Province claims an urban boundary freeze would result in housing ‘shortfall’

The Progressive Conservative government says the hotly debated idea of freezing Hamilton's urban boundary would result in a shortfall" of needed housing - and may not meet provincial rules.

The letter from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is slated to go to council Wednesday - and it landed like a bomb in the middle of a war between developers and opponents of urban boundary expansion who called the provincial comments undemocratic meddling" in local planning.

In October, city council is expected to consider a contentious city staff recommendation to fold 3,300 acres of rural land in Elfrida and Glanbrook into the urban area to meet provincial growth targets through 2051.

But grassroots group Stop Sprawl HamOnt drummed up significant public support for a no expansion" option on a recent city survey on growth options, arguing more far-flung development will eat up valuable farmland and cost more to service.

The development industry has countered with thousands of dollars of Facebook advertising and a campaign urging residents to support expansion in the name of alleviating Hamilton's housing crisis.

In the middle of that debate, the new provincial letter has arrived with a warning that an urban boundary freeze may not conform with provincial requirements" for growth planning.

It refers to updated city technical studies that suggest a frozen urban boundary would result in a shortfall of nearly 60,000 ground-related" housing units like single family homes or towns. It also says the city is unlikely to achieve the necessary level of apartment unit construction" to otherwise meet forecasted demand for housing.

The letter infuriated Stop Sprawl members who accused the province of trying to subvert the democratic will of the public," noting 90-percent of residents who responded to the city's own growth survey backed the no boundary expansion" option.

It's not surprising to see that the (Doug) Ford government is backing the developers' agenda," said Stop Sprawl organizer Nancy Hurst, referencing controversial recent efforts by the Progressive Conservative province to fast-track highway construction and developments on sensitive environmental lands.

Hurst called the letter undemocratic meddling" and an effort to bully" councillors into backing urban expansion.

Mountain Coun. John-Paul Danko also criticized the provincial interference" in local decision-making.

It is the province trying to muscle the city into their predetermined outcome of an urban boundary expansion," he said after reading the letter on the weekend. It's undemocratic and completely unacceptable."

The letter comes amid a developer-backed Facebook and mail-out campaign called Hamilton Needs Housing' that urges the public to send postage-paid cards to council in support of urban boundary expansion.

A website linked to the campaign argues the city's own recommendation to expand into Stoney Creek and Glanbrook will preserve most farmland and relieve pressure on the city's skyrocketing housing and rental prices.

Spokesperson Dani Gabriele said in a statement the campaign is giving people in Hamilton a way to tell city council that the No. 1 issue on their minds is the price of housing." Gabriele argued the city's plans to both increase density and expand outward achieve a balance between affordable growth and environmental protection."

Stop Sprawl advocates argued the mail-out cards are misleading and do not make clear that the campaign was created by a coalition of construction companies and housing developers. (There are nine companies listed on the campaign website.)

The grassroots group has responded by urging residents to send the cards to council - but with their own messages written overtop in marker. Citizens weren't fooled" by the cards, said Hurst, who's also encouraging residents to post photos of rewritten mail-outs to Twitter with the hashtag #SharpieShenanigans.

Visible messages so far range from the short-but-simple - Get Bent" - to detailed edits and rewrites combined with encouragement to developers to focus on infill and intensification projects within the existing city boundaries.

Councillors can formally weigh in on the provincial letter at Wednesday's council meeting, but a debate on growth plan options is not expected until Oct. 25.

Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamilton-based reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com