Hamilton councillors look for ways to block the province’s urban expansion into farmland

Hamilton can't appeal a provincially ordered expansion of its urban area - but opponents say they hope to find other ways to block development on the city's fast-shrinking supply of farmland.

I think we need to turn over every stone, as it were, to find ways to resist this kind of growth that is not in the best interest of our city," Coun. John-Paul Danko said Monday.

That includes, for instance, exploring how the city can avoid or delay providing the necessary infrastructure - think sewer lines and roads - to service the rural expansion lands where developers hope to build homes, he suggested. If it's not a priority, then we're not going to make it a priority, just because a bunch of developers and the province want it."

Progressive Conservative Hamilton MPP Donna Skelly acknowledged opposition is brewing in response to Ontario's imposed growth plan, but expressed hope calmer heads will prevail."

We want to work with developers and the city to ensure this housing gets built. I'm hoping it will be collaborative," she said in an interview Monday. What we are saying to people who question this is: We have a housing crisis. You can't ignore that.'"

On Friday, the province scrapped Hamilton's long-term plan to corral future growth within its existing urban footprint and instead ordered a 2,200-hectare expansion that effectively gobbles up the remainder of so-called whitebelt lands in the countryside.

That's an even bigger expansion than the plan previously recommended by city staff but rejected by council last year in response to a grassroots anti-sprawl" campaign to freeze Hamilton's urban boundary.

Skelly attributed the larger ordered expansion, in part, to a recent federal vow to increase immigration. She said that's also why Ontario's new planning legislation introduced higher housing targets for Hamilton of 47,000 units by 2031.

The councillor-turned-MPP also pointed out the province's aggressive" housing plan also helps Hamilton with its goal of denser housing in neighbourhoods and around transit nodes, while still helping those who want the dream with the white picket fence with the garage."

Regardless, Skelly argued the imposed new boundary should not come as a surprise.

This isn't something we sprung on anyone. We've been trying to get this done for years," Skelly said, arguing housing minister Steve Clark previously made it very clear" council's boundary freeze proposal was unacceptable. We had tried to work with the city and we simply could not get a plan that would accommodate the growth."

Anti-sprawl advocates were quick to condemn the imposed housing expansion into farmland, with Environment Hamilton head Lynda Lukasik suggesting civil disobedience" was on the horizon. Environmental Defence lawyer Phil Pothen also previously suggested council could go politically to war with the province."

Hamiltonians have really rallied around the idea of opposing urban boundary expansion," Pothen said, noting the strength of the grassroots campaign. That is extraordinary."

Likewise, Coun. Maureen Wilson said Monday it's incumbent" on the incoming batch of city politicians - elected on Oct. 24 - to understand what levers are at all possible" to counteract the province's override.

Residential sprawl is a drain on a city's fiscal capacity" due to extra infrastructure maintenance, the west-end councillor said. So if we have domain over our capital budgeting and servicing - and if we deem it not to be a priority and not to be affordable - then that should be a decision of council."

Pothen also suggested the city can effectively delay rural sprawl" by fast-tracking approvals for more development in existing neighbourhoods. The ministry's decision also notes no building can occur in newly added urban areas before secondary plans are developed. You can put (greenfield) development on the bottom of the pile," he said.

But a group that represents the residential development industry argues it's time for government and builders alike to be working together and rowing in the same direction" to help increase housing supply to ease an affordability crunch.

The politics around growth, not just in Hamilton, but in other jurisdictions across southern Ontario, are how we wound up in this mess," said Mike Collins-Williams, CEO of the West End Home Builders' Association.

It's not just about urban boundaries, but also municipal resistance to zoning reform to bolster residential density to provide missing-middle" housing in neighbourhoods, Collins-Williams said.

Expansion areas will be built at much higher densities" with stacked townhouses and small-scale apartment buildings than existing neighbourhoods. The growth is coming," he added, warning if prospective residents can't find what they want or need at a price they can afford in Hamilton, they will go elsewhere."

Danko, however, argued developers see the province's expansion plan as their gold rush" - a chance to cash in on" land they've held for decades.

Late last year, the now-outgoing council voted 13-3 to draft an official plan that mapped out a firm urban-boundary growth plan that aimed to accommodate a projected 236,000 new residents by the year 2051.

Planning staff, however, had recommended an ambitious density" growth scenario that involved an urban expansion - but smaller than the current one ordered by the province - in Elfrida, and along Twenty Road West and Twenty Road East.

Based on studies and consulting reports, the strategy was predicated, in part, on the province's market-based approach to land needs, which weighs what types of housing, ranging from single-detached homes to apartments, consumers will demand.

But other planning experts have contended allowing gentle density" on underutilized lots in neighbourhoods zoned for detached or semi-detached homes could achieve growth targets.

Wilson, meanwhile, says policy decisions today that enable sprawl can lead to environmental degradation, including contaminated local waterways, down the road.

All of these things have to be dissected and illuminated for the public to understand that this is not going to be without consequence."

Staff are scheduled to present a report to incoming councillors on the province's decision on Nov. 29.

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

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