[All] OMB Forces Urban Sprawl on Waterloo Region

[Gregory C. Michalenko]

This is truly horrible.  We've got to expose these developers and the damage thy have caused.  Unfortunately I'm away untilFeb. 22.  

i remember battling Britton when he assisted Sun life in tearing down 20 affordable houses to expand their parking lot.There was a rumor circulating that Habitat for Humanity had agreed to salvage the torn down houses.  I met with the national president  (the office happens to be in Waterloo)and she said "There is no truth to that.  It would simply be unprofessional to make such a decision on a hypothetical matter  before any official decision had been made and a demoliton permit granted."  I was one of the first delegations to speak at the critical Kitchener council meeting.  When Britton spoke he blatantly lied, said that Habitat would welcome the chance to use the materials and the next delegation was a sincere naive dupe of Habitat enthusiastically thanking Britton for the wonderful contribution this would make to Habitat's good work.  I had no chance to challenge B's blatant lie or mention my meeting with the president or tell the poor worker that he had been shamefully manipulated.

I despise him.

-  Keep up your good work Kevin.  I remember how grateful the Kitchener planners were when you spoke up in favour of the countryside line when it was proposed.

= Greg, Huatulco, Mexico 
________________________________________
From: All [all-bounces at gren.ca] on behalf of Kevin Thomason [kevinthomason at mac.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 9:46 AM
To: GREN
Subject: [All] OMB Forces Urban Sprawl on Waterloo Region

Good morning,

In a very disturbing ruling the OMB is rejecting the Region of Waterloo's Regional Official Plan (ROP's) attempts to curb urban sprawl and is demanding thousands of acres of greenspace be opened up for future development:

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/874617--provincial-tribunal-sets-back-region-s-efforts-to-curb-urban-sprawl

It is a shameful ruling from a tribunal that shouldn't exist.  Certain local developers are thrilled by the decision and are declaring a huge victory.

Twitter is rampant this morning with anger from the public that our progressive region which is leading the charge on intensification and better land-use at the bequest of the province is now being forced by the same provincial government to revert to old fashioned urban sprawl.

The Region is downplaying this decision and there is a closed door meeting of Regional Councillors (in camera) on Tuesday to discuss the ramifications.  We will likely learn more over the coming days but it could be weeks or months until we learn what greenspace is going to be redesignated and targetted for future development to accommodate this ruling.

As most OMB rulings are final and unappeallable (short of an overturn by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing).  I don't think there is much we can do here other than to try to support the Region's other efforts on growth management, public transit, water, environmental protection, etc. as much as possible and still try to positively create the community we want to live in.

Kevin.

-------------------------------------

Kevin Thomason

1115 Cedar Grove Road
Waterloo, Ontario Canada  N2J 3Z4

Phone: (519) 888-0519
Mobile Phone: (519) 240-1648
Twitter: @kthomason
E-mail: kevinthomason at mac.com

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