{"id":730902,"date":"2022-07-05T14:08:01","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T14:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/environmentaldefence.ca\/?p=34279"},"modified":"2022-07-05T14:08:01","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T14:08:01","slug":"york-region-passes-illegal-official-plan-testing-ontario-governments-commitment-to-not-touch-the-greenbelt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/07\/05\/york-region-passes-illegal-official-plan-testing-ontario-governments-commitment-to-not-touch-the-greenbelt\/","title":{"rendered":"York Region passes illegal Official Plan, testing Ontario Government\u2019s commitment to not \u201ctouch\u201d the Greenbelt"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, STOP SPRAWL YORK REGION<\/p>\n

One third of Council votes against the Plan<\/em><\/p>\n

Toronto | Traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation \u2013 After a complex series of last-minute motions and closed-door sessions last Thursday that made it difficult for Councillors \u2013 let alone residents \u2013 to discern what was being debated, York Region appears to have presented Minister of Municipal Affairs, Steve Clark, with an unlawful Official Plan (OP) that purports to mark four protected Oak Ridges Moraine and Greenbelt properties for destruction. No other municipal government has done this since the Greenbelt was created in 2005.<\/p>\n

Municipal governments do not have the power to remove protections from Greenbelt and Oak Ridges Moraine land. However, the surprise move seems calculated to entice the Minister into approving York Region\u2019s Official Plan and using provincial powers to remove Greenbelt protection. This would break the provincial government\u2019s clear and oft-repeated promise that it \u201cwon\u2019t touch the Greenbelt, we won\u2019t build on the Greenbelt.\u201d<\/p>\n

This last minute power-play \u2013 led by a pair of notoriously pro-sprawl councillors \u2013 has now drawn York Region into open defiance of some of Ontario\u2019s most important and most popular environmental protection laws. First, Whitchurch-Stouffville Mayor Ian Lovatt pushed through a Committee of the Whole motion to swallow two segments of the Oak Ridges Moraine. At the June 30th Regional Council meeting, Council initially decided to take those out of the OP. But then, after Vaughan\u2019s Regional Councillor Linda Jackson brought two Greenbelt areas in Vaughan into the OP at the last minute, defying both procedural bylaws and disrespecting the typical process of having staff reports and support for development proposals, pro-sprawl Councillors also forced the inclusion of Lovatt’s Greenbelt grab.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of Council decided to go all in with their requests for Greenbelt destruction. It was a race to the bottom meeting one might use in a civic class as an example of terrible governance,\u201d said Claire Malcolmson, Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition\u2019s Executive Director.<\/p>\n

Despite a massive glut of existing greenfield land that is more than sufficient to meet housing need up to 2051, the Council\u2019s pro-sprawl axis forced through a 7,785 acre expansion of development in farmland at triple the current rate, for 30 straight years.<\/p>\n

Those watching the meeting were dizzied by the back and forth, with Council going into closed sessions multiple times to get legal advice from staff. Mayor Margaret Quirk of Georgina described the gong show: \u201cwe\u2019re pulling apart cotton candy,\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like this in my 17 years of being in government.\u201d<\/p>\n

On one occasion, after the vote to add Vaughan\u2019s contested Oak Ridges Moraine Rizmi lands into the Official Plan failed, Council went into closed session, re-voted, and then supported the inclusion of the Rizmi lands in the OP. This significant decision was introduced as a \u201cminor amendment\u201d to the OP by Jackson, saying, \u201cI just want to add these two addresses to the motion.\u201d Despite the clerk and legal staff both saying \u2018this is not how it\u2019s done\u2019, Jackson won, with no interference from Chair Emmerson. Her last minute amendment has the effect of adding 250 acres of Oak Ridges Moraine land for development.<\/p>\n

\u201cCouncil manipulated the process to get the lands that they wanted included in the Official Plan. All of it is beyond what York Region needs to meet the population and employment minimums mandated by the province,\u201d said Irene Ford, Stop Sprawl York Region member and Vaughan resident. \u201cWill the province approve an Official Plan that was endorsed in a way that makes a joke of York Region\u2019s procedure bylaw, possibly their code of conduct, is not in provincial conformity, and can\u2019t be endorsed by York Region professional planners?\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who voted in favour of the Official Plan are: unelected Chair Wayne Emmerson, all four Vaughan representatives: Mayor Mario Bevilacqua, Linda Jackson, Gino Rosati, and Mario Ferri; East Gwillimbury Mayor Virginia Hackson; Whitchurch-Stoufville Mayor Iain Lovatt; Newmark representative Tom Vegh; Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti and representatives Joe Li and Jim Jones; and Richmond Hill Mayor David West, and representatives Joe DiPaola, and Carmine Perelli.<\/p>\n

Those who voted against the Official Plan are: Georgina Mayor Margaret Quirk and representative Rob Grossi, Newmarket Mayor John Taylor, Markham representatives Jack Heath and Don Hamilton, Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas, and King City Mayor Steve Pellegrini. All but Health and Hamilton represent Lake Simcoe watershed municipalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen decision-makers understand the ecological context of their decisions, they tend to make decisions that support sustainability. I think the vote shows that Lake Simcoe is teaching them about ecological limits,\u201d says Malcolmson.<\/p>\n

Luckily, York Region simply doesn\u2019t have the power to remove land from the Greenbelt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis appalling move by York Region\u2019s pro-sprawl councillors illustrates one of the key problems the Greenbelt was created to solve: left to their own devices, land speculators and their allies on municipal council would eventually find one excuse or another for stripping most farms or wetlands of Greenbelt protection,\u201d said Phil Pothen, Ontario Environment Program Manager at Environmental Defence. \u201cThe Greenbelt addressed that problem by removing local councillors’ power to ever approve development on land within its boundaries. The Provincial Government pledged repeatedly to Ontario voters that it will never strip any land protected by the Greenbelt Plan and last week’s illegal vote does nothing to absolve it of that commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca<\/a>): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.<\/p>\n

About STOP SPRAWL YORK REGION (<\/span>www.StopSprawlYR.ca<\/a>): <\/span>We are a collective of community leaders, organizations, and people who care about the future of York Region.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 30 \u2013<\/p>\n

For more information or to request an interview, please contact:<\/p>\n

Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, abraude@environmentaldefence.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Claire Malcolmson, Stop Sprawl York Region, <\/span>stopsprawlYR@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

The post York Region passes illegal Official Plan, testing Ontario Government’s commitment to not “touch” the Greenbelt<\/a> appeared first on Environmental Defence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Environmental Defence<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/div>\n

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, STOP SPRAWL YORK REGION One third of Council votes against the Plan Toronto | Traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee,…Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

The post York Region passes illegal Official Plan, testing Ontario Government\u2019s commitment to not \u201ctouch\u201d the Greenbelt<\/a> appeared first on Environmental Defence<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":717,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[529,24076],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730902"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/717"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730902"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":731057,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730902\/revisions\/731057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}