HomeMy WebLinkAboutDSD-2021-5 - Regional Official Plan ReviewStaffRepoit
Development Services Department
REPORT TO: Planning & Strategic Initiatives Committee
DATE OF MEETING: March 8, 2021
J
K, R
www.kitchener.ca
SUBMITTED BY: Bustamante, Rosa, Director of Planning, 519-741-2200 ext.
7319
PREPARED BY: Donegani, Tim, Senior Planner, 519-741-2200 ext. 7067
WARD(S) INVOLVED: All Wards
DATE OF REPORT: February 22, 2021
REPORT NO.: DSD -2021-5
SUBJECT: Regional Official Plan Review
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the comments included as Attachment A to Staff Report DSD -2021-5 (Regional
Official Plan Review) be endorsed; and further,
THAT staff be directed to forward this Staff Report DSD -2021-5 and Council's
comments to the Region of Waterloo for the Region's consideration in the update to
the Region's Official Plan.
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS:
• The purpose of this report is to:
• enhance understanding of how the Regional Official Plan affects planning in
Kitchener;
• describe the scope and progress to date of the Regional Official Plan review;
• seek Council endorsement of key City comments on the Regional Official Plan
review; and
• outline next steps in the Regional Official Plan review process and subsequent
implications for the City's Official Plan.
• To date, City and Regional staff agree on most key issues emerging from the Regional
Official Plan Review process. Staff are seeking Council endorsement of key City
comments.
• There are currently no financial implications resulting from this report.
• Community engagement has been led by the Region and is being conducted primarily
online at https://www.engagewr.ca/regional-official-plan.
• This report supports the delivery of core services.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
*** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. ***
Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance.
The Region of Waterloo is updating its Official Plan to accommodate 366,000 more residents
and 194,000 jobs by 2051. The Regional Official Plan (ROP) has and will have a significant
impact on planning in Kitchener by establishing key policies which include defining the
countryside line to limit sprawl and establishing minimum targets for greenfield density and
residential intensification. Following the approval of the Region's Official Plan, the City will
be required to amend the City's Official Plan to conform to the ROP.
Key supportive comments on the Region's work to date:
• staff support the proposed Major Transit Station Area boundaries based on the
consistent application of criteria that are consistent with the new Growth Plan;
• staff support the alternative density target for the Block Line Station Area;
• staff support the proposed Regional Employment Areas and preliminary responses
to employment conversion requests;
• the ROP can and should do more to support housing affordability, for example by
strengthening condominium conversion policies, encouraging rental replacement,
and enabling the Cities to implement Inclusionary Zoning.
Key areas of potential concerns to date:
• staff support the concept of newly proposed Major Intensification Corridors in
principle, but additional analysis and consultation is required with a broad range of
city -building stakeholders;
• the role of and opportunity for local intensification and its implications on the need for
urban area expansion needs to be further considered by the Region; and
• tangible and implementable climate change policies are required to make a
meaningful impact.
The City's role in the Region's Official Plan Review project is to provide the Region with City
comments, concerns and opportunities throughout their process, recognizing that the City's
Official Plan will need to be amended following approval of the ROP. The ROP update will
be adopted by Regional Council and eventually approved by the Province in mid -2022. Staff
will keep City Council apprised of this project throughout 2021 at key milestones.
BACKGROUND:
The Waterloo Region Official Plan (ROP) is an important planning document that guides
decisions related to growth, development, and community investment across the Region. It
must be updated periodically in accordance with key Provincial planning documents such
as A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2020) and the
Provincial Policy Statement (2020). It outlines key planning ideas and policies including the
Countryside Line, the LRT central transit corridor, regional groundwater recharge area, and
intensification targets. Regional Council initiated this Review of the current ROP (2009) in
August 2018.
REPORT:
The Growth Plan 2020 is similar to the 2006 version. However, a few key changes to the
Growth Plan are driving significant components of the ROP review. For the first time, upper
tier Official Plans such as the Region's are required to:
• plan to the year 2051;
• establish detailed boundaries and intensification targets for Major Transit Station
Areas (MTSAs, e.g. around LRT stops in Kitchener's context);
• plan for a minimum intensification target of 50%, up from the 40% established in the
2006 Growth Plan;
• designate Regional Employment Areas which have strong protection policies; and
• follow a prescribed Land Needs Assessment methodology for determining the
amount of land needed to accommodate growth.
These Growth Plan changes mean that several key policy directions that were historically
determined at the City level will now be determined by the Region through the ROP.
The ROP review will amend the ROP with a planning horizon to 2051 that forecasts 923,000
people and 470,000 jobs throughout the Region - an increase of 366,000 people and
194,000 jobs from 2016. The Regional Official Plan Review (ROPR) is currently completing
phase 2 and beginning Phase 3 as shown in Figure 1. Phase 2 (from March 2019 to present)
focuses on research, analysis and a set of strategies, technical briefs and discussion papers
that explore issues and provide analysis to support updates to the ROP. This report is
organized according to these documents that include:
1. Regional Urban Structure;
2. Intensification Strategy (including the Urban Growth Centre, Major Transit Station
Areas and Regional Intensification Corridors);
3. Employment Strategy, Regional Employment Areas and Employment Conversion
Criteria;
4. Land Needs Assessment and Growth Scenarios (forthcoming)
5. Housing Policy Review;
6. Climate Action Policy Direction Paper;
7. Natural Heritage and Water Resources papers (forthcoming); and
8. Agricultural Systems paper (forthcoming).
The City's role in participating in the ROP Review is to provide comments on elements of
the ROP review. A Regional Official Plan amendment to implement the outcomes of the
ROP review will be adopted by the Region and eventually approved by the Province in
Phase 4 of the project. The Kitchener Official Plan must subsequently conform to and
provide more detail than the updated high-level policies that will be contained in the ROP.
Over the past 18 months, City staff have participated in the Area Municipal Working Group
and provided comments on the draft documents. Staff is now seeking City Council
endorsement of the key City comments included in Attachment A.
Figure 1 - Regional Official Plan Review Process and Timelines
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1. Regional Urban Structure
The Regional Urban Structure is a Waterloo Region -specific map of the key policy areas
from the Provincial Growth Plan. An excerpt of the proposed urban structure and
intensification areas in Figure 2 shows the municipal boundaries for each City, the limits of
the urban area, the built-up area, Regional employment areas and intensification areas such
as Major Transit Station Areas and Regional Intensification Corridors. These high-level
structuring elements provide the broad strokes of where we plan to grow in the Region.
Figure 2 - Draft Regional Urban Structure and Intensification Areas
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2. Intensification Strategy
The Draft Regional Intensification Strategy (2020) assesses the policy context, demographic
and socioeconomic drivers of intensification, historic trends and forecasted amount and type
of intensification to inform an appropriate intensification target for the Region. Furthermore,
the Strategy details the capacity for development within the built-up area including the Urban
Growth Centres, Major Transit Station Areas (MTSAs), and Regional Intensification
Corridors and throughout the rest of the Built-up Area. It also considers the development
potential of the intensification areas in local Official Plans such as Kitchener's City Nodes
and Urban Corridors identified on Map 2 of the City's Official Plan. The strategy
demonstrates that there is capacity in the Region's built-up area for an additional 172,000
people and 138,000 jobs to 2041. While the Strategy evaluates the water supply and
wastewater treatment implications of growth (Regional responsibilities), there is no
evaluation of water and wastewater pipes or stormwater management facilities which are
largely the responsibility of Area Municipalities.
The Regional Intensification Strategy is different than the Kitchener Growth Management
Strategy (2009). The latter will need to be updated after the ROP review is completed to
inform the next iteration of the City's Official Plan.
2.1 Urban Growth Centre
Downtown Kitchener is the City's Urban Growth Centre as shown on Map 2 of the City's
Official Plan and will continue to be a primary Regional and City focus for intensification
opportunities. There has been no change to the Growth Plan minimum density target of
200 residents and jobs per hectare (RJs/ha) by 2031 for Kitchener's Urban Growth Centre.
As outlined in DSD -20-157, the Kitchener Growth Management Strategy 2020 Annual
Monitoring Report, the Urban Growth Centre density was estimated to be 185 RJs/ha at
the end of 2019 and is on track to exceed the (higher) 225 RJs/ha density target
established in the City's Official Plan.
Key City comments: None
2.2 Major Transit Station Areas
Major Transit Station Areas (MTSAs) include the lands within 500-800 metres of existing
and planned LRT/ION stops or other forms of higher order transit. They are intended to be
the second -most important focus for intensification for municipalities after the Urban Growth
Centre. The Growth Plan requires MTSAs to be planned to achieve a minimum density of
160 RJs/ha in most cases.
Kitchener has completed a significant amount of planning work around MTSAs as part of
the Planning Around Rapid Transit Stations (PARTS) Project. This project included Phases
1-2 (2013-2014), the PARTS Central Plan (2016), the PARTS Rockway Plan (2017) and the
Parts Midtown Plan (2017). The Neighbourhood Planning Reviews are intended to
incorporate the PARTS Master Plans into the City's Official Plan, with updates to 7 of the
City's Secondary Plans and the application of zoning in accordance with the City's new
Zoning by-law 2019-051. Draft policies emerging from the Neighbourhood Planning Review
(NPR) project, including station area boundaries, and associated zoning regulations were
considered at a statutory public meeting held in December 2019. Work to update the Official
Plan and zoning for Downtown and the Block Line, Fairway and Sportsworld stations will
begin later this year.
Since the completion of the PARTS Plans, the Growth Plan underwent several changes in
2019 and 2020 and now requires the upper -tier municipality to delineate the boundaries and
minimum density targets for MTSAs in the ROP. Furthermore, the Growth Plan, 2020, also
requires each station stop have its own MTSA and not be combined with other stations. The
Growth Plan now requires the ROP to "maximize the extent" of station areas, even when
this includes low rise residential neighbourhoods. The Regional criteria for MTSAs generally
includes:
• the walking distance and pedestrian connectivity (walkability) to station stops;
• areas with high development potential within 800m;
• low rise residential neighbourhoods within 500m of the station;
• discretion regarding low rise residential neighbourhoods within 500-800m;
• the removal of large areas of floodplain or natural heritage features; and
• whole blocks and both sides of the street are treated consistently wherever possible.
Once City staff understood that, as a result of changes in the Growth Plan (2020), Regional
staff would not support the extent of the proposed MTSA boundaries determined in the
PARTS project which were previously considered by City Council, City staff were supportive
of reviewing all MTSA boundaries across the Region using a set of consistent criteria. This
resulted in the expansion of MTSA boundaries in some locations, the reduction or
contraction of MTSA boundaries in other areas as well as the division of the PARTS Central
MTSA boundaries as shown in Attachment B. It is important to note that the inclusion of a
property in an MTSA does not necessarily signify that the property is intended for major
change and/or intensification. Official Plan and Secondary plan policies within MTSAs will
provide land use designations and further policy direction regarding which lands are and are
not the focus for major change and/or intensification.
Planning staff intend to report to council on the status of the NPR, including the implications
of the ROP review in the coming months.
The Growth Plan provides for alternative MTSA density targets where the 160 RJs/ha
minimum cannot be met because of Provincial development restrictions or where the station
provides a transit point to a major trip generator. Any alternative target must be pre -approved
by the Province.
The Block Line Station area is severely constrained by natural heritage features, floodplain
and railway lands. It also provides a transfer to Conestoga College and is suitable for an
alternative target. City staff have reviewed and agree with the proposed alternative target
for Block Line Station of 80 RJs/ha.
Key City comments:
• The City supports the Region's proposed MTSA boundaries as shown in Attachment
B.
• The City supports the alternative target for Block Line of 80 RJs/ha.
• The City will continue to plan for densities greater than 160 RJs/ha in many station
areas.
2.3 Regional Intensification Corridors
The Growth Plan requires the Region to consider the identification of Other Regionally
Significant Intensification Areas beyond the Urban Growth Centres and MTSAs. The draft
Intensification Strategy included in the ROP Review identifies potential corridors shown in
Figure 2 including:
• Victoria Street North;
• Ottawa Street;
Manitou Drive and Homer Watson Boulevard; and
• Ira Needles Boulevard.
Planning for these new corridors supports future opportunities for higher order transit such
as Light Rail Transit or Bus Rapid Transit. Corridors are proposed to be planned to achieve
a minimum density of 100 RJs/ha in the long term. City staff are awaiting policy details
surrounding these corridors, but anticipate that the intensification corridor policies will be
less prescriptive than the Region's MTSA policies. Instead, Regional Intensification
Corridors should signal a long-term intent to align planning for higher order transit with transit
supportive development and densities. This is similar to how the ROP identified the Central
Transit Corridor for decades prior to the completion of ION phase 1 in 2019.
Key City comments:
• The City supports the identification of Regional Corridors in principle, provided
that the ROP policies are not overly prescriptive and do not redirect intensification
efforts away from the UGC and MTSAs.
• More work is needed to understand the infrastructure implications of these new
Regional Intensification Corridors. Additional consultation with a broad spectrum
of city -building stakeholders is required to build consensus and alignment and
deliver on a consistent vision for the Corridors. We look forward to ongoing
discussions on this matter.
• The Victoria Street North corridor is constrained by shallow lots and adjacent rail
and industrial uses, especially on the northwest side. This will limit the
opportunities for residential and mixed-use development.
• The Ottawa St corridor is likely the best candidate for a Regional Intensification
Corridor.
• The Manitou/Homer Watson corridor is constrained by the natural heritage system
and limited redevelopment opportunities. Planning to achieve 100 RJs/ha in this
corridor will be difficult.
• City staff is of the opinion that more analysis is required prior to establishing the
100 RJs/ha target in the ROP.
3. Employment Strategy and Regional Employment Area
The Employment Strategy assesses and evaluates employment growth in the Region to
2051, proposes Regional Employment Areas in the Regional Official Plan, establishes a
minimum density target for employment areas and identifies opportunities for
intensification on employment lands. This level of detail regarding employment areas is
new to the ROP and sets an important framework for employment areas for both the
Region and the Area Municipalities.
Regional Employment Areas are large areas intended to support business and industrial
activity that have Region -wide significance for current and future employment. The
Province recognized the slow erosion of employment areas over the last decade and
included strong employment area protections through the Growth Plan to ensure that large
areas that support the local and Regional economy would be protected from requests to
convert these sites to residential and major retail uses. The proposed Regional
Employment Area in Kitchener, shown in Attachment C, aligns closely with the City's
proposed Provincially Significant Employment Zones (PSEZ) as outlined in DSD -19-187.
Lands identified as Regional Employment Areas can only be considered for conversion to
non -employment uses at the time of a comprehensive review of the ROP. In addition to
the Regional Employment Areas, additional employment lands will continue to be
designated within the City's Official Plan and will serve a local employment function and
contribute to complete communities. However, these City -designated employment lands
will have future opportunities to request conversion to a non -employment use outside of a
comprehensive ROP review process.
The Region provided an opportunity for private and municipal requests for certain lands not
to be identified as Regional Employment Areas. Requests were evaluated based on
Provincial and Regional criteria and in consultation with City staff. Two landowner requests
within the City were recommended for inclusion from the Region's Employment Area: one
property located near the intersection of Goodrich and Wabanaki; and one located on Union
Street. Four privately -initiated requests were recommended for exclusion.
Key City Comments:
• The City generally supports the proposed Regional Employment Area and the
preliminary recommendations on conversion requests.
• The Regional Employment Area should not include any lands identified as Regional
Greenlands or City Natural Heritage Conservation designations.
• It is important that any Regional policies regarding commercial uses within Regional
Employment Areas be carefully crafted to ensure that a significant amount of
protected employment lands are not lost to commercial uses.
4. Growth Scenarios and Land Need Assessment
The Land Needs Assessment (LNA) uses a Provincially prescribed methodology to
determine the amount of land required to accommodate the 2051 population and
employment forecast. It will:
• evaluate a base case that uses the minimum residential intensification target of
50% annually, and minimum Greenfield density of 50 RJs/ha per the Growth Plan;
• consider two alternative scenarios with higher assumptions around the rate of
intensification and the density of Greenfield development;
• allocate population and employment growth, Greenfield density, and intensification
targets to the Area Municipalities to 2051; and
• determine the amount and location of land that may need to be added to the Urban
Area to accommodate growth.
The Growth Scenarios work will evaluate the most appropriate location for any Urban Area
expansion considering growth management, transportation, infrastructure, agriculture,
natural heritage, livability and economic development criteria. A financial impact
assessment will consider the cost of providing water, wastewater, roads and stormwater to
various candidate areas. This ROP review will also provide direction on the location of the
Countryside Line and Regional groundwater recharge area in southwest Kitchener.
The Region plans to release this work in March 2021 for consultation with further
refinement of a preferred growth scenario to continue into the summer and fall of 2021.
City staff plan to report back to City Council to provide comments on this key portion of the
ROP review.
Key City comments:
• The land needs assessment should continue to plan for growth in the Downtown
Kitchener Urban Growth Centre beyond 2031 and more than the minimum density
target of 200 RJs/ha; as well as beyond the minimum density target of 160 P+J per
hectare in many MTSAs.
Higher rates of intensification outside of intensification areas and a broader mix of
densities should be assumed in the LNA considering historic and emerging
development patterns and typologies and increasing demand for missing middle
housing (e.g. additional dwellings, backyard homes and duplexes). This approach
helps provide for the full range and mix of housing, complete communities,
opportunities to age in place, makes efficient use of existing infrastructure, provides
opportunities for gentle density in existing neighbourhoods and advances affordability
objectives.
• The Growth Scenario work should evaluate a scenario with no urban area expansions
and a transition to a 100% residential intensification target after the currently
Designated Greenfield Areas are developed.
5. Climate Change
The Region is using climate change as a lens to inform all components of the ROP review.
It has set an ambitious and wide-ranging set of directions. City staff await how these
directions will be translated into ROP policies.
Key City comments:
• City staff are encouraged by the ambition in the Policy Direction Paper.
While it is important to acknowledge the many long-standing planning objectives such as
planning for compact mixed-use development have positive climate impacts, the City
recommends that the ROP include a small set of impactful, tangible, and implementable
ROP climate policies. For example, the ROP could direct that Regional roads be developed
as complete streets, prohibit adding additional vehicle lanes, and be more selective in taking
land for road widenings through the development review process. A Regional policy
framework to encourage renewable energy production that fills the gap created by the
repeal of the Green Energy Green Economy Act could also be impactful.
6. Housing Policy Review
The Region provided a brief that addresses the range and mix of housing needs and focuses
on affordable housing. It considers strengthening policies governing conversion of existing
rental buildings to condominiums and establishing protected MTSAs (PMTSAs) to allow the
Cities to implement inclusionary zoning for affordable housing.
Key City comments:
• The condominium conversion policies in the ROP should be more stringent.
The ROP review should include municipality -specific housing mix targets.
The ROP review should consider policies that encourage or require rental
replacement for affordable units lost through redevelopment.
7. Natural Heritage
No significant policy changes are proposed for the Regional Greenland System. Minor
boundary adjustment are proposed to reflect updated modeling, fieldwork and to align with
the City Zoning By-law update (CRoZBy).
Key City comments: None.
8. Agriculture System
The ROP review includes recommendations on the candidate prime agricultural areas
identified by the Province in North Dumfries, Wilmot, Cambridge and Waterloo. No changes
are being considered for Kitchener's rural and agricultural areas.
Key City comments: None.
Timing and Next Steps
Intensification Strategy -
April 2021
MTSA boundary delineations and alternative density target requests
to Regional council
Employment Strategy -
April 2021
Draft Regional Employment and employment area conversion
requests to Regional Council
Land Needs assessment and growth scenarios
June 2021
Consultation on preferred growth scenario (including report to City
Spring/Summer
Council)
2021
Present Draft ROP amendment to Regional council
Fall 2021
Statuary Public Meeting to consider adopting growth related
Q1 2022
components of ROP review
Draft Amendment for non -growth components presented to council
Fall 2021 -Winter
(natural heritage and water resources systems mapping, mineral
2022
aggregates, source water protection and agricultural system)
Statuary Public Meeting to consider adopting non -Growth -Related
Q2 2022
components of ROP review
Province approvesgrowth-related ROP amendment
July 2022
Province approves nongrowth-related ROP amendment
Fall 2022
City OP amended to conform with ROP amendment
2023
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This report supports the delivery of core services.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Capital Budget — The recommendation has no impact on the Capital Budget.
Operating Budget — The recommendation has no impact on the Operating Budget.
How and where we grow has significant financial implications on the capital, lifecycle and
operational costs of providing infrastructure and community services for future generations.
Additional details regarding the financial implications for various growth scenarios will be
detailed in the Region's Fiscal Impact Assessment of the Growth Scenarios. In addition, low
density and sprawling communities can contribute to social and environmental issues like
climate change, noise pollution and public health impacts which are difficult to quantify but
are important to consider.
Work to update the City's Official Plan to conform with the ROP must be completed within
one year of the ROPR approval by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. There is
currently a budget of $12,500 in 2022 to complete this work. The adequacy of this budget
will be reviewed once the extent of the conformity work has been scoped.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM —
This report has been posted to the City's website with the agenda in advance of the
Council / Committee meeting.
The Region is leading the consultation on this project. Engagement is primarily virtual
and centred on www.engagewr.ca/regional-official-plan.
In addition to asynchronous engagement, live engagement events included:
o Kick-off open houses, including one at the Kitchener Public Library, Fall 2019;
o Ask a Planner webinar, June 2020; and
o COVID-19 symposium held jointly with the University of Waterloo, August
2020.
City staff intend to update relevant City council advisory committees on the ROP review
project in the coming months.
PREVIOUS REPORTS/AUTHORITIES:
There are no previous reports/authorities related to this matter.
APPROVED BY: Justin Readman, General Manager, Development Services
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A — Key City Staff comments on the Regional Official Pan Review
Attachment B — Comparison of City proposed MTSA boundaries and Region
Proposed Boundaries
Attachment C - Proposed Regional Employment Area and preliminary responses to
conversion requests
Attachment A — Key City Staff comments on the Regional Official Pan Review
Major Transit Station Areas
• The City supports the Region's proposed MTSA boundaries as shown in Attachment
B.
• The City supports the alternative target for Block Line of 80 RJs/ha.
• The City will continue to plan for densities greater than 160 RJs/ha in many station
areas.
Regional Intensification Corridors
• The City supports the identification of Regional Corridors in principle, provided that
the ROP policies are not overly prescriptive and do not redirect intensification efforts
away from the UGC and MTSAs.
• More work is needed to understand the infrastructure implications of these new
Regional Intensification Corridors. Additional consultation with a broad spectrum of
city -building stakeholders is required to build consensus and alignment and deliver
on a consistent vision for the Corridors. We look forward to ongoing discussions on
this matter.
• The Victoria Street North corridor is constrained by shallow lots and adjacent rail and
industrial uses, especially on the northwest side. This will limit the opportunities for
residential and mixed-use development.
• The Ottawa St corridor is likely the best candidate for a Regional Intensification
Corridor.
• The Manitou/Homer Watson corridor is constrained by the natural heritage system
and limited redevelopment opportunities. Planning to achieve 100 RJs/ha in this
corridor will be difficult.
• City staff is of the opinion that more analysis is required prior to establishing the 100
RJs/ha target in the ROP.
Employment Strategy and Regional Employment Area
• The City generally supports the proposed Regional Employment Area and the
preliminary recommendations on conversion requests.
• The Regional Employment Area should not include any lands identified as Regional
Greenlands or City Natural Heritage Conservation designations.
• It is important that any Regional policies regarding commercial uses within Regional
Employment Areas be carefully crafted to ensure that a significant amount of
protected employment lands are not lost to commercial uses.
Growth Scenarios and Land Need Assessment
• The land needs assessment should continue to plan for growth in the Downtown
Kitchener Urban Growth Centre beyond 2031 and more than the minimum density
target of 200 RJs/ha; as well as beyond the minimum density target of 160 P+J per
hectare in many MTSAs.
• Higher rates of intensification outside of intensification areas and a broader mix of
densities should be assumed in the LNA considering historic and emerging
development patterns and typologies and increasing demand for missing middle
housing (e.g. additional dwellings, backyard homes and duplexes). This approach
helps provide for the full range and mix of housing, complete communities,
opportunities to age in place, makes efficient use of existing infrastructure, provides
opportunities for gentle density in existing neighbourhoods and advances affordability
objectives.
• The Growth Scenario work should evaluate a scenario with no urban area expansions
and a transition to a 100% residential intensification target after the currently
Designated Greenfield Areas are developed.
Climate Change
• City staff are encouraged by the ambition in the Policy Direction Paper.
• While it is important to acknowledge the many long-standing planning objectives such
as planning for compact mixed-use development have positive climate impacts, the
City recommends that the ROP include a small set of impactful, tangible, and
implementable ROP climate policies. For example, the ROP could direct that
Regional roads be developed as complete streets, prohibit adding additional vehicle
lanes, and be more selective in taking land for road widenings through the
development review process. A Regional policy framework to encourage renewable
energy production that fills the gap created by the repeal of the Green Energy Green
Economy Act could also be impactful.
Housing Policy Review
• The condominium conversion policies in the ROP should be more stringent.
• The ROP review should include municipality -specific housing mix targets.
• The ROP review should consider policies that encourage or require rental
replacement for affordable units lost through redevelopment.
Attachment B - Comparison of City proposed MTSA boundaries and Region
Proposed Boundaries
AT SA Boundary [PARTS and NPR] Rapid Transit Stations Rapid Transit
MTSA Boundary Review Rapid Transit Station Phase 1 — Light Rail Transit Corridor Phase 1
Midtown and Central MO Region Proposed [modified] & Adapted Bus Rapid Transitstation - Adapted Bus Rapid Transit C orridor
Rapid Transit Station Phase 2 Light Rail Transit Corridor Phase 2
AT SA Boundary [PARTS and NPR] Rapid Transit Stations Rapid Transit
MTSA Boundary Review • Rapid Transit Station Phase 1 - Light Rail Transit Corridor Phase 1
Mill and Borden MTSA Region Proposed M Adapted Bus Rapid Transitstation - Adapted Bus Rapid Transit Corridor
13 1,Rapid Transit Station Phase 2 Light Rail Transit Corridor Phase2
MT SA Boundary [PARTS and NPR] Rapid Transit Stations Rapid Transit
MTSA Boundary Review 0 Rapid Transit Station Phase 1 — Light Rail Transit C orridor Phase 1
Block Line and Fairway Ma Region Proposed 10 Adapted Bus Rapid Transit Station - Adapted Bus Rapid Trait Corridor
Rapid Transit Station Phase 2 Light Rail Transit C orridor Phase
hir SA Boundary (PART S and NPR) Rapid Transit Stations Rapid Transit
MTSA Boundary Review • Rapid Transit Station Phase 1 - Light Rail Transit Corridor Phase 1
Sportsworld � Region Proposed * Adapted Bus Rapid Tra ns it Station - Adapted Bus Rapid Transit Corridor
Rapid Transit Station Phase 2 Light Rail Transit Corridor Phase2
Attachment C — Proposed Regional Employment Area and preliminary responses to conversion requests
tmpioymenr 4onversion nequesi (rnvaiermuniapa)
Preliminary Conversion Recommendations