For ERO 019-8462. The…

For ERO 019-8462.

The Greenbelt Act states there is a requirement to “ensure that a review of the Greenbelt Plan is carried out every 10 years after the Greenbelt Plan comes into force to determine whether it should be revised”. This review provides an opportunity for municipalities to request Greenbelt Area boundary revisions by way of a Co-Ordinated Land Use Planning Review Panel. At this time, with housing shortages as well as climate concerns, there has been emphasis on making large investments in mass public transportation to allow for intensification of housing developments in built-up urban areas. The new proposed Provincial Planning Policy instrument must incorporate wording to allow revisions as permitted by the Greenbelt Act in its Regular reviews of plan section. Especially to allow for the expansion of municipal Urban Settlement Areas (SINCE THE PLANNING ACT - BILL 185 - DOES NOT ALLOW URBAN EXPANSION INTO GREENBELT LANDS).

Specific to the thought on “ability of the updated proposed policy to make land available for development” presented in ERO 019-8462, we feel the new proposed policy falls short of providing a clear path to make Greenbelt Plan boundary revisions that would allow an Urban Settlement Area to expand into a Major Transit Station Area (MTSA).

We would like the Provincial Planning Policy instrument updated to provide a mechanism to allow for a re-evaluation of Greenbelt designated lands to permit a municipal Urban Settlement Area expansion into the Greenbelt – on the condition where lands are a)in a defined MTSA b) in an urban area with existing built-up infrastructure that is near a town centre and amenities c) included in the Greenbelt by mistake or does NOT have the characteristics to be designated as Greenbelt lands based on selection criteria rules.

Reference the attached MS-Word document 'CommentForERO019-8462' for a complete outline of our feedback as well as refence to other attached 'EXHIBIT' documents in Supporting Documents.