To Whom It May Concern, The…

To Whom It May Concern,

The City of Brampton appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the proposed
changes outlined through the Environmental Registry Ontario posting regarding the Review of a
Place to Grow and Provincial Policy Statement and Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan. In
addition to the comments previously submitted to the Environmental Registry of Ontario,
Brampton Council passed the following motion (PDC199-2022) on November 28, 2022:
That Planning and Development Services staff be directed to submit additional
comments to the Province and immediately meet with Provincial staff on ERO
019-06217, to explore the potential as it relates to the signed Minutes of
Settlement (April 2018) between the Corporation and Brampton Brick Ltd. for the
purposes of attempting to resolve the long outstanding matter of the Norval
Quarry.

1. Background
Regional Official Plan Amendment (ROPA) 32 was adopted by Regional Council on July 11,
2019. The amendment deleted and replaced the shale protection policies of the Regional
Official Plan that apply within the North West Brampton Policy Area with new policies. The new
policies adopted by the Region continue to identify and protect shale resources in the Provincial
Greenbelt Plan Area and retain permission for shale extraction without the need for an official
plan amendment in the North West Brampton Urban Development Area and in the Greenbelt
Plan Area.

On August 1, 2019 the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) appealed Regional
Council’s decision on the basis that ROPA 32 was not consistent with the Provincial Policy
Statement 2014 (PPS 2014) and failed to conform and conflicts with the Growth Plan for the
Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2019 (the Growth Plan). The Provincial appeal noted concerns that
the amendment removes shale resource protection and mapping in the urban area of North
West Brampton and does not conserve or utilize mineral aggregate resources in advance of
development proceeding.

Status of the ROPA 32 Appeal
On February 7, 2020 the LPAT held a case management conference. In addition to the Region
and MMAH, the following entities were given party status: City of Brampton, North West
Brampton Landowners Group, Osmington Ltd., Brampton Brick, Halton Region and the Town of
Halton Hills.

The Tribunal also directed that the MMAH further clarify and scope its proposed Issues List to
allow for focused discussion on the issues which are to be adjudicated in this matter and the
focusing of evidence which must be called to address those issues. In order to refine the Issues
List, the Tribunal requested the Region and MMAH conduct further communications including
discussion of opportunities to resolve issues.

Provincial Modifications to ROPA 32
Following the February 2020 LPAT case management conference, Regional and City of
Brampton staff held a series of meetings with provincial staff to discuss opportunities for
resolution of their appeal. During these discussions, the provincial staff provided recommended
modifications to ROPA 32 on a without prejudice basis in order to address the provincial
concerns. Through discussion with MMAH and City of Brampton staff, Regional staff were able
to reach a potential settlement to modify the policies in ROPA 32 with wording agreeable to
these parties and subject to endorsement of the modifications by the City of Brampton and
Region of Peel Councils. These proposed modifications are summarized as follows:

i) the addition of a new policy in ROPA 32 directing the City or an applicant to
undertake a study to determine the feasibility and economic viability of recovering
shale resources prior to, or in conjunction with, proposed draft plans of
subdivision or site plans for major development or redevelopment. The study is
only required when the application for development is on known shale deposits in
the North West Brampton Urban Development Area. The proposed regional
policy direction requires the City of Brampton to provide mapping identifying the
location of known deposits to identify where feasibility studies may be required.
The Approved ROPA 32 including mapping of the location of known deposits in
the North West Brampton Urban Development Area is included in Appendix 1 for
reference.
ii) revising of the policy directing that permitted shale extraction within the North
West Brampton Urban Development Area not unduly restrict alternatives for the
planning of a North-South Transportation Corridor or alternatives for other
infrastructure and transportation uses. The proposed revisions updated the
terminology in the policy to reflect the wording used in the Provincial Policy
Statement, 2020 and the current titles of the corridor protection studies (i.e. the
GTA West Transportation Corridor Study and the Transmission Corridor
Identification Study).
iii) amend the mapping of High Potential Mineral Aggregate Resources Areas
(HPMARA) within the Greenbelt Plan Area by adding areas that have an
overburden thickness of up to 15 meters. The adopted mapping in ROPA 32
identifies HPMARA (accessible shale resources) within the Greenbelt up to an
overburden thickness of 8 meters. The added areas were requested by
Provincial staff to reflect the Province’s recommended standard for mapping of
shale resources.

The overall intent of the proposed modifications was firstly, to identify and recover as much
shale resource as is possible from within North West Brampton before the resource is
inaccessible due to urban development and secondly, to ensure that the appropriate references
to corridor protection areas are reflected in the amendment. The proposed policies are
consistent with provincial policy, conform to the applicable provincial plans that are in effect and
reflective of MMAH priorities at the time.

In addition to the above, the provincial appeal letter identified an issue relating to corridor
protection from urban development. Based on information provided to provincial staff that
corridor protection in relation to urban development is currently in place or being updated and
addressed through the Peel 2041 Official Plan Review, the Province was satisfied that this issue
could be withdrawn on the basis that satisfactory provisions be included in the Minutes of
Settlement.

Threat of the Norval Quarry
In December 2008, Brampton Brick Ltd. submitted an application to the City of Brampton to
rezone 34.9 hectares (97 acres) on the east side of Winston Churchill Boulevard, north of Old
Pine Crest Road for the development of a shale quarry and related uses. The subject lands are
situated within the Provincial Greenbelt Area of north west Brampton (see Appendix 2).
In January 2011, Brampton Brick Ltd. appealed its rezoning application to the Ontario Municipal
Board (OMB). The initial pre-hearing conference has not been scheduled to date. Due to the
appeal, Council no longer has jurisdiction on the rezoning application.
Brampton Brick Ltd. submitted an application for an Aggregate Resources Act Licence to the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) on August 12, 2010. During the initial
objection period, the City of Brampton filed an objection in December 2010 on the grounds that
the subject site was not zoned for the proposed quarry use and that there were outstanding
concerns related to land use planning, transportation, natural environment, hydrogeology,
surficial soil, visual, noise, cultural and social impacts, as determined by the initial peer review
exercise. In September 2012, City Council confirmed its objection to the ARA Licence
application.

In April of 2018, the City of Brampton and Brampton Brick reached a settlement with respect to
their application for a Zoning By-law Amendment as well as a license under the Aggregate
Resources Act to pursue a quarry for shale extraction operation and related uses on their lands
within the Greenbelt. The settlement obligated the City of Brampton, as part of the Official Plan
review to consider whether portions of the lands could be removed from the Greenbelt Plan
through a request to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Ultimately, the City does not have the authority to grant removal of the lands from the Greenbelt,
that is the jurisdiction of the Province. Planning staff have conveyed to representatives of
Brampton Brick that we are prepared to include their client’s lands as part of the City’s Official
Plan Review process, as per our obligations in the Minutes of Settlement, for the purpose of
determining whether or not to request that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing remove
Brampton Brick’s lands from the Greenbelt.

Heritage Heights Secondary Plan
The Heritage Heights Secondary Plan functions as the north-western gateway to the City of
Brampton from the neighbouring municipalities of Halton Hills and Caledon. The Heritage
Heights Area is planned to undergo significant change in the future with the construction of the
Higher-order transit facilities, and sustainable transportation infrastructure, which will be
catalysts in transforming the Secondary Plan Area from mainly rural lands into an urban, mixed-use, vibrant, and transit-supported community. The area is to be planned to accommodate
approximately 124,000 people (35,855 units) and 43,000 jobs. Through the development of the
Plan, the City recognized the limitations of the aggregate designations imposed on the urban
area and within the Greenbelt, and the requirements of development within the Urban Area
having to provide mitigative measures as to not preclude or hinder quarry operations (inclusive
of separation, buffering and mitigation for any negative impacts resulting from extractive
activities). The City at the time of drafting the Heritage Heights Plan, recognized how the
aggregate policy imposed by MMAH may limit the ability of the Urban Area to be fully realized
based on the extent of HPMARA within the Greenbelt. It should also be noted, notwithstanding
development constraints associated with the proposed provincial highway, the lands adjacent to
the greenbelt are serviceable through regional infrastructure located along Bovaird Drive West.

2. Recommendations
The City of Brampton does not believe that any quarry in Greenbelt lands within the City of
Brampton is appropriate, and believes such extractive uses will have negative consequences of
delivering communities within the adjacent urban area and the long term delivery of Heritage
Heights. As such the City of Brampton requests that:
Brampton Brick lands (Appendix 2) to be brought into the urban boundary to permit
urban uses;
Policies permitting aggregate resource extraction within Brampton's Greenbelt, imposed
by MMHA and the Region of Peel be removed from the Growth Plan and Greenbelt Act,
eliminating any threat of a future Quarry within the City of Brampton; and
aggregate policies imposed by MMAH within ROPA 32 be rescinded to simplify the
development process within Brampton’s remaining Greenfield area.

There is significant growth occurring in the City and these policies play a key role in guiding how
this growth will ensure the overall health and well-being of Brampton residents, its economy and
environment.

The City of Brampton would like to thank the Province for the opportunity to provide feedback on
the Environmental Registry of Ontario posting. Please let us know if you have any further
questions.

Sincerely,
Steve Ganesh, MCIP, RPP
Commissioner (A),
Planning, Building and Growth Management
City of Brampton