[All] Regional Official Plan Passes First Vote!!!!

Fri Aug 12 15:07:18 EDT 2022

Thank you Kevin for your unwavering commitment to the ROPP!

Something to watch is that Harris, Foxton and Vrbanovic are seeing 
re-election. 
https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/who-s-in-the-running-for-the-2022-municipal-election-in-waterloo-region-1.5885182

I generally like Berry, but maybe he's been in politics too long. I just 
checked and he was first elected to Kitchener council in 1994 - that is 
a career politician for better or worse.

Best,

Susan K

On 8/12/2022 1:13 AM, Kevin Thomason wrote:
> Congratulations to everyone who has written, e-mailed, called, 
> delegated, attended, and spoken up for the future that they want to 
> see.  Early Thursday Evening the Regional Planning and Works Committee 
> (which is comprised of all the members of Regional Council) voted 12 
> to 2 to approve and endorse the amendments as recommended by Regional 
> Staff for the Regional Official Plan from 2022 to 2051.
>
> This is a tremendous achievement for our community to see this bold 
> and visionary plan initially approved.  It will now go to full 
> Regional Council next week (August 18th) for a final approval vote.
>
> It was very unfortunate to see the Chambers of Commerce along with 
> developers and land speculators oppose the ROP and request that the 
> Premier and Minister of Municipal Affairs intervene to override the 
> ROP and destroy more farmland for additional sprawl development.  It 
> remains to be seen how this will unfold and both Councillor Mike 
> Harris and North Dumfries Mayor Sue Foxton voting against the best 
> public interest and the ROP - siding with the developers seeking 
> unjustified and unneeded sprawl for profit instead.  Kitchener Mayor 
> Berry Vrbanovic also was critical of Regional Staff and very 
> supportive of the sprawl advocating developers but voted in favour of 
> the ROP possibly fearing the public backlash knowing how much strong 
> support this innovative ROP has with citizens across the Region and an 
> election pending.
>
> You can read about the meeting in today’s Record article:
>
> https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2022/08/11/waterloo-region-councillors-set-to-debate-and-expected-to-vote-on-30-year-growth-plan.html
>
> With such a strong climate change focus, 15 minute communities, more 
> intensification, more housing choice, more affordability, better 
> public transportation, and so many other progressive elements it will 
> be fantastic to see how this ROP will transform our community over the 
> decades ahead.
>
> Please continue to call and write Regional Councillors and Mayors in 
> support of the Regional Official Plan over the next week as we 
> approach the final vote on August 18th.  While they won’t be allowing 
> any delegations at the final meeting, written submissions are being 
> encouraged.  We shouldn't underestimate the efforts and determination 
> of those opposing this progressive plan we need for a sustainable future.
>
> Congratulations, thank you, and well done!
>
> Cheers,
> Kevin.
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> *1) Upcoming Dates:*
>
> 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) Most Recent Staff Report for this meeting:*
>
>
>
>
> *3) 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
>
>
> *4) 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
>
> Or contact individual Councillors at:
>
> Karen Redman (Regional Chair) - kredman at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Kathryn McGarry (Mayor, Cambridge) - kmcgarry at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Karl Kiefer (Regional Councillor, Cambridge) - kkiefer at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Helen Jowett (Regional Councillor, Cambridge) - 
> hjowett at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Berry Vrbanovic (Mayor, Kitchener) - bvrbanovic at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Tom Galloway (Regional Councillor, Kitchener) - 
> tgalloway at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Geoff Lorentz (Regional Councillor, Kitchener) - 
> glorentz at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Michael D. Harris (Regional Councillor, Kitchener) - 
> mharris at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Elizabeth Clarke (Regional Councillor, Kitchener) - 
> eclarke at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Dave Jaworsky (Mayor, City of Waterloo) - djaworsky at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Jim Erb (Regional Councillor, City of Waterloo) - jerb at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Sean Strickland (Regional Councillor, City of Waterloo) - 
> sstrickland at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Les Armstrong (Mayor, Wilmot Township) - larmstrong at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Joe Nowak (Mayor, Wellesley Township) - jnowak at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Sandy Shantz (Mayor, Woolwich Township) - sshantz at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Sue Foxton (Mayor, North Dumfries Township) - sfoxton at regionofwaterloo.ca
>
> Contact Regional Staff at:
>
> Bruce Lauckner - CAO - blauckner at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Rod Reiger - Commissioner - Planning, Development and Legislative 
> Services - rregier at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Danielle DeFields - Director, Community Planning and Development - 
> DDeFields at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Brenna MacKinnon - Manager, Development Planning - 
> bmackinnon at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Cushla Matthews - Principal Planner - CMatthews at regionofwaterloo.ca
> John Lubczynski - Principal Planner - jlubczynski at regionofwaterloo.ca
> Kate Daley - Environmental Sustainability Specialist - 
> KDaley at regionofwaterloo.ca
>
>
> -------------------------------------
>
> 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 <mailto:kevinthomason at mac.com>
>
> -----------------------------------------
>
>
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