Hamilton not taking position ‘at this time’ on urban boundary court challenge

City councillors are taking a wait-and-see approach in the early stages of a court battle between the province and environmental groups over Hamilton's urban boundary.

Environmental Defence has launched a judicial review of the 5,400-acre urban expansion the Ontario government imposed on the city in November.

On Tuesday, councillors at planning committee met in camera to consider legal advice before emerging with a motion to not take a position at this time" on the court challenge.

They have asked legal staff to report back after they have the province's record of evidence and facts relating to the minister's decision, city solicitor Lisa Shields said.

So that will be provided I'm sure in due course."

At that time, staff are to report back to planning committee for more direction on how to approach the judicial review.

Coun. Cameron Kroetsch said he was certainly personally" supportive of Environmental Defence's application and respectful" of the committee's response.

I think it's a good approach to make sure that we're making an informed decision and having all of the facts in front of us."

Environmental Defence's challenge puts council in a weird place," Coun. John-Paul Danko said.

City politicians support the frozen-boundary plan, but the province has imposed the urban expansion, Danko said before the in-camera session.

We need to find out from legal how we navigate that."

The boundary issue overlaps with the province's decision to pull 1,900 acres from the Greenbelt in Hamilton, which has sparked outrage and demonstrations.

Planning staff expect to offer council procedural options on how the city could approach the province's expansion lands this spring.

In early January, Environmental Defence announced it would seek the judicial review of the boundary expansion, contending the decision is forcing sprawl on (the city) against their wishes and contrary to law."

The application, which is backed by environmental law charity Ecojustice, asks a judge to quash" the boundary decision and send it back to the province for a revision.

The new council's official reaction to the legal challenge is not unexpected at this stage," said Phil Pothen, a planning lawyer with Environmental Defence.

Shortly after the municipal election, the province sent back Hamilton's proposed official plan marked up with 77 changes, including the urban expansion.

It was a very calculated decision by the province to do this when it did," Pothen said. It made it very hard to deal with, so it's unsurprising that council is taking some time to get on top of this issue."

In late 2021, the past council rejected a staff recommendation to grow Hamilton's urban footprint in response to a grassroots anti-sprawl campaign that urged the city to protect farmland, brace for the climate crisis and curb infrastructure costs.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark, however, and local Progressive Conservative MPP Donna Skelly both expressed disapproval over the decision, the latter arguing it was rooted in an anti-housing and anti-growth ideology."

With the city's population expected to hit 820,000 by 2051, after careful consideration, the minister took the necessary action to accommodate this growth and allow for more desperately needed housing to be built," a spokesperson said.

City planning staff, however, have noted Hamilton had enough land within its previous urban boundary to accommodate housing needs over the next 30 years by building density.

On Tuesday, the planning committee's motion also gave Shields the ability to hire external legal counsel to represent the municipality at the proceedings and hire consultants as needed.

As well, staff are to provide Environmental Defence with public documents relating to the boundary issue.

The committee's decision awaits a final vote at council.

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