While it won’t be possible to develop every last hectare, Steve Clark’s additions — released on November 4 and non-appealable — have increased the 1,281 hectare urban extension council approved in May 2020 by around 50 per cent. “This is going to create more urban sprawl. It’s going to be expensive for taxpayers,” Mayor Jim Watson told reporters after his last council meeting Wednesday. Watson criticized the province for signing off on the city’s official plan without consultation, behind closed doors and after the Oct. 24 municipal election — despite receiving it nearly a year ago. The city of Ottawa received extensive community feedback over many months in 2020 and 2021. Watson said when he was minister of municipal affairs before 2010, official plans would see “minor tweaks,” not “massive changes.” “What else can I say, other than deeply disappointed that the province is treating its second largest city in this paternalistic way,” Watson said.
Several hundred hectares is not recommended
The Ford government, however, has pushed to aggressively boost housing supply as it pledges to make housing more affordable. It has set Ottawa a target of 151,000 more homes over a decade, double what Ottawa had predicted it needed. Clark’s press secretary, Victoria Podbielski, said in a statement that all levels of government must prepare for population growth, especially with the federal government targeting 1.5 million new immigrants by 2025. “Official plans are among the most important tools that municipalities and the province use collaboratively to prepare for future development and housing needs,” he wrote. That is why, after careful consideration, the Minister has taken the necessary action to accommodate this significant growth and allow desperately needed housing to be built.” Clark’s official notice of approval included a map showing the largest additions to the urban boundary were north of Kanata, west of Findlay Creek and in a rural area near Riverside South in the area of the future Bowesville LRT station. Councilors had discussed the parcel-by-parcel options in the winter of 2021, and city staff have already briefed the city council on how they scored — using criteria such as their proximity to pipes and transit:
In South March, the 175 hectares scored well but the council had ruled them out in favor of the Tewin proposal. Claridge Homes, eQ Homes, Uniform Developments, Multivesco and Minto issued a statement at the time saying the policy had taken over the agreed grading process. The 106ha near the future Bowesville LRT scored well. In Stittsville, 65 hectares on Fernbank Road had service issues and was protected species habitat. Another 14 acres at Flewellyn and Shea roads on the edge of Stittsville is not recommended because of an active court case. Staff rated 207 acres west of Findlay Creek poorly because of a lack of city infrastructure. There were 50 hectares west of Findlay Creek that were not graded as they are too close to an active quarry. Finally, 37 hectares in Orléans were not assessed because they are classified as an agricultural resource.
On average, 38.9 homes are being built per hectare in Ottawa on such open areas called “greenfields,” according to a planning commission report last month.
Rural communities should be worried, councilor says
Coun. Scott Moffatt, who co-chairs the planning commission and ends his term on the council Monday, was not surprised the province expanded the urban boundary given that its housing goals far exceed the city’s. The South March lands were “easy pickings” for the government, he said. But Moffatt has long supported the protection of good farmland and is far more concerned that the government has chosen to add those 37 hectares to Orléans. Scott Moffatt says the province’s decision to expand urban boundaries should be about rural and agricultural communities. (Kate Porter/CBC) Moffatt said he would prefer the government first look at how Bill 23’s intensification policies could boost housing supply — it plans to allow triplexes on every residential lot, for example — before it also expands suburbs. By doing both at the same time, there’s less incentive to meet the city’s goal of building densely where services already exist, he said. “The message it sends is we can just keep growing. And that should be about the rural communities. That should be about the rural community,” Moffatt said. However, Ottawa is not alone. The provincial government approved the city of Hamilton’s official plan on the same day as Ottawa – and added 2,200 hectares there as well, even though council had voted to house all of its future population through intensification and keep the existing urban line -agricultural. Also on November 4, the Ford government released a proposal to build 50,000 homes on greenbelt land in the Toronto area, after previously promising not to open any of that land up for development. Watson said it will be up to the incoming Ottawa city council to be “strong” and “push back some of the things the province is trying to force on us.”
