City to mail out surveys on whether to freeze or expand Hamilton’s urban footprint

The city will mail surveys to all of Hamilton's households to gather feedback on whether to freeze the urban boundary or expand it to accommodate expected growth over the next 30 years.

City politicians opted for a survey late Monday after dozens of delegates urged them not to redraw the rural-urban dividing line for residential development and instead save farmland and prevent carbon emissions amid a climate emergency.

The residents also asked council to put off any decision that would lock the city into an expanded urban area and instead allow for in-person consultation after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Council decided to delay approval of a land-needs assessment and a staff-recommended plan to add 1,340 hectares of rural land to urban Hamilton in favour of more public consultation through the mail-out survey.

In addition, elected officials asked planning staff to analyze a no-boundary-expansion option, which they hadn't included in previous public consultation because it wasn't deemed realistic under provincial growth-plan policies predicated on a market-based approach to land needs.

The frozen-boundary scenario and staff's recommended ambitious density" option, which calls for the additional 1,340 hectares of rural land, are to be put to residents in the survey, Coun. Brad Clark said in introducing his motion during Monday's nearly 11-hour meeting.

All options should be on the table for discussion and consideration."

Staff are to report back to council with the no-boundary-busting analysis and additional public feedback no later than October.

In the meantime, they'll continue to work on the GRIDS 2 and the municipal comprehensive review - two land-use reviews that aim to update Hamilton's official plan to bring it in line with the Ontario Progressive Conservative government's 2019 growth plan.

The province expects Hamilton's population to reach 820,000 by 2051, adding 236,000 to its ranks. This will require 110,000 more residential units for a total of 332,900, staff report.

Municipalities are expected to reflect this with road maps that corral at least 50 per cent of future housing into built-up areas through intensification and denser dwellings like apartments and stacked townhomes by 2051.

That adds 10 years to the planning horizon and reduces the intensification rate from the 60 per cent the previous Liberal government required in its 2017 growth plan.

Over the past decade, the city has directed about 35 per cent of new homes into Hamilton's built-up area.

Clark, whose motion was seconded by Coun. Brenda Johnson, said the mail-out survey estimated to cost $35,000 would garner feedback from 2,000 households if only one per cent of roughly 200,000 responded to it.

Even if 0.5 per cent mailed the postage-paid surveys back, that would make for 1,000 responses - far more than the 266 staff received in their web-based consultation in January.

In addition to weighing in on the ambitious density" and no-expansion options, residents will be able to detail their own scenarios to handle growth if they disagree with those two options.

Clark echoed the repeated message of delegates during Monday's marathon session, saying the coronavirus pandemic has limited feedback on a crucial question that will shape the city for decades.

COVID-19 has all but consumed our daily lives and the public discourse," he said. It is fair to say that the public is seized with this pandemic."

Many in rural parts of Hamilton, including his upper Stoney Creek ward, don't have reliable internet to take part in web-based consultation, Clark said.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger, however, said pretty close to everybody" has access to the internet and computers but backed the mail-out survey as a way to reach more people.

Eisenberger noted city-organized public information sessions to gather feedback from the public are traditionally poorly attended.

He also noted the uncertainty of being able to hold in-person sessions on the boundary question by fall due to the pandemic.

We have no assurance that by September or October that's it's going to be all clear, but I hope it's true."

The call for more time for consultation was a common refrain of roughly 60 delegates who signed up to address city politicians, in addition to more than 150 letter-writers.

They were also critical of the ambitious density" option.

It is widely known that growth doesn't pay for itself," Ancaster resident Nancy Hurst told the committee, adding the city will end up footing the bill" for infrastructure that sprawling development demands.

Stephanie Brash told city officials she worries about her six-year-old daughter growing up in a sprawling Hamilton, rather than one with walkable streets and locally-grown food.

What I don't see for my daughter is a 35-minute drive into the city from her McMansion."

Lynda Lukasik, executive director of Environment Hamilton, said she was excited to see the possibility of a firm urban boundary at least being considered."

In recent weeks, Environment Hamilton has rallied support behind its call for a frozen urban boundary with roughly 1,772 people signing a don't let sprawl take it all" petition online.

This is such an important decision for the here and now of this community, and we really do need to get it right," Lukasik told councillors.

Drew Spoelstra, a Binbrook farmer and vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, said the loss of 1,340 hectares of farmland is not an insignificant number."

We can better use our land in existing urban areas to build up, not out," he said.

Dundas resident Alex Wilson called the provincial push to plan until 2051 ridiculous," arguing it amounts to a land grab for speculators.

We're in a conversation that we don't want to be having."

Earlier in the meeting, city consultant Antony Lorius told councillors staff hadn't included the no-urban boundary option in the growth-planning exercise because it didn't conform with the province's market-based approach.

There is no question the city is in a very strong position to shift to more compact forms, but there are limits," Lorius said, adding infill and greenfield development alike will be required to meet the provincial growth targets.

Senior project manager Heather Travis said the 1,340 hectares of rural land called for under the ambitious density" scenario accounts for 1.5 per cent of Hamilton's rural land area, leaving 98.5 per cent outside the urban footprint.

This scenario is not resulting in urban sprawl," Travis said, noting an overwhelming majority"of the city's agricultural lands will be protected.

Agents representing property owners who hope to develop rural land in Elfrida, Twenty Road West and Twenty Road East - areas where the city could expand - backed the staff recommendation.

It amounts to a responsible urban-boundary expansion," Mark Noskiewcz, of Goodmans LLP, on behalf of the Elfrida Landowners Group, told the committee.

Noskiewcz said public consultation on a no-boundary expansion that does not meet provincial policy and realistically cannot be approved will end up being misleading."

Paul Lowes, of SGL Planning and Design, called Hamilton's proposed density a very aggressive scenario" that's higher than other municipalities.

Intensification is necessary, but you also need greenfield growth to provide for market-based housing," added Lowes, who represents Frisina Group, which owns land in Elfrida.

Planning director Steve Robichaud warned if intensification didn't materialize under the no-expansion scenario, the city's investment in infrastructure to accommodate it could end up being stranded debt" through uncollected development charges.

In another worst-case scenario," the province could reject the city's updated official plan and simply rewrite that strategy based on what they see as fit" with no local control, Robichaud added.

Eisenberger said intensification is a tool that we're going to have to use if we want to be a sustainable community," noting he's never been a huge proponent" of a boundary expansion.

But he added growth must be equitable and fair and done in a way that doesn't put all of the density in one place."

Coun. Arlene VanderBeek thanked delegates for sharing their thoughts with city officials.

This is just such a crucial discussion for our future, and I just cannot see that we can rush into anything," the Dundas councillor said.

When and where to phase growth, depending on whether council opts for a boundary expansion, is the subject of upcoming staff analysis during the ongoing review.

The province's deadline for updated official plans is July 2022, but documentation must be submitted for review months in advance.

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