Local coalition calls for 4,000 acres to be added to Greenbelt

A local coalition is pitching a Made in Hamilton" plan to fold more than 4,000 acres of local farmland and significant natural habitat into Ontario's protected Greenbelt.

That proposal involves 3,330 acres of outlying rural lands, including in Elfrida, councillors initially eyed but rejected for a staff-recommended urban expansion to handle projected long-term growth.

Urban river valleys, including Spencer Creek in Dundas and Red Hill Creek in the east end, and wetlands, like Garner Marsh in Ancaster, would comprise the balance of the added protected green spaces.

The proposal comes ahead of the campaign for the June 2 provincial election that's expected to be officially underway early next month.

I think we know under the current government pigs will fly before we get this," Lynda Lukasik, executive director of Environment Hamilton, said Friday about Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives.

But putting a spotlight on the plan will spur public discussion about what protecting farmland and natural habitat could and should look like," she said.

Other groups behind the pitch include Hamilton 350, Stop Sprawl Hamilton, Action 13 and Save Our Streams Hamilton.

The Garner Marsh, located on farmland in Ancaster where a developer wants to build warehouses, is the focus of a provincial tribunal dispute.

A case management conference is set for May 9 with the developer, the Hamilton Conservation Authority and Environmental Defence, but the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) hearing isn't until next year.

We keep paving over everything and we don't have much natural land left for habitat for all kinds of biodiversity," said Craig Cassar, spokesperson for Save Our Streams Hamilton.

It's the tendency of human hubris" to underestimate the crucial role wetlands like the Garner Marsh, which feeds into Ancaster Creek, play in preventing flooding and keeping water clean, Cassar said.

Lukasik noted municipalities can request more areas be added to the Greenbelt - a two-million-acre swath of protected land in southern Ontario created in 2005 under the then-Liberal government - or the province itself can do it.

The Ford government aims to add 13 urban river valley areas to the protected zone, including Battlefield and Stoney creeks in Hamilton.

But Lukasik, who argues the province is offering a crumb" in response to feedback, noted the plan to build Highway 413 across the northern GTA will punch through the Greenbelt.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Friday about the 4,000-acre campaign.

In an email, MPP Donna Skelly (Flamborough-Glanbrook) noted the government launched two consultations about Greenbelt expansion and is taking a balanced approach to build homes where it makes sense, while protecting our province's beautiful natural heritage for future generations."

At an Earth Day campaign announcement Friday, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said we are absolutely prepared to have a conversation" with the local coalition.

We are absolutely interested in protecting (more) land across the province."

Horwath added she is proud" the city decided to maintain its urban boundary in the face of provincial Tory government opposition. I can tell you that is a position I support."

Council's decision in November to freeze the boundary as part of a provincially mandated strategy to accommodate growth to 2051 was the subject of an intense anti-sprawl campaign and counterpressure from developers who own land on the rural outskirts.

Clark has more than once aired his disapproval of Hamilton's irresponsible" frozen-boundary plan, contending it stands to choke housing supply amid an affordability crisis driven by lagging stock.

Likewise, Skelly remarked in the legislature that council is advancing an anti-housing and anti-growth ideology," an argument Mayor Fred Eisenberger dismissed as very unfortunate."

Eisenberger said via email Friday he couldn't immediately offer his take on the coalition's 4,000-acre proposal having not yet reviewed it thoroughly.

In an interview earlier this week, Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said the Ford government has changed the growth plan to make it almost a requirement to recklessly expand urban boundaries because ... sprawl is what's better for their political donors."

But there also could be cause for expansions here and there," he added. I think there needs to be a conversation."

Meanwhile, in a press release Friday, Ontario Greens Leader Mike Schreiner said Ford's expensive sprawl will pollute the air and make our health worse."

Next month, council will consider a draft of the city's revised firm-boundary official plan that establishes policies for greater urban intensification, which staff must submit to Clark's ministry for approval by July, which is after the election.

Coalition members plan to join a Stop Sprawl rally Saturday at 1:30 p.m. outside Skelly's office, which is across from a site on Twenty Road West that developers hope to bring within the urban boundary.

John Corbett, a planning consultant who represents the Upper West Side consortium, said the proposed residential development isn't expansion but rather the poster child" for reclassification because it's boxed in by the urban area.

Developing the serviceable land near the airport can help address the housing crunch and offer a massive financial lift" through $263 million in tax and development charge revenue, Corbett said.

- With files from Matthew Van Dongen, The Hamilton Spectator

Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com