Ford government to reverse recent urban boundary expansions
The Ontario government says it will reverse controversial expansions it made to the urban boundaries of some municipalities as part of its plan to build more homes.
Housing Minister Paul Calandra said Monday he would soon introduce legislation that will wind back provincial changes to the "official plans" of the following municipalities and regional municipalities:
Barrie
Belleville
Guelph
Hamilton
Ottawa
City of Peterborough
Halton Region
Niagara Region
Peel Region
Waterloo Region
York Region
Wellington County
Calandra said he has been reviewing past decisions of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to ensure they were made in a "manner that maintains and reinforces public trust."
He said "it is clear" the changes made to urban boundaries "failed to meet that test." Calandra added there was "too much involvement from the minister's office, too much involvement from individuals in the minister's office" in those decisions.
Some municipalities, including Hamilton, have said the boundary expansions were not needed to build housing. Calandra said the legislation will roll back the plans, so that only those plans submitted by the municipalities themselves before provincial changes were imposed remain.
Municipalities have 45 days to request any revisions to their original submissions.
MPP Steve Clark was housing minister at the time the changes were introduced. He resigned from that post in the wake of two damning reports about his involvement in removing 15 parcels of land from the Greenbelt for development.
Earlier this month, Calandra introduced legislation to return those lands to the Greenbelt while also insulating the government from any legal action from developers affected by the move. Calandra said Monday that the pending legislation to reverse boundary changes would similarly include provisions to protect the government from legal consequences.
Calandra also said he has nearly completed an ongoing review of Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs) approved under Clark's tenure. MZOs effectively override local planning and bylaws, and Clark issued dozens of them during his time as minister. Ontario's auditor general is currently investigating the ministry's process for selecting and approving MZOs.
More to come.
