[All] Regional Official Plan Final Vote - Thurs, Aug 11th and 18th

[Kevin Thomason]

Good Day GREN Folks,

The two final meetings on the bold and visionary Regional Official Plan that we need to survive and thrive in the future are happening this coming Thursday, August 11th at 3:30pm where Regional Staff will be seeking an approval at the virtual Regional Planning & Works Committee Meeting (which is really full Regional Council) and then on Thursday, August 18th at 5:00pm at a Special Regional Council Meeting.

While I don’t believe any delegations are needed at this point at these meetings, developers and a couple of Councillors are working hard to delay and undermine this ROP update to enable more unnecessary and unjustifiable urban sprawl.  It will be very important for Councillors to continue to hear positive messages from the community and for us to write/e-mail/call Regional Councillors urging them to vote to approve this ROP update with its excellent climate change and sustainability focus as recommended by Regional Staff.

Additional details are below.  Please share any questions or ideas and speak up for the future that you want to see!

Cheers,
Kevin.

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1) Upcoming Dates:

Thursday, August 11th at 3:30pm - virtual Regional Planning and Works Committee vote on the Regional Official Plan

Thursday, August 18th at 5:00pm  - Final vote and approval of the 2051 Regional Official Plan by Regional Council

Monday, October 24th - Municipal Elections


2) Key Data Points of the Regional Official Plan:

	- Intensification rate: 61%
	- Density: 59 pj/ha
	- Community Area Expansion: 150 ha
	- Employment Area Expansion: 456 ha

There is a very strong climate change and complete 15 minute neighbourhood focus.  This is much less Community Area (residential) greenfield farmland loss than former Option #2’s 376 ha of farmland loss, and even less than the 220 ha proposed back in December or the 180 ha of farmland loss proposed November.  While ideally we would see 0ha of farmland loss we’ve known from the onset that additional employment lands were required, a solution would have to be found for Wellesley Township’s land needs, and there were situations were rounding out or adding a few acres of expansion could help to complete a community or provide space for needed/missing services.  

Learn more at: https://www.engagewr.ca/regional-official-plan <https://www.engagewr.ca/regional-official-plan>


3) Contact Regional Councillors and Staff - Please Show Your Support and Speak Up for the Future You Want to See:

Write all Regional Councillors at: regionalcouncillors at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:regionalcouncillors at regionofwaterloo.ca>

Or contact individual Councillors at:

Karen Redman (Regional Chair) - kredman at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:kredman at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Kathryn McGarry (Mayor, Cambridge) - kmcgarry at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:kmcgarry at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Karl Kiefer (Regional Councillor, Cambridge) - kkiefer at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:kkiefer at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Helen Jowett (Regional Councillor, Cambridge) - hjowett at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:hjowett at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Berry Vrbanovic (Mayor, Kitchener) - bvrbanovic at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:bvrbanovic at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Tom Galloway (Regional Councillor, Kitchener) - tgalloway at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:tgalloway at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Geoff Lorentz (Regional Councillor, Kitchener) - glorentz at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:glorentz at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Michael D. Harris (Regional Councillor, Kitchener) - mharris at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:mharris at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Elizabeth Clarke (Regional Councillor, Kitchener) - eclarke at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:eclarke at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Dave Jaworsky (Mayor, City of Waterloo) - djaworsky at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:djaworsky at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Jim Erb (Regional Councillor, City of Waterloo) - jerb at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:jerb at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Sean Strickland (Regional Councillor, City of Waterloo) - sstrickland at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:sstrickland at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Les Armstrong (Mayor, Wilmot Township) - larmstrong at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:larmstrong at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Joe Nowak (Mayor, Wellesley Township) - jnowak at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:jnowak at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Sandy Shantz (Mayor, Woolwich Township) - sshantz at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:sshantz at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Sue Foxton (Mayor, North Dumfries Township) - sfoxton at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:sfoxton at regionofwaterloo.ca>

Contact Regional Staff at:

Bruce Lauckner - CAO - blauckner at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:blauckner at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Rod Reiger - Commissioner - Planning, Development and Legislative Services - rregier at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:rregier at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Danielle DeFields - Director, Community Planning and Development - DDeFields at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:DDeFields at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Brenna MacKinnon - Manager, Development Planning - bmackinnon at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:bmackinnon at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Cushla Matthews - Principal Planner - CMatthews at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:CMatthews at regionofwaterloo.ca>
John Lubczynski - Principal Planner - jlubczynski at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:jlubczynski at regionofwaterloo.ca>
Kate Daley - Environmental Sustainability Specialist - KDaley at regionofwaterloo.ca <mailto:KDaley at regionofwaterloo.ca>

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Kevin Thomason

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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