[All] Three Disappointing Losses for the Environment in Waterloo Region

Sun Dec 19 23:54:16 EST 2021

Hi GREN folks, 

I’m writing with news of three disappointing losses for the environment and our community in the past week:

1) Regional Official Plan - this past Wednesday an update on the Regional Official Plan Review was brought to Council by Staff on the three new Scenarios and the plan for better engagement/consultation moving forward.  Everyone figured it would be a quick 15 minute agenda item with no issues as Staff seemed to be on a really good path.  I was one of only two delegates speaking strongly in support of Staff, the three new scenarios, the commitment to consultation, and the more ambitious intensification targets. The Council meeting was already in its 12th hour after very lengthy budget and police funding approvals.

As soon as our delegations were done Councillor Michael Harris pounced on Regional Staff attacking them for not following his motion from the last Council meeting that Staff be directed to complete the LNA first and how could Staff not follow a Direction of Council?  Repeatedly for almost 2 hours Councillor Michael Harris demanded that the Land Needs Analysis be completed before any possible scenarios are contemplated.  He had Mayor Berry Vrbanovic on his side like the last meeting also advocating for the developers. 

There seemed to be considerable confusion about the motion and more than an hour of circular debate that seemed to raise more questions than it answered.  Most other Councillors and even the consultants from Dillon and Watson were just confounded, confused and very tired.

Unfortunately, at the end of an already 14+ hour long day in Council, Councillors would vote for anything that would end the meeting and some comments were made that misleadingly sounded like support for Michael Harris's motion and astoundingly it passed unanimously - directing Staff to complete the LNA first and even get written confirmation from the province approving it even though there was questions if the province would answer anything for anyone.

There is a reason why area developers and land speculators are so eager to see the Land Needs Assessment done first and why they along with their national legal firms have been so persistent for months to try to get what they want.  

Quite simply Premier Doug Ford has engineered the Land Needs Assessment process to benefit developers by significantly over-forecasting the amount of single family greenfield detached homes by using almost exclusively dated historical market data rather than current trends and future forecasts.  It is using the 1970’s to predict what we are going to need in the future. 

Unfortunately our Premier has a reputation for placing the needs of certain friends ahead of the greater public good and there has been years of effort go into changing the Planning Act, the Municipal Comprehensive Review Process, Land Needs Assessment formulas, the OMB/LPAT tribunals, remove oversight bodies, and modify other legislation in many ways that place the desires and profits of developers ahead of the smart growth, more sustainable communities, and the more progressive planning being sought by the vast majority of Canadians.

It is anticipated that this flawed LNA process that there has now been two unanimous Council motions forcing Staff to use will tremendously over-designate tens of thousands of homes to greenfield areas (farmland) that aren’t going to be wanted, needed, or desired as people increasingly want to live in walkable 15 minute communities near amenities and core areas.  Not only could we lose thousands of acres more of local farmland but there will be significantly fewer people in our core areas to support LRT and other initiatives underway and tens of thousands of more cars heavily dependent on our Regional roads to get everywhere they have to go from new distant subdivisions that are going to require billions of dollars of completely new infrastructure to service them - with much of this infrastructure cost not covered by development charges and requiring existing taxpayers to subsidize it at the expense of other needs.

This unanimous Council motion stands to single-handedly upset and destroy decades of smart growth, visionary planning, and successful leadership by Waterloo Region as the Premier has ensured there is no recourse, no ability for appeal, and nothing that can be done to undo the LNA’s and Official Plans.

I have no idea where things will go from here and I have spent much of the past few days talking with professors, planning experts and consultants across the province to try to figure out what can be done and how the community can help to avoid this trap set by the Premier and get an outcome for the ROP that sees the Region on a sustainable trajectory of smart growth, intensification, rapid transit, and core redevelopment. 

2) River Road Extension - for more than 20 years citizens have fought to protect Hidden Valley and prevent the construction of the River Road extension that would be so devastating to the area and its rare creatures such as Jefferson Salamanders.  Because of pandemic budget challenges Regional Staff were recommending that the $70 million River Road extension that we had been told was so essential instead be deferred for several years into the future - delaying development in this area and allowing more time for permanent solutions to protect Hidden Valley to be finally developed.

Long-time Hidden Valley advocates Gord Nicholls and Neil Taylor along with myself all appeared as delegations before Council at budget hearings to support this deferral and advocate for better protection of this area.  Peter Benninger and other developers also presented arguing for the immediate construction of the road so they could begin developments though it seemed that we had good support and a Staff Recommendation on our side.

Surprisingly, this past Wednesday at the final budget approval meeting, Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, introduced an unexpected motion not only against Staff budget deferral but to actually accelerate the construction of River Road.  Unfortunately he succeeded in getting it passed - once again showing that Berry is no friend of the environment and will go to great lengths to advocate for area developers.  This is a significant loss for the community as well as another blow to Regional Staff.

The increasingly concerning approach of Mayor Vrbanovic against so many environmental initiatives will need to be remembered this November when municipal elections are scheduled.  Kudo’s to everyone who has worked for so long to try to protect this area.  Even with the construction of this roadway hopefully there will still be ways that we can better protect the surrounding environmental areas.

3) Erbsville Forest Clearcut - it was astonishing to learn less than a week ago of the plans to clearcut a 10 acre forest in the City of Waterloo at 515 Erbsville Road near the Sir John A MacDonald High School in the Columbia Forest neighbourhood.  When the planting of a few trees in Waterloo Park on Earth Day garners headlines, it was disappointing to think that 10 acres of forest within the city urban boundary would be clearcut.  However, the lands had been designated for urban development for years, the forest is a poor quality plantation, and the owner has been honest with his intentions for years.  While the odds of saving this forest were low, the same owner also owns adjacent 14 acre and 11 acre parcels of spectacular old-growth hardwood forests that are part of the Forested Hills ESPA 19.

It was felt that 10 acres shouldn’t be clearcut without any objections - someone had to speak for the environment - and we also need to ensure that regardless of what happens with the front 10 acres, the rear 25 acres of old-growth forest needs to be protected for future generations and a strong message needed to be sent about that.

Thus, I appeared before the Regional Licensing Committee (that also oversees tree cutting) along with several neighbours to the property to oppose the clearcutting, ask for bigger buffers, wildlife corridors, and other environmental considerations.  We presented strong arguments and the Committee clearly struggled with the decision but unfortunately in the end approved the clearcutting of the forest.  Hopefully we at least sent a message and our efforts will help to see the adjacent old-growth forests protected over the longer term.

In the end it has been a disappointing week for the environment in our region.  It is a stark reminder that we need to be more engaged, more proactive, more outspoken, and that elections have consequences.  Hopefully, we will at least be able to get the Regional Official Plan completed in a manner that doesn’t fall into the LNA trap set by the province and perhaps we will be able to get parts of Hidden Valley and these remaining Erbsville forests better protected in the years ahead.

Please share any thoughts or ideas.

Sincerely,
Kevin.

P.S. On a more positive note, GREN has been involved in the Greenbelt West Coalition that this past week unveiled its map for desired Greenbelt expansion (attached below) at a virtual event that was very well attended by politicians from all opposition parties and resulted in at least 10 newspaper articles (front page on some), along with radio and television coverage.  Hopefully, this map helps to set the bar high for any provincial Greenbelt expansion.  You can learn more at www.greenbeltwest.ca.

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

Kevin Thomason
Vice-Chair, Grand River Environmental Network

1115 Cedar Grove Road
Waterloo, Ontario Canada  N2J 3Z4

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

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