In December, the Director of Planning and Development will be asking the Caledon Council during its 5-year review whether the current Official Plan needs revision or if the existing document is sufficient. Surprisingly, Provincial Legislation requirements will likely dictate the final outcome!

Municipally elected officials often make anti-growth statements when running for election. So why then does growth continue in municipalities like Caledon? To better understand the fate of this and other municipalities, we need to review the political process and the relationship between the Provincial and Municipal Governments.

The Provincial Government has legislative powers that allow it to create such entities as municipalities and school boards. The Province creates this legislation in order to devolve certain responsibilities to the municipalities who then assist in the administration of these services. In the event that municipalities and school boards fail to comply with provincial legislation, the Province has the right to intercede and/or seize their operations. For example, the Provincial Conservatives recently took possession of the Toronto School Board operations this summer when the Board failed to pass a balanced budget as required by legislation. Quite simply, the Province has control of municipalities by law.

The Province devolves certain administrative powers to municipalities through various forms of provincial legislation, such as the Provincial Policy Statement. Section 1.2.1 under Housing states, “Provisions will be made in all planning jurisdictions for a full range of housing types and densities… maintaining at all times at least a 10-year supply of land designated and available for new residential development and residential intensification.” It continues, “… maintaining at all times, where new development is to occur, at least a 3-year supply of residential units with servicing capacity in draft approved or registered plans.”

Arguably, the Town of Caledon has reached that moment in time, today, when the municipality can no longer fulfil these requirements under its current Official Plan. The development industry is aware of this fact.

To further understand the fate of Caledon, we need to go back in time to 1974 when the Bill Davis’ Conservatives governed. This was the year that the Village of Bolton was merged with surrounding townships to form the Corporation of the Town of Caledon. During this amalgamation, Caledon, Mississauga and Brampton merged to become the upper tier government known as the Region of Peel. The philosophy of Regional government was to create nodes for growth in order to maximize and make efficient use of municipal services such as water and sewage. Bolton was destined to become the major urban centre within the Town of Caledon.

To further understand the fate of Caledon, we need to look at the role of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). This is a provincially appointed judicial body that makes planning decisions when municipalities and landowners disagree. The objective of the OMB is to make decisions based on legislation such as the Planning Act and the Provincial Policy Statement, not necessarily what the community wants. The integrity of the OMB is often challenged; however, given the N.I.M.B.Y. (Not In My Back Yard) phenomena, it serves a valid and necessary role in resolving land-use-planning issues.

If residents elect municipal candidates who oppose growth, why then does growth continue? The short answer is that municipal politicians don’t have the power to stop it! Once again, municipalities are only conferred minimal administrative powers. The Provincial Government controls a community’s growth through legislative policies. What the growth looks like is the municipality’s responsibility! The most effective way for a municipality to plan a community is through a Secondary Plan process. Although other communities in Caledon have completed Secondary Plans, Bolton, the largest settlement area in Caledon, has never been afforded that opportunity.

Secondary Plans provide municipalities with control mechanisms to phase growth over time as opposed to unrestrained development (which has been the case for the Bolton community in the past). It also provides an opportunity for the community to participate in the planning process and express their needs and concerns in co-operation with the municipal government as well as the landowners (presumably the developers).

The needs within a community may include community centres, arenas, pools, roads, parks, etc. The municipality may also impose Community Design Guidelines. These guidelines aid in determining the final look of a community through architectural control, streetscaping and land use zoning. Ironically, if a municipality decides to gamble and not participate in this process and the developer (landowner) appeals Councils decision to the OMB, the municipality effectively waves its rights to control the development process.

Five years ago, the Town of Caledon found itself in a very lengthy and costly OMB hearing. In an attempt to curb growth, the Town chose to draw a line in the sand at Bolton’s northern boundary called Columbia Way. Arguing that growth could not take place north of Columbia Way due to a lack of water and sewerage was a reasonable defense at the time; however, water capacity now exists and the Region of Peel expects to have sewage capacity within the next few years. This argument is unlikely to be successful at another OMB hearing.

Let’s review the opening premise. “To grow or not to grow?” I am confident that regardless of the political representation in Caledon, 10 years from now there will be development north of Columbia Way.

As unpleasant as it might seem, elected officials have a responsibility to provide the people with the straight facts. As a long time resident and your Regional Councillor, I am concerned with Bolton’s future and its inability to manage this growth. When the Director of Planning and Development for the Town of Caledon asks Council members if the current Official Plan needs revision, my position will be that I support managed growth through the use of a Secondary Plan process.

Chris Harker
Regional Councillor
Town of Caledon, Region of Peel

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