Niagara Region staff…

Niagara Region staff appreciates the Province’s commitment to providing more housing across Ontario and the opportunity to provide comments on the proposed Provincial Planning Statement (PPS, 2023). Niagara Region supports the Province’s commitment on improving the efficiency of the land use planning system.

Although there are several beneficial changes aimed at improving the efficiency of the land use planning system in the proposed PPS 2023, there are several key areas where Niagara Region staff have concerns:
• Permitting lot creation in prime agricultural areas;
• Changes to the definition of “employment areas” and other changes impacting employment lands;
• Policies that specifically restrict municipalities from going beyond the minimum standards of the proposed PPS, 2023;
• Ad hoc nature of settlement area expansion and a lack of minimum intensification targets;
• Elimination of the definition of “affordable” housing; and
• Deferral of natural heritage polices.

Please see attached a cover letter and 3 tables that provide Niagara Region staff’s comments on ERO posting 019-6813:
•Table 1 – Comments on the ERO questions
•Table 2 – Comments and Recommendations on the proposed PPS, 2023
•Table 3 – Comments on the ‘Proposed Approach to Implementation of the proposed Provincial Policy Statement’ document

Thank you