Be fair to municipal…

Be fair to municipal taxpayers

As a taxpayer, I am very very concerned about proposed changes to the Provincial Planning Statement that will make our communities more expensive to maintain.
One of these is the elimination of mandatory intensification and density targets for all municipalities. These targets encouraged municipalities to concentrate housing, businesses and services in transit-served core areas. Removing them encourages urban sprawl.
I am greatly concerned, as well, that municipalities might be allowed to expand settlement areas at any time without a comprehensive review of associated infrastructure needs or potential impacts on farmland and natural areas.
For a property taxpayer like me that means more and more and more roads, sewers, water mains, sidewalks and bike lanes to maintain as our municipalities stretch further and further into the countryside. Especially since the provincial government is also cutting back development charges, the only person left to pay for all this is me.
It's not fair.

It seems this government has no interest in being fair, but I expect, and I hope, that provincial staff will be thoughtful and just and ensure we have reasonable land use planning guidelines.