Please consider the…

Please consider the following ERO submission with the supporting attached documents to help highlight a specific area within Haldimand County primed for growth and true prosperity. Not only will these lands supply future and desperately needed housing units, but a greater sense of community within a beautiful County many have not yet discovered. Thank you for your consideration.

On August 30, 2022, Haldimand County adopted Official Plan Amendment 69 (“OPA 69”) by By-law 1320-HC/22. OPA 69 is now before the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for a decision on several policy matters including affordable housing and land use designations, accordance with sections 17 and 26 of the Planning Act. As such, the consultation process is now underway, permitting interested parties to submit comments on the ERO # 019-6038 posting.

Overview
We are owners adjacent to the northern boundary of the Caledonia Urban Area in Haldimand County. A settlement boundary expansion request was submitted by Urban in Mind Planning Consultants to Haldimand County as part of their Official Plan Update, requesting that our parcel, be included in the Caledonia Settlement Area. This expansion request was not included in OPA 69 as adopted by the County in 2022.

Context
As discussed below and as delineated on Schedule A and the enclosed Development Concept Plan, we believe that, through the Province’s approval of Haldimand County OPA 69, this area should be included in the Caledonia settlement area, notwithstanding the County recommendation made in 2022.

The County’s growth conformity exercise began in 2020 and did not benefit from the More Homes Faster legislation introduced in 2023. This presents an opportunity to be proactive and ensure that the land needed to address the province’s unprecedented housing shortage is available for development in a timely manner.

Furthermore, in November 2022 the federal government announced that annual immigration levels would be increased to 500,000 by 2025 in order to address Canada’s labour shortages and demographic changes. As over 40% of all immigrants settle in Ontario there is a need to anticipate greater demands for housing. It is also requested that the lands be designated to the Residential land use designation, save and except where they are designated Riverine Hazard Lands.

Proposed Provincial Planning Statement
On April 6, 2023, the proposed new Provincial Planning Statement (PPS) was released, amalgamating the policies of the Growth Plan and Provincial Policy Statement into a single planning instrument to increase housing supply, create more jobs, and attract business investments. Through the proposed PPS, policies are grouped under five pillars:
1. Generate an appropriate housing supply;
2. Make land available for development;
3. Provide infrastructure to support development;
4. Balance housing with resources; and,
5. Implementation.

The policies proposed would:

• Require municipalities to align land use planning policies more closely with housing policies, including addressing homelessness and facilitating development of a full range of housing options and affordability levels to meet local needs.

• Require municipalities to plan for a minimum 25-year horizon, maintain a 15-year residential land supply, and maintain land with servicing capacity for a 3-year supply of residential units.

• Provide a simplified and flexible approach for municipalities to undertake settlement area boundary expansions. Municipalities would be allowed to create new Settlement Areas and would not be required to demonstrate the need for expansion. This allows municipalities to make changes to their settlement area boundaries more quickly and easily to increase the supply of housing and jobs.

To demonstrate the consistency of the expansion and redesignation request, a draft concept plan has been prepared for the expansion lands proposed in this submission. This preliminary concept demonstrates that an additional 6,384 units could be brought to Caledonia. Based on the expansion area of 482 hectares, the overall density is estimated to be 13.24 units per hectare.

This development would directly contribute to the range of housing options available in the County, at a range of affordability levels to better meet local needs. In this way, the proposal supports the Province’s growth management objectives of encouraging communities to develop in ways that expand housing and economic opportunities. Additionally, as the request is for a settlement area expansion, the request is consistent with the proposed policy direction to make land available to expediently build houses to meet growing demand and address the housing crisis.

We are ready, willing, and able to get shovels in the ground on an expedited basis once these lands are included in the Settlement Area.

Further, we will work with appropriate public authorities to ensure that any infrastructure required to support the development of these lands is planned, implemented, and constructed.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this request. We appreciate your consideration and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned. We would also be pleased to arrange a meeting to discuss the request in greater detail.