Please accept the following…

Please accept the following comments on the Proposed Policies adapted from A Place to Grow and Provincial Policy Statement to form a new provincial planning policy instrument.
1. Comments on “Generate an appropriate housing supply”

• Municipal intensification policies should focus on high rises in dense urban centers. These policies should not focus on lot severances in established residential areas as this would promote a tear-down culture and would change the landscape of these residential communities.

• Municipalities should be required to review their site control plan requirements. For a family wishing to do a simple addition on their home, the site control plan requirements are currently onerous, time intensive, and cost prohibitive.

• Regarding permitting more housing on farms, and residential lot creation on farms, the following comments are offered:
o The recent Bill/proposal to allow severance of lots on farm properties should not have been completely abandoned and the reasoning behind the decision to do so does not necessarily reflect the view of all members of the rural community.

While three lots per farm may have been an aggressive approach, consideration should be given to allow for complete severance of one lot per farm. Long term leasing options for an additional dwelling on a farm property should not be considered. Leasing additional homes on a solely owned farm property creates challenges with succession, inheritance, or in the circumstance of divorce or partnership breakdown.

2. Comments on “Make land available for development:

• Development should be focused on brownfield lands before considering use of greenfield or agriculturally zoned lands.

• Consider opportunities for alternate development on brownfield properties such as construction of agricultural greenhouses.

• Settlement areas should not be permitted on prime agricultural land.

3. Comments on “Provide infrastructure to support development”

• Consider creation of a water transit service between Niagara, Hamilton, Toronto and Oshawa as an alternate commuting option between these locations.

4. Comments on “Balance housing with resources”

• Settlement areas should not be permitted on prime agricultural land.