As the Councillor for Ward…

As the Councillor for Ward 13, and Pleasant View in particular, I support the amendment to include the area in Development Control under the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Commission:

(a) Fundamental regulations and vision were applied in this area through the Provincial Parkway Belt West Plan which was implemented in 1973 to freeze development and limit it to agricultural and existing uses.

(b) A six-week-long Ontario Municipal Board Hearing’s Decision, and the subsequent ruling by the same OMB Member in an additional Decision to specifically provide the necessary Zoning By-law language, formed the required regulations for the area which engrained protective limitations within our local regulations.

(c) Several layers of protection have, over the years, been added to ensure compliance with the OMB Decision and the Zoning and to preserve this limitation of lot size, and other pertinent regulations – including the current Official Plan and Provincial Amendment 179 which included the Pleasant View Area in the Niagara Escarpment Plan;

(d) The proximity and importance to the Cootes Paradise and the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System substantiates the relevance of those 1995 & 1998 Decisions and the subsequent layers of regulatory protections for this area.

(e) Both the Niagara Escarpment Commission and Hamilton City Council have formally expressed their support for the inclusion of Development Control on the Pleasant View Survey Lands.

In light of my many years representing this area – as a former Town of Dundas Councillor, Hamilton Ward 13 Constituent Assistant, and current City of Hamilton Councillor, my understanding and support for the Pleasant View restrictions, the Dundas and Pleasant View community, the goals of the Niagara Escarpment Plan, and the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System Plan, I wanted to take the opportunity to express why I wholeheartedly support the application of Development Control on the Pleasant View Survey lands and hope this can be implemented as quickly as possible.

These layers of protection reflect the mission, vision and values of the neighbourhood, the overall community, the municipal and provincial governments, and the partners in the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System and respond to the community which has so valiantly upheld them.