DEVELOPMENT SERVICES COMMITTEE
	TO:	Mayor and Members of Council
	FROM:	Jim Baird, Commissioner of Development Services Valerie Shuttleworth, Director of Planning & Urban Design
	PREPARED BY:	Lilli Duoba, Senior Project Coordinator Environmental Planning & Rouge Park
	DATE OF MEETING:	2005-April -19
	SUBJECT:	Greenbelt Act, 2005 and the Final Greenbelt Plan

RECOMMENDATION

THAT the staff report entitled “Greenbelt Act, 2005 and the Final Greenbelt Plan,” dated April, 19, 2005, be received;

THAT the Town request the Province to continue to support municipalities in the implementation of the Greenbelt Plan at the local level by providing assistance in Greenbelt Plan interpretation, as necessary, and actively supporting municipalities in any Ontario Municipal Board challenges resulting from the required Official Plan conformity process;

THAT staff continue to pursue with the Province a prescribed regulation which would address OPA No. 116 conformity with the Greenbelt Plan, as requested by Council on March 29, 2005.

AND THAT the Clerk be requested to forward a copy of this report to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Minister of Public Infrastructure and Renewal, the Toronto Region Conservation Authority, Region of York and the Rouge Park Alliance.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to update Council on the approved Greenbelt Act, 2005 and the approved Greenbelt Plan, 2005 released by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The Provincial Greenbelt Plan proposes a permanent greenbelt around the Golden Horseshoe Area. The purpose is to protect environmentally significant lands and agricultural lands in the context of a vision of sustainable countryside which balances agricultural uses and environmental protection with tourism, recreation and resource use. In Markham, the Greenbelt Plan provides an overall positive response to the Town’s Rouge North Amendment (OPA No. 116) and the Eastern Markham Strategic Review. The Greenbelt Act provides that municipalities must bring their official plans into conformity with the Greenbelt Plan within the context of Planning Act mandated five year official plan review. The Town’s Official Plan Amendment No 116 (Rouge North Management Area) is currently at the Ontario Municipal Board for adjudication and is affected by the policies within the Greenbelt Plan. OPA 116 is not currently prescribed by regulation to comply with the Greenbelt Plan, which it predates.

BACKGROUND: Dec. 15th, Provincial Government introduced Bill 26,

In December 2003, the provincial government introduced Bill 27 to create a study area for protection of a Greenbelt within the Golden Horseshoe growth management area. The greenbelt study area comprised the Regions of Durham, Halton, Peel and York and the Cities of Hamilton and Toronto, as well as lands within the Niagara Escarpment Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine area, and the tender fruit area of the Region of Niagara. Bill 27 established a one-year moratorium on the approval of urban development on rural and agricultural lands in the study area to enable the government to study where greenbelt protection should occur. It also established the basis for a

comprehensive consultation process to gather public and stakeholder input on key greenbelt issues. Bill 157, passed on December 9, 2004, extended the one year moratorium to March 9, 2005. Bill 27 and Bill 157 have now effectively been replaced with Bill 135, The Greenbelt Act.

On October 28, 2004, the Province released Bill 135 – Proposed Greenbelt Act and a Draft Greenbelt Plan for public consultation. On November 30, 2004, Council received a staff report on the proposed Greenbelt Act and Plan and provided support and comments to the Province. On February 24, 2005, Bill 135, The Greenbelt Act, 2005 received Royal Assent. The Greenbelt Plan was subsequently approved and released by the Province on February 28, 2005.

DISCUSSION

Bill 135 – Greenbelt Act, 2005

The purpose of the Greenbelt Act, 2005 is to provide a legislative framework to protect a greenbelt area in the Golden Horseshoe area of Southern Ontario. The legislation permits the establishment of a Greenbelt Plan to guide decision-making within greenbelt lands designated by Regulation. The Act also makes consequential amendments to the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act and the Ontario Planning and Development Act.

Two regulations were passed with the Greenbelt Act. Regulation 59/05 creates the Greenbelt boundary which is a surveyed line produced by the Surveyor General. Regulation 61/05 addresses prescribed applications which include all Official Plan Amendment applications in Markham commenced before December 16, 2004, which have not been adopted by Council. The prescribed regulation applies to a small portion of the lands that are the subject of the Al Hussain Foundation applications, but does not apply to OPA No. 113 (Highway 404 North) or Official Plan Amendment No. 116 (Rouge North Management Area). Council on November 30, 2004, requested that a regulation be passed to prescribe OPA No. 116 as subject to, and consistent with the Greenbelt Plan and avert the Town’s continued OMB challenge on this matter. Council passed an additional resolution on March 29, 2005 requesting the Province prescribe OPA No. 116 (Appendix ‘A’). Although it is clearly the intent in the Greenbelt Plan, through inclusion of the new Rouge Park section, to support the Town’s request to align the Rouge North and Greenbelt policies, OPA No. 116 has not been identified in the prescribed regulation. The Town should continue to pursue this matter with the Province, given the clear direction and support for the Rouge Park in Markham within the Greenbelt Plan.

Markham, through comments to the Province, requested that approval authority for the conformity amendments rest with the Province in the same manner in which the Oak Ridges Moraine conformity amendments were approved. The Province did not alter the approval authority. Consequently, the conformity amendment to implement the Greenbelt Plan will be undertaken in accordance with the approval authority in the Planning Act, including rights of appeal. Staff recommend that the Province continue to support municipalities in the interpretation, implementation and defense of conformity amendments.

The Greenbelt Plan, 2005

The Greenbelt Plan is a strategy that identifies where urbanization is not to occur in order to provide permanent protection of agriculture and environmental lands. The Greenbelt Plan is established by an Order-in-Council (similar to the Provincial Policy Statement). With the exception of the Oak Ridges Moraine, the Greenbelt Plan lands in Markham are identified as Protected Countryside.

In Markham, the Greenbelt lands are generally located along the Bruce, Berczy, Mount Joy, Robinson and Little Rouge Creeks within the non-urban areas of Markham, and also include all lands owned the Federal Government and most lands owned by the Provincial Government in eastern Markham. The Protected Countryside comprises rural and agricultural lands with an overlay of a natural heritage system designation. A previously unidentified portion of Greenbelt has now been included at Highway 404 and the north Markham boundary, on lands included in OPA No.113 (Highway 404 North). OPA No. 113 has been adopted by Council and is therefore not subject to the regulation that prescribes applications. Although the Greenbelt boundary is identified on a small portion of the OPA No. 113 lands, by virtue of its adoption by Council before December 16, 2004, the amendment would not be subject to the policies of the Greenbelt Plan. The Greenbelt Act recognizes all existing approvals except those as prescribed.

In commenting on the draft Greenbelt Plan in 2004, the Town had requested that the Greenbelt Plan recognize the long and involved planning process relating to the Rouge Park, and provide greater policy support for the Rouge Park. A new Rouge River Watershed and Park section has now been included in the Greenbelt Plan. The policies identify the following:

¨ a 600 metre wide corridor along the Little Rouge Creek (mapping reflects more or less a 600 metre boundary)

¨ planning and resource management within the portions of the Rouge River watershed within the Protected Countryside shall comply with the provisions of both the Greenbelt Plan and the Rouge North Management Plan

¨ in the case of a conflict between the Greenbelt Plan and the Rouge North Management Plan, the more restrictive policies apply

¨ lands outside of the Greenbelt should be planned using the Rouge North Management Plan, Rouge North Implementation Manual and municipal and conservation authority plans and initiatives that support the Rouge North Management Plan

The Protected Countryside lands encompass either Prime Agricultural or Rural lands. In Markham, all agricultural lands are currently identified as Prime. Almost all the lands in Markham are now layered with the Natural Heritage System designation, including the watercourses which were previously identified as Protected Countryside. The Town had requested in 2004 that the valley corridor lands be identified as natural heritage system and this change was made in the Greenbelt Plan.

The Town’s previous comments to the Province included a request for greater clarity around the interpretation of the Greenbelt valley corridors and a stronger link to the delineation of the ecological criteria as adopted in OPA No. 116 (Rouge North Management Plan). The Greenbelt Plan now identifies by policy a 600 metre corridor along the Little Rouge Creek and has also surveyed the Greenbelt boundary along the Little Rouge Creek and the other tributaries of the Rouge River. The Province used its own criteria to establish the corridor widths, and not specifically the ecological criteria as identified in Official Plan Amendment No. 116. Minor mapping adjustments previously requested by the Town have been incorporated into the Greenbelt Plan.

The Town also recommended that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing revise the Greenbelt Plan to allow the opportunity for municipalities to approve severances to facilitate private ownership of existing habitable structures on publicly owned land or facilitate the conveyance of lands into private ownership, subject to heritage or conservation easements, to ensure the integrity of the Greenbelt Plan is protected. The Town requested this strategic approach be considered to address the ongoing issue in eastern Markham of significant disrepair of rural housing stock. The Province did not alter the approach toward land severances and the policies remain very restrictive.

Policies with respect to agricultural viability and sustainability are also relatively unchanged. The Town had requested that the Province identify a strong commitment to this issue and include implementation approaches in the Greenbelt Plan.

The Greenbelt Plan requires that the Province set up a Greenbelt Council to identify issues arising with the implementation of the Greenbelt Plan. The mandate of the Council is expected to evolve over time to reflect the short, medium and long term needs for the implementation of the Greenbelt Plan. Council has identified its interest in being represented on the Council.

FINANCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:

The Provincial Greenbelt Plan supports the Town’s current efforts to provide improved protection of natural features and green spaces as components of a linked natural heritage system. The Greenbelt Act, 2005 and Greenbelt Plan require affected municipalities to amend their Official Plans through the required five year Official Plan review. Although the Province has directed the Greenbelt implementation through a provincially mandated process which would also include implementation of the Places to Grow Plan, the Province has exposed municipalities to potential Ontario Municipal Board appeals and significant financial costs in defending the Provincial initiatives. Staff will be reviewing the implementation requirements and reporting back to Council following Provincial approval of the Draft Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (Spring 2005).

CONCLUSION

The Provincial Greenbelt Plan represents a significant long-term policy approach towards the protection of agricultural and environmental lands. The Greenbelt Plan recognizes the significant policy approaches undertaken by the Town in recent years, notably the implementation of Rouge Park and the Eastern Markham Strategic Review.

The Greenbelt Act regulations do not prescribe the application of OPA No. 116 (Rouge North Management Area), notwithstanding the compatible policies identified for the Rouge Watershed within the Greenbelt Plan. By not being prescribed by regulation, the Town is not mandated to bring OPA No. 116 into conformity prior to OMB adjudication of this matter, however, the Town must still implement the Greenbelt Plan including the regulated line within the set five year period. This simply means that Council has some options of how to proceed with OPA No. 116 (Rouge North Management Plan). The options for Official Plan Amendment No. 116 (Rouge North Management Area) will be brought forward in June 2005.

The Provincial Greenbelt Plan supports the Town’s Corporate Strategic goal for environmental protection and provides a new layer of Provincial policy and support in the protection for the Town’s valley corridors and enhanced opportunities for the Town’s agricultural community in Eastern Markham.

ATTACHMENTS:

Figure 1: Greenbelt Plan Area

Figure 2: Natural Heritage System

Figure 3: Greenbelt Plan – Markham Context

Appendix ‘A’ - Greenbelt Plan, 2005 (text only)

FILE PATH: Q:\Development\Planning\MISC\MI501 Provincial Greenbelt Plan\Document and Reports\Greenbelt Plan DSC April 05.doc

______________________________ _________________________________

Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.

Director of Planning and Urban Design Commissioner of Development Services