Please see attached letter…

Please see attached letter from Mayor John Taylor, Town of Newmarket. The text of the letter is reproduced below:

Please accept this letter as input to the Provincially Significant Employment Zones component of the proposed amendment to the Provincial Growth Plan.

It is noted that the proposed amendment provides for a one-time window for employment area conversions outside of a Municipally Comprehensive Review. However, the wording in the amendment does not explicitly state that such conversion requests must be municipally-initiated. It is therefore requested that the proposed amendment be revised such that employment area conversions requests outside of a Municipally Comprehensive Review must be municipally-initiated.

If the above revision is not possible, please accept this letter as a formal request to designate the Town of Newmarket’s employment area along Highway 404, as set out on the attached map, as a Provincially Significant Employment Zone based on the following rationale.

Central York’s employment areas are a largely contiguous area of developable land, strategically situated adjacent to a provincial highway (Highway 404), and are within existing settlement area boundaries. These areas currently provide a high concentration of employment and economic output, and are essential not only to the economies of the local municipalities but to the economy of the region as a whole. Specific to Newmarket, the area shown on the attached map provides over 590 acres of valuable employment area and accounts for close to 8,000 jobs.

The vast majority of the proposed Provincially Significant Employment Zones are located in southern parts of York Region and other parts of the GTHA. The creation of a Provincially Significant Employment Zone in central York Region will protect employment close to the significant and growing populations of Newmarket, Aurora and East Gwillimbury. This will ensure that the residents of these communities will have increased opportunities to work close to where they live, thereby decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with longer-distance commuting.

Central York’s employment areas are currently under growing conversion pressure to non-employment uses and are at risk of encroachment by sensitive land uses. Designating these areas as a Provincially Significant Employment Zone will ensure their protection thus protecting existing jobs and providing for future jobs over the long term.