[All] ***SPAM*** Statutory Public Meeting - Regional Official Plan - Wed, July 27th 3pm

[Kevin Thomason]

Good Day!

We are in the homestretch on the Regional Official Plan and the finish line is within sight, however, upset developers and land speculators are doing everything that they can to see the ROP is delayed and hundreds of hectares of additional greenfield farmland are destroyed.

We saw a rather negative article in The Record yesterday and Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic is leading an effort to try to convince Regional Councillors to delay while Councillor Mike Harris continues his attacks of Regional Staff for developers based on process and procedure.

City of Kitchener Councillors have been very active this past week e-mailing all Regional Councillors continuing their efforts from last week on claiming that we have a housing shortage because our number of homes is below the G7 average despite the fact that we have very different culture, geography, climate and demographics than most G7 countries.  They are determined to get more sprawl development in Kitchener and elsewhere.

It seems that many of the delegations currently registered for tomorrow’s Statutory Public Meeting (July 27th at 3pm) are opposed to the ROP and we can’t afford to have any Regional Councillors swayed by developers, Mayor Vrbanovic, or others.  A delay or deferral of the ROP would allow developers to chip away at the ROP, erode support, and could cost our community dearly with a provincial government already upset that we missed the July 1st deadline.

While we have all delegated and written so much already, we can’t fall silent now because the finish line is in sight.  Please do what you can to reach out to Councillors. e-mail, delegate, and ensure that the ROP is approved at the August 11th Planning and Works Committee Meeting and receives final approval at the August 18th Regional Council Meeting.

Additional details are below.  Please share any questions or ideas.

Thanks,
Kevin.

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1) Upcoming Dates:

Wednesday, July 27th 3:00pm - Statutory Public Meeting on the Regional Official Plan Update

Thursday, August 11th - Regional Planning and Works Committee vote on the Regional Official Plan

Thursday, August 18th - Final vote and approval of the 2051 Regional Official Plan

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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