The Upper West Side Land Owners Group Inc. (the Group) is asking Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath to endorse a Minister’s Zoning Order to expand Hamilton’s urban boundary.
The Group, representing whitebelt land owners who own approximately 120 hectares of land surrounding Twenty Road West near Hamilton’s Airport, applied for a Minister’s Zoning Order on December 13, saying they are willing to build 10 percent of the new residential units as affordable in exchange for the MZO.
Mayor Horwath says she opposes the application.
“I’m going to follow what council’s decision was which was to not expand the urban boundary,” she stated during a press conference on December 19. “The urban boundary expansion is not something that I’m prepared to support.”
Acting General Manager of Planning and Economic Development Steve Robichaud says the City will formally oppose the application when the Province asks for comments.
Additionally, he says the City is concerned the Group is attempting to bypass both the City’s processes and the Ontario Land Tribunal.
“We normally would expect that people would follow the public planning process.”
MZO Seeks To Bypass OLT – where other developers are also trying to secure urban boundary expansions
The Upper West Side Group is presently before the Ontario Land Tribunal, attempting to gain its urban boundary expansion.
However, its OLT plans have encountered resistance from other developers.
At stake is the fact that the first developer to receive an expansion will secure capacity in the City’s new $106-million trunk sewer, which runs under Upper Centennial Road and Dickenson Road.
There may not be enough capacity for all 4,320 hectares of whitebelt lands that various developers seek to add to Hamilton’s urban area.
On October 3, the Upper West Side Group had the first case management conference in their Ontario Land Tribunal urban boundary expansion appeal.
The Elfrida landowners group sought to insert themselves into the Upper West Side appeal and sought Party status. OLT Member Dale Chipman denied Elfrida’s request.
A request for review, under section 23 of the OLT Act, was filed with the OLT Chair on November 14, 2024. [In a Monday, December 16 email, the OLT stated a decision had not been rendered on the review.]
The OLT should make a review decision before the second case management scheduled for January 15, 2025.
MZO Comes After Group Hired Queen’s Park Lobbyist
Patrick Lavelle-Turns of Endgame Strategies is the Group’s lobbyist at Queen’s Park. As reported in the TPR newsletter, Lavelle-Turns registered to lobby Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra on October 25.
Developers Promise Affordability
In a letter to Mayor Horwath, signed by the principals of seven of the firms, they promise to provide some affordable housing within the urban expansion area.
“The UWSLG is offering 10% (500 units) of the total dwelling units as affordable housing.
To solidify its commitment to deliver the affordable housing units, the UWSLG has reached an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hamilton Habitat for Humanity (Habitat Hamilton).
The MOU stipulates that the UWSLG achieve the above affordable housing and sets Habitat Hamilton as the preferred partner for affordable homes in the community.
Further, the MOU offers a first right of refusal to Habitat Hamilton to purchase a minimum of 2% of the units (100 units) at hard build cost.”
There are no further details on what kind of units would be involved.
Ward 8 Councillor John-Paul Danko compared the promise to environmental “greenwashing” saying the promise amounted to “charity-washing.”
Provincially Imposed Expansion and the Greenbelt Scandal
The Group has sought to add their lands to Hamilton’s urban development area for over 15 years. At various times, the City has designated the lands for eventual inclusion within the urban boundary.
In November 2021, last term’s City Council slammed the door on the Group, voting to freeze Hamilton’s urban boundary.
(I wrote at the time that the vote against urban boundary expansion revealed a change in the balance of power in Hamilton’s municipal politics.)
Flamborough-Glanbrook Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament Donna Skelly opposed the boundary freeze, calling the decision “anti-housing.”
In November 2022, then-Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark overturned Hamilton’s urban boundary freeze, granting The Group’s request to permit new residential development on the Twenty Road West lands.
A year later, in October 2023, Premier Doug Ford was engulfed in the Greenbelt scandal. Steve Clark took the fall for the government – ‘resigning’ as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
The new Minister, Paul Calandra, reversed the Hamilton urban boundary expansions, passing legislation stating that it was as if the decision had never occurred.
Since that time, the developers filed the OLT appeal and lobbied at Queen’s Park.
Next Steps
The Ontario Government will post the MZO request for public comment on the Environmental Registry of Ontario.
Once this occurs, City of Hamilton planning staff will present a report to Council requesting direction on how to respond to the Province.
Source Documents
The package that The Upper West Side Land Owners Group Inc. sent to Mayor Horwath can be downloaded here:
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: December 28, 2024
Last updated: December 28, 2024
Author: Joey Coleman
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v. 1.0.0 original version