Council, public share thoughts on proposed official plan update

Those in Fort Erie, both elected officials and the residents who voted them in, are hoping a new official plan will be a document that works for the town, not one that accidentally works against it.

At the June 9 council-in-committee meeting, councillors and members of the public were given a chance to ask questions and share their thoughts on the new proposed official plan for the municipality.

A massive undertaking and huge document, comments ran the gamut. But it was clear that the last thing anyone wanted was for council to approve a document that would later backfire on them.

“Sometimes we get caught by something that we don’t really intend but our planning documents say,” said Mayor Wayne Redekop.

The draft document includes a forecast of more than 15,000 new residents and more than 7,000 new households between now and 2051.

A presentation by Robert Rappolt, a consultant with WSP, a firm that specializes in engineering and professional services, also broke it down by household type, including 4,060 single and semi-detached homes, 2,700 row houses, and 600 apartment units.

Redekop and others had concerns about including certain projections or target numbers in the official plan, suggesting those could be used against them in a future Ontario Land Tribunal hearing.

If the chart outlining the need for 2,700 row house units appeared in the final official plan, the mayor said a developer could use that against them in a tribunal appeal.

“They’ve got the strength of our official plan to back that,” he said.

However, there were several aspects of the plan that councillors and the public seemed to be intrigued by and supportive of.

For instance, identifying strategic growth areas could be a way of giving everyone a level of certainty.

“It’ll put right from the outset the areas that are more compatible with intensification,” said Councillor Nick Dubanow.

Additionally, the use of strategic growth areas could help the municipality develop more complete communities, offering desirable amenities close to where development occurs and reducing the public’s reliance on vehicles.

Likewise, a move to a community planning permitting system (CPPS) held some appeal.

While staff said there are still details to be ironed out as provincial policy gets updated, the system has the potential to give municipalities like Fort Erie more power to require developers to provide affordable housing, said a report that accompanied the draft plan.

“CPPS has the potential for a more streamlined and efficient development approval process to expedite bringing a greater range and mix of housing options to the market,” the report said.

The term affordable appears dozens of times in the draft document, a testament to the push to make housing more accessible.

The CPPS could also give the municipality more input on urban design, project manager Aaron Hair said.

Councillors asked staff and consultants to review a section that outlined appropriate building heights in relation to the type of road the property fronts. While staff said there are other parts of the policy that also deal with appropriate heights, they would go back and look at the road classifications.

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