[All] Kitchener and Wilmot Residents - ROP Comes to Your Council on Monday!

Sun May 29 10:32:21 EDT 2022

Attention GREN Members who live in the City of Kitchener and Wilmot Township,

A reminder that tomorrow (Monday, June 30th) the municipal Staff Reports on the Recommended Growth Options for the Regional Official Plan Review will be coming for approval at:

1) City of Kitchener Council at a Special Council Meeting to held at 12:30pm on Monday - City Staff have taken the extremely unusual route of making no recommendation but are leaving it to Councillors to deliberate at the meeting, determine the recommended Growth Option, and provide the feedback on the Regional Official Plan that they want to send to the Region.

2) Township of Wilmot at a 7:00pm Council Meeting on Monday - Township Staff are not recommending any specific Growth Option but instead are simply recommending the maximum population growth that their sewage plant capacity will allow - a very significant 50% growth of another 10,400 new residents.

I have attached the Staff Reports below.  Anyone who is a resident of either of these municipalities is encouraged to e-mail and/or call your Councillors to speak up for the future that you would like to see.  

It is astonishing given the importance of the Regional Official Plan and how much it will determine for the next 30 years - where and how we will grow, what we will protect, what we will destroy, how we will get around, and how well we will be able to respond to climate change, etc. how little time our municipalities have been given to respond.  Many Councillors are still not well informed and it is extremely important that they hear from citizens about our concerns and desires for the future.

Myself, Mark Reusser from the Waterloo Federation of Agriculture, and expert planner Kevin Eby are registered to delegate at both council meetings regarding proposed Growth Option #4 that focuses on simpler, more achievable intensification targets, smart growth, and no farmland loss though developers are also registered to speak at each meeting advocating for a far different future.  

We urge you to speak up for Option #4 as well as ask for more time for public engagement.  Some additional delegations from the community could be helpful and letters from citizens could prove instrumental to the best possible future outcomes as we saw firsthand last week in Wellesley Township when local citizens spoke up so effectively.

Let me know any questions and please ensure that your voice is heard by your local Council in time for the meetings tomorrow.

Cheers,
Kevin.

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1)  City of Kitchener Staff Report for the 12:30pm Monday Special Council Meeting

Kitchener Council Contact Information

Berry Vrbanovic (Mayor, Kitchener) - mayor at kitchener.ca <mailto:mayor at kitchener.ca>
Scott Davey (Councillor, Kitchener Ward 1) - scott.davey at kitchener.ca <mailto:scott.davey at kitchener.ca>
Dave Schnider (Councillor, Kitchener Ward 2) - dave.schnider at kitchener.ca <mailto:dave.schnider at kitchener.ca>
John Gazzola (Councillor, Kitchener Ward 3)- john.gazzola at kitchener.ca <mailto:john.gazzola at kitchener.ca>
Christine Michaud (Councillor, Kitchener Ward 4) - christine.michaud at kitchener.ca <mailto:christine.michaud at kitchener.ca>
Kelly Galloway-Sealock (Councillor, Kitchener Ward 5) - kelly.galloway-sealock at kitchener.ca <mailto:kelly.galloway-sealock at kitchener.ca>
Paul Singh (Councillor, Kitchener Ward 6) - paul.singh at kitchener.ca <mailto:paul.singh at kitchener.ca>
Bil Ioannidis (Councillor, Kitchener Ward 7) - bil.ioannidis at kitchener.ca <mailto:bil.ioannidis at kitchener.ca>
Margaret Johnston (Councillor, Kitchener Ward 8) - councillor.johnston at kitchener.ca <mailto:councillor.johnston at kitchener.ca>
Debbie Chapman (Councillor, Kitchener Ward 9) - debbie.chapman at kitchener.ca <mailto:debbie.chapman at kitchener.ca>
Sarah Marsh (Councillor, Kitchener Ward 10) - sarah.marsh at kitchener.ca <mailto:sarah.marsh at kitchener.ca>

2) Wilmot Council Agenda and Staff Report for the 7pm Monday Council Meeting

Note: There are other items such as a motion against MZO’s, a motion to support Green Development Standards, and a motion against excessively noisy mufflers that are also on the Wilmot agenda for Monday night that you may want to support as well.

Wilmot Council Contact Information

Les Armstrong (Mayor, Wilmot) - les.armstrong at wilmot.ca
Angie Hallman (Councillor, Wilmot Ward 1) - angie.hallman at wilmot.ca
Cheryl Gordijk (Councillor, Wilmot Ward 2) -  cheryl.gordijk at wilmot.ca
Barry Fisher (Councillor, Wilmot Ward 3) - barry.fisher at wilmot.ca
Jennifer Pfenning (Councillor, Wilmot Ward 4) - jennifer.pfenning at wilmot.ca
Jeff Gerber (Councillor, Wilmot Ward 4) - jeff.gerber at wilmot.ca

3) Summary of Community Proposed ROP Growth Option #4

4) Important Dates

Monday, May 30th - City of Kitchener Special Council Meeting for ROP Growth Options

Monday, May 30th - Wilmot Council Meeting for ROP Growth Options, MZO motion, and Built It Right Motion

Thursday, June 2nd - Provincial Election - Be sure to vote strategically for the environment!

Monday, June 6th - Woolwich Council Meeting for ROP Growth Option Decision

Tuesday, June 7th - Wellesley Special Council Meeting to approve Revised Staff Report/Recommendation

Monday, June 13th - City of Waterloo Council Meeting for ROP Growth Option Decision

Wednesday, June 15th - Regional Council Meeting for Staff Recommendation on Preferred Growth Option

Late June - Regional Council Decision on Preferred Growth Option

Wednesday, July 20th - Formal Public Hearing on Regional Official Plan Update

Late August - Final vote and approval of Regional Official Plan until 2051

Wednesday, October 26th - Municipal Elections

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

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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