cent of the time)

In light of these legislative changes, everyone is invited to attend the City’s upcoming in-person and online public open houses. You’ll be able to provide feedback on what the City should prioritize when processing urban boundary expansion applications. Hamilton has already received applications and is expected to receive more. Note, that although the City has a ‘firm urban boundary’ position, they are legislatively required to process applications to the contrary.

The open house meetings will explain the history of UBE in Hamilton, how you can provide your feedback on the draft boundary evaluation framework, and why it matters. Although not mandatory, you are encouraged to RSVP to one or more of the meetings listed here.

I also encourage you to sign up to receive notifications on UBE future meetings and outcomes. Email [email protected] and ask to be added to the City’s distribution list.

Since Bill 185 “Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act” is Provincial, please contact your MPP and let them know that sound municipal planning is not “red tape.”

UBE would affect all of us in so many ways! Please take a moment to watch the recent Defending Hamilton’s Firm Urban Boundary webinar above where I explain in detail the many negative impacts of sprawl development and the significant cost to the wealth of the City and its residents.

Aside from the very concerning daily loss in Ontario of 319 acres of farmland to urbanization and the loss of natural spaces for wetlands, woodlots and wildlife habitat, urban expansion. Further urban boundary expansions:

• Would be a very significant financial burden borne by us, the taxpayers, who would be saddled with the lifetime costs of maintaining and replacing billions of dollars of new infrastructure.

• Would hamper our City’s ability to build desperately needed housing by consuming limited planning and construction resources and redirecting it to building expensive housing out of the financial reach of the average person on unserviced land far from jobs and amenities.

• Would contribute to traffic congestion by encouraging car dependency to reach faraway neighbourhoods with no public transit instead of building the gentle density needed to support fast, reliable transit in the city.

• Would pave over the headwaters of Hamilton’s creeks and waterfalls on the Mountain, increasing flooding risks at a time when some insurance companies are no longer offering such coverage.

The Hamilton White Belt (blue and white areas above) consists of 4,320 hectares of land outside of the Greenbelt and outside of the existing urban boundary in Hamilton. This amount of farmland far eclipses the Hamilton farmland that was at risk from the reversed Greenbelt Grab.

Thank you for your engagement with this very important topic which will affect Hamiltonians for decades to come. If you have questions, please reach out to our office at [email protected] and subscribe to the Ward 12 newsletter at CraigCassar.ca. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

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