Province orders Hamilton to expand urban boundary

Doug Ford's provincial government has rejected Hamilton's pitch to freeze its urban boundary and instead ordered a massive expansion into the countryside that would allow up to 2,200 hectares of potential new housing development.

The decision, delivered to the city late Friday, comes atop a separate Tory government proposal to allow new housing on some protected Hamilton lands in the Greenbelt - despite a prior pledge not to do so.

The news also arrived two weeks after a municipal election, leaving city officials scrambling to organize a response before a new council - with 10 new faces - even meets for the first time later this month.

Today's decision is very concerning," said incoming mayor Andrea Horwath in a statement late Friday. Cities work well when they are planned to be complete communities ... I will work closely with council and city staff to chart the best path forward for Hamiltonians."

City planning officials were still reviewing the 77 amendments to Hamilton's urban official plan late Friday that a provincial post online said were made to address government priorities related to housing," as well as growth and employment.

What are they doing here? How is this a democracy?" asked a distraught Lynda Lukasik, the head of advocacy group Environment Hamilton, who pointed to the province's complete dismissal" of extensive community consultation and a decisive council vote last year to grow within existing urban borders.

I don't think people will stand for it," she said. I think you will see people mobilizing to oppose this ... civil disobedience, whatever it takes. There is too much at stake."

The West End Builder's Association, by contrast, welcomed the decision.

These adjustments are necessary and in the public interest, given the significant housing shortage our city and economic region is facing," the development group said in an emailed statement. Without addressing this, Hamilton will continue to see major displacement of our residents to neighbouring communities."

Environmentalists have decried what they see as an all-out assault" on environmental protections by the province in recent weeks, including an omnibus housing bill that could open more wetlands to development and weaken environmental oversight by watershed protection agencies like conservation authorities.

Nancy Hurst, a co-founder of Stop Sprawl HamOnt, previously told The Spectator she was also apprehensive about the pending provincial decision on Hamilton's urban boundary. Every indication so far has pointed to (Premier Doug) Ford's determination to pave farmland and wetlands," she said.

The More Homes Built Faster bill also sets new, higher growth targets for cities - including 47,000 new homes in Hamilton by 2031.

City council made headlines in late 2021 when it rejected a staff recommendation to expand the urban boundary in response to a grassroots citizen campaign that called on the city to protect farmland, mitigate the climate crisis and avoid the infrastructure costs of sprawl."

That decision clearly disappointed the province's housing minister, Steve Clark, who mused earlier this year about sending the city's growth plan to a tribunal. Local Progressive Conservative MPP Donna Skelly also criticized council's decision, arguing it was based on an anti-housing and anti-growth ideology."

The political debate began after the Ontario government told cities to revise their official plans to reflect new provincial growth targets, which, in Hamilton's case, predicts the city's population will hit 820,000 by 2051.

Initially, city planning staff recommended an expansion of 1,600 hectares. Council rejected that option, arguing growing within city boundaries would be healthier for the environment and taxpayer finances.

Now the city faces an ordered expansion of closer to 2,200 hectares. The decision, made by Clark, cannot be appealed to a tribunal. It was not immediately clear what - if anything - the city can do to oppose the plan.

However, the minister's decision indicates no development can happen in the expanded urban boundary lands before a secondary plan is completed for those areas.

The province is also now seeking public comment on a plan to remove three Hamilton properties from the Greenbelt, a protected, two-million acre swath of farmland, wetlands and green space hugging the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

In Hamilton, the properties are located in Glanbrook near Upper James and White Church Road, south of Ancaster near Book and Shaver Roads, and near the Winona-Niagara border at Fifty Road near Highway 8.

In a statement, Clark said the province plans an overall expansion" of the Greenbelt by adding river valley and other lands while removing targeted properties for potential homebuilding - with the proviso that building must begin quickly," and no later than 2025.

The move comes a year after Clark vowed the government will not in any way entertain any proposals that will move lands in the Greenbelt, or open the Greenbelt lands to any kind of development."

In 2018, Doug Ford also vowed to protect the Greenbelt after he was caught on tape telling developers he would open a big chunk" for housing. The people have spoken - we won't touch the Greenbelt," he vowed at the time.

Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com