Hamilton growth-planning exercise a ‘charade,’ Councillor Danko says

City staff sought provincial feedback on whether an option to freeze Hamilton's urban boundary would conform with Ontario's growth policies.

But while updates on the key question of how Hamilton should grow over the next 30 years were provided to ministry staff, city politicians were left in the dark, Coun. Brad Clark says.

It concerns me greatly that this went to ministry staff and did not come to council first. We should have had that update," he said Wednesday.

The upshot of city staff's query was a letter from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing that advised a frozen urban boundary may not conform with provincial requirements" for growth planning.

That statement has sparked criticism from residents who oppose city staff's recommendation to expand into rural land to accommodate expected growth over the next 30 years.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and local MPP Sandy Shaw have also weighed in with a letter urging council to oppose the Progressive Conservatives' flawed" plan to (pave) over precious green space."

On Wednesday, Coun. John-Paul Danko contended the notion that the city had control over how Hamilton grows was just smoke and mirrors - a charade."

The letter shows we really never had any local authority over the decision-making process," Danko said, suggesting the province has engineered urban expansion into a predetermined outcome."

The ministry has asked municipalities to update official plans to reflect provincial growth projections to 2051. Those forecasts say Hamilton will see an influx of 236,000 people over the next 30 years, pushing the city's population to 820,000.

City planners have recommended an ambitious density" approach, concluding an urban expansion of roughly 3,330 acres into rural Elfrida and Glanbrook is necessary to accord with provincial targets and policy.

This stance, supported by a consultant's analysis, is predicated on the province's disputed market-based approach to land-need assessment, which looks at expected demand for different types of housing densities, from apartments to single-family homes.

The Spectator's request to speak with Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark received no response, but a spokesperson emailed a statement on the boundary debate.

Municipalities play a critical role in addressing housing affordability by updating their official plans to align" with the province's growth plan, Conrad Spezowka wrote.

A frozen urban boundary would cause growth and development to be redirected away from the City of Hamilton into other areas that are less able to accommodate growth like prime agricultural areas."

He added: If our local governments are serious about tackling housing affordability, municipalities must do their part and remain committed to updating their official plans by next July."

But Shaw, who argued a boundary expansion only benefits land speculators, contended there's no evidence" the province's growth plan is connected to housing affordability."

In March, council directed city staff to conduct an analysis of the no-boundary-expansion scenario amid criticism that it hadn't been included in staff reports to date.

They also asked for citywide survey. Of 18,387 responses, 16,636 - or 90.4 per cent - voiced support for a boundary freeze.

Coun. Judi Partridge argued the province was trying to bully" council on the land-needs question while clearly, clearly the majority of Hamiltonians have spoken."

In her Sept. 17 letter that sparked the council criticism, Heather Watt, manager of community planning and development with the municipal affairs ministry, wrote that a frozen boundary is likely to bring about a shortage of land available to accommodate forecasted growth in ground-related housing."

That was in response to an Aug. 13 letter from city planning staff and a consultant's technical update relating to the city's latest draft land-needs assessment that includes the frozen boundary scenario.

The staff letter notes that option represents a significant change" from the ambitious density" scenario, which already represents quite an aggressive approach."

In the same vein, the consultant's July 21 update states that nearly 80 per cent of new households would have to be created in apartment units if the boundary remained fixed.

Achieving this share of apartment unit construction is unlikely from a market demand perspective ...," principal Antony Lorius wrote, presenting an opinion that other planning experts have contested.

On Wednesday, responding to Clark's questions, planning director Steve Robichaud said staff have maintained an ongoing dialogue" with the ministry throughout the process to update Hamilton's official plan.

We wanted to ensure that they had an opportunity to review the updated land-needs assessment and provide their comments and their feedback" for council's consideration.

But that didn't sit well with Clark, who added the ministry had offered its take without seeing a yet-to-be-submitted peer review of Lorius' work, which may or may not show some enlightening differences."

That peer review is expected to be presented to council along with staff's studies on the growth-planning question on Oct. 25.

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