Doug Ford’s Administration Accelerates Huge Futuristic Development Near Lake Simcoe
Doug Ford’s Administration Accelerates Huge Futuristic Development Near Lake Simcoe
The province approved a special order to accelerate a development in Innisfil that will turn agricultural fields into a futuristic, traffic-oriented development surrounded by concentric rings of condominiums and townhouses.
Over the next 20 years, Orbit’s proposal (approved by the Minister’s Zoning Order, or MZO) will increase the population of Innisfil, which currently has fewer than 40,000 people by another 20,000. A proposed future phase of development would see the population grow by 150,000.
A local environmental group opposed to the project, given its potential impact on nearby Lake Simcoe already suffering due to development pressures, said the contentious project’s approval is the “last cut in the bureaucracy for developers.”
“Once again, the government has put development interests before environmental concerns and public transparency,” said Claire Malcolmson, executive director of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition. “There is nothing in the MZO that talks about safeguarding the lake.”
Orbit was one of seven MZOs issued by Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark over the past two weeks. The Doug Ford administration has issued 53 MZOs since it came to power in 2018.
Clark called Orbit’s announcement “a good example of how our government is using the minister’s zoning orders, in partnership with municipalities, to help get shovels down quickly on important projects that will benefit residents for generations.” , in a statement issued by the city. from Innisfil on Monday.
The MZO for Orbit approved the first two phases of the three-part project on the 6th Line and the Metrolinx Rail Line, focusing on development around a GO station. The station will be built by Cortel Group, a company headed by Mario Cortellucci, a prominent developer and donor to Doug Ford’s 2018 election campaign.
In its statement, the city said the project was “designed to prevent urban sprawl.”
On its website, the city said it wanted to accelerate the project through an MZO to ensure the developer could “secure financing for the construction of the proposed station … and meet the designated construction deadline.”
On the same day the MZO was issued, the province also proposed a regulation that would require the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) to issue a permit for Orbit within 45 days of receiving the development request.
If finalized, the regulation will allow development to begin before a green compensation agreement is completed between the authority and the developer. The agreement is intended to offset any environmental impact on sensitive lands with money.
“This approach would accelerate development while still requiring compensation for ecological impacts,” according to the regulation.
Tim Cane, director of growth for the city of Innisfil, said he is not concerned about the fast-track green deal or the acceleration of development.
“LSRCA is a key partner for the city and they will be at the table as the city processes the subsequent required requests for the site plan and building permits,” said Cane.
Cane also said the MZO “includes the protection of environmental lands” and will have to comply with all local county and provincial policies, including the Simcoe Lake Protection Plan. He also said that environmental studies will be required.
But Malcolmson said this is an example of the “province changing the rules to give developers the upper hand.”
He also said that even though the project is presented as smart growth, it will not get people out of cars. A survey of potential GO users in the area found that the majority said they would drive to the station.
“If that was the end of the game, this GO station would have been planned next to an existing city, not in the middle of the agricultural field,” Malcolmson said. “People are not going to want to buy a condo on a train line in a farm field and I worry that at the end of the day we are just going to have more expansion.”
Recent Star research on MZOs found that companies associated with Cortellucci have received four MZOs. Orbit would be the fifth.
Source The Canadian. Click here to read a full story
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