Comments in support of…

Comments in support of Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan:

(See attachment to this comment for reference and map information)

- Convey our full endorsement for the Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan issued by the province on November 4, 2022, as referenced in the Environment Registry of Ontario (ERO Number 019-6216) Greenbelt Act 2015.

- Ask for an update to the Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan to merge the lands outlined in Arial View #1 (not slated for ‘Greenbelt Removal’) to the lands outlined in Arial View #2 (proposed for ‘Greenbelt Removal’) to make a single, slightly larger zone outside the Greenbelt. This will derive the benefits of the MTSA around the Grimsby GO Train Station. The LAE is the transportation asset that drives the development for a TOC for Grimsby.

- Emphasize to the province the importance of the future transportation asset that is the LAE to the growth plan for Grimsby and the Region of Niagara. The MTSA lands and LAE outlined in Arial View #1 must be merged into the ‘Greenbelt Removal’ land shown in Arial View #2 in the finalized Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan.

- Ask the province to update the map in the Proposed Amendments to Greenbelt Plan issued by the province on November 4, 2022, to show the vital transportation asset the LAE. As it is now missing from the map it is misleading to the reader.

- Ask the province to reconsider/reverse a terrible decision made by the previous provincial government during the 2015 Coordinated Review for ‘Areas for Consideration of Adjustments to the Greenbelt Plan’. At that time the Town of Grimsby made a petition to the province to exchange 150 ha (over 370 acres) of land on the escarpment that lacked infrastructure and was not in the Greenbelt for 100 ha (247 acres) of land in west Grimsby below the escarpment in the proximity of the LAE that had significant infrastructure but was included as Greenbelt. The provincial decision was to add the 150-ha parcel into the Greenbelt but to deny removing any lands what-so-ever from within the Greenbelt in Grimsby. The result was Grimsby now has virtually no land available outside the Greenbelt to develop as a result of this decision.