Tay Township had its first look at the 2024 Provincial Planning Statement specific to the municipality, with council members questioning its impact on development.
Shortened to PPS 2024, the final version of the streamlined provincewide land-use planning policy framework is aimed at replacing the former Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 as well as the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2019 by integrating them into one document.
The initial announcement was made at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference, where Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra told municipal leaders that it would allow for more tools and flexibility regarding planning direction in the province.
At the committee of the whole meeting recently, a report was presented by planning and development services manager Todd Weatherell regarding policies related to Tay. Some sections focused on included the policies of planning for people and homes, settlement areas and boundary expansions, growth and rural areas, and employment areas.
Mayor Ted Walker addressed the sewage, water and stormwater portion of the report, notably Policy 3.6.1(d) regarding integration of servicing and land use considerations at all stages of the planning process, and asked Weatherell if the matter was beneficial to Tay Township.
“Planners are still dealing with each section,” said Weatherell, adding, “we had a planners meeting on Friday to go through some of this… with the county planning staff as well, just to dive into these policies.
“I think the intent is to encourage development, but also not to encourage development without services. Again, I think we’re still in a tough situation, specifically with Victoria Harbour, because we don’t have our upgrades. I don’t want those developments to occur without proper services or infrastructure,” said Weatherell.
Later in the same meeting, the committee of the whole paused upgrade designs on the Victoria Harbour wastewater facility following a failed grant application which claimed a lack of project readiness despite the project being readied for tender applications.
Other sections noted in the report which pertained to Tay included agriculture, cultural heritage and archaeology, and hazards both natural and human-made.
When asked by Coun. Paul Raymond on the initialization of the new policies, Weatherell replied: “All planning decisions will have to be considered on the PPS 2024 in October. On that note, it says it’s supposed to be 100 pages less than the current PPS, so maybe it’ll be a little easier to go through.
Raymond followed by asking if council decisions would need to be changed regarding current planning, and if grandfathering planning matters would need to be considered.
Weatherell explained that the planning department would have to consider both the 2020 and 2024 PPS for applications, but that the province was looking into whether transitional changes would need to be implemented prior to the October starting date.
The 59-page Provincial Planning Statement, 2024, and accompanying Tay Township overview report, can be found in the agenda page on the Tay Township website.
Tay council meets for committee of the whole meetings every second Wednesday of the month, and regular council meetings every fourth Wednesday of the month. Archives and livestreams of council meetings are available through the Tay Township YouTube channel.
