Developers pursue urban boundary expansion in Glanbrook

The car dealerships and shopping plazas on Upper James Street become sparser as asphalt gives way to green fields right around Twenty Road on the south Mountain's border with Glanbrook.

It's here that a consortium of developers hopes to build a residential subdivision on farmers' fields and a former golf course.

To do that, they need Hamilton's urban boundary expanded under new provincial legislation that allows developers to make pitches for rural parcels 40 hectares at a time.

But for some city councillors, one-off applications to urbanize Hamilton's agricultural land spells trouble.

This one may make sense; it may not," John-Paul Danko said, but it opens the door for piecemeal urban boundary expansions all over the city, which would be an absolute planning disaster."

Brenda Johnson, who represents Glanbrook, agrees. I believe it should be left up to the municipality to decide where it's best, where it's not best."

Before 2019, boundary expansions had to wait for municipal comprehensive reviews of local planning policies, but not anymore under the new legislation.

The More Homes, More Choice Act hinders the city's ability to focus growth in already built-up areas, curbing urban sprawl, Danko says.

Because if every time that we try to promote infill development, some other developer just keeps expanding the urban boundary, we'll never get ahead of the infill part of it."

But John Corbett, a planning consultant who represents the consortium, says the change will reduce the years it can take developers to process applications.

You've got to find ways to allow for speedier approvals, reduce red tape, so to speak, where it makes sense."

The province aims to accommodate growth in the Greater Golden Horseshoe and make housing more affordable through increased supply, say the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

We need to make sure that land is ready for development when it's needed, where it makes sense, while making sure it's the right kind of development," it said in an emailed statement.

The Upper West Side Landowner Group is the first to pursue an urban boundary expansion in Hamilton.

Its members include Sullstar Twenty Limited, Spallaci & Sons Limited, Oxford Road Developments, Lynmount Developments Inc., the Parente Group, Twenty Road Developments Inc. and Liv Communities.

Their big swath of agricultural land and the former Glancaster Golf Club is bounded by Upper James Street, Glancaster Road, Dickenson Road and Twenty Road West.

Corbett says the urban expansion concerns two parcels that were left out of airport employment lands in an Ontario Municipal Board dispute involving the city in 2015. They're literally holes in the doughnut in terms of the urban boundary."

Initially, the group is asking the city to amend its urban official plan to allow for the consideration of boundary expansions outside of the comprehensive review. Staff expect to release that report, along with others, in August.

The developers also want their land to be a candidate area" for growth if the urban boundary changes. The next step would be to apply for the actual expansion via three applications for 40 hectares each.

Council could say no, and the developers wouldn't be able to challenge the decision before the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, which replaced the OMB.

Lynda Lukasik of Environment Hamilton is concerned about how a potential domino effect of boundary expansion applications could alter the big picture.

This bodes badly for the preservation of Hamilton's prime agricultural lands and the city's ability to corral growth into urban areas by increasing density, she points out.

My fear is how do you plan a community when private landowners can come along 40 hectares at a time and say, I want to add this over here,' and another one can come along and say, I want to add this over here?'"

Carolyn Venema, a longtime resident on the edge of the former Glancaster Golf Club, says she's not against development.

But she's worried about the destruction of habitat. Ponds on the property have already been filled in and stands of trees removed, Venema said. I'm really concerned about the environmental impact of this."

Lukasik says she's hopeful council rejects an expansion, but isn't confident. She's critical of how the city earmarked Elfrida - a once-sleepy farming hamlet at the crossroads of Rymal Road East and Highway 20 - as a growth district.

I'm not convinced at all that Hamilton has exhausted all of the possibilities for accommodating more people within the existing urban boundary."

Members of the public have until July 10 to comment on the Upper West Side Landowner Group's current application. City staff aim to present a report to the planning committee in the fall.

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based city hall reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.coms