Regarding the Proposed…

Regarding the Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan (019-6216):

I understand balancing the needs of an increasing population with housing demands and maintaining the Greenbelt can be difficult. Ideally we wouldn't be expanding into the Greenbelt and instead favour higher density in already developed areas. However; in the absence of restructuring our cities, for the most part I feel the proposed changes are reasonable and I applaud the proposed addition to the Greenbelt with some exceptions.

My concern comes in regarding the type of development which may take place once these lands are available to developers. Government oversight would be ideal to create responsible developments which wont just put us in a situation where additional Greenbelt lands will need to be removed. I worry about a slippery slope where setting a president to open up Greenbelt lands will result in the need for more Greenbelt space to be developed in the future.

1) In the areas to be developed, ideally higher density housing such as low-rise condos vs. sprawling detached homes would be constructed to provide housing for more people at the expense of less land.

2) Condo units are less expensive than detached homes providing owned living space in reach of new people entering the housing market.

3) Simply placing sprawling neighbourhoods of detached homes in these spaces which will only accommodate small numbers of people and won't solve long term housing issues. That will require more creative thinking from experts in city planning.

Particular Concerns:

Map 6: The Rouge River and Duffins Creek located on either side of the proposed changes are likely wildlife corridors. Developing such a large swath of land between these two corridors may have negative impacts on wildlife. I would be resistant to developing in this location if wildlife impacts are unknown and the end result is creating only small slivers of Greenbelt lands around creeks between housing developments.

Map 10: Why develop this area of land so far from developed city limits? Rather than carve chunks of land out of otherwise uninterrupted Greenbelt areas, why not develop closer to the existing city limits on Rymal Road? We should be trying to reduce how far people need to travel between their homes and amenities.

Regarding the Greenbelt addition, wherever possible initiatives should be in place to improve lands to best best support the wildlife in those areas. Be it planting trees between fields as wind breaks and wildlife corridors to improving grasslands for the benefit of insects, birds, and small wildlife.

Thank you.