Rapid development urged in Mount Hope
City in competition with Pickering airport site, councillor says
TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
HAMILTON - City councillors want to fast-track commercial and industrial development around John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport before a proposed new airport in Pickering is ready to compete.
Backed by business interests, politicians want to expedite an expansion of the urban boundary to include airport employment lands. Council's planning and economic development committee yesterday urged the province to exempt Hamilton from what staff say will be a cumbersome approval process under the Places to Grow Act, now awaiting second reading in the legislature.
Ancaster Councillor Murray Ferguson told colleagues, "Make no mistake, we're in a struggle with Pickering and the truth is they have a leg up in terms of process (because nearby land is already designated for development).
Kim Piper, from the commercial real estate company CB Richard Ellis, appeared on behalf of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce to warn that "under Places to Grow in its present form, the airport will not be allowed to expand."
"You need to tell the province it needs to happen and it needs to happen now."
Stewart Steeves, chief financial officer for airport operator TradePort International, said surrounding land is outside the new provincial greenbelt, but in a zone where noise rules prohibit residential use, so commercial development makes sense.
He also also said developers will pay for on-site sewage treatment, eliminating concern over capacity of trunk sewers and the Woodward Avenue sewage treatment plant.
Councillor Dave Mitchell, who represents the area, said the city should immediately expand the boundary and start development.
But staff planner Paul Mason told councillors Hamilton still must justify the expansion to the province, and that's what the current Growth-Related Integrated Development Study (GRIDS) is expected to provide.
Planner Steve Robichaud said it would be premature to say there's a need to do anything now, that "the most prudent course would be to move ahead with GRIDS." Mason said GRIDS should provide key answers by year-end.
The Hamilton-Halton Home Builders' Association also urged councillors to tell the province Hamilton can't accommodate 80,000 more people within its existing urban area, as Places to Grow would require in order to curb sprawl.
The association said the new city already has 23.8 housing units per hectare, a higher density than the amalgamated city of Toronto with 23.5, and much higher than Burlington's 10.3 or Oakville's 6.6.
City in competition with Pickering airport site, councillor says
TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
HAMILTON - City councillors want to fast-track commercial and industrial development around John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport before a proposed new airport in Pickering is ready to compete.
Backed by business interests, politicians want to expedite an expansion of the urban boundary to include airport employment lands. Council's planning and economic development committee yesterday urged the province to exempt Hamilton from what staff say will be a cumbersome approval process under the Places to Grow Act, now awaiting second reading in the legislature.
Ancaster Councillor Murray Ferguson told colleagues, "Make no mistake, we're in a struggle with Pickering and the truth is they have a leg up in terms of process (because nearby land is already designated for development).
Kim Piper, from the commercial real estate company CB Richard Ellis, appeared on behalf of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce to warn that "under Places to Grow in its present form, the airport will not be allowed to expand."
"You need to tell the province it needs to happen and it needs to happen now."
Stewart Steeves, chief financial officer for airport operator TradePort International, said surrounding land is outside the new provincial greenbelt, but in a zone where noise rules prohibit residential use, so commercial development makes sense.
He also also said developers will pay for on-site sewage treatment, eliminating concern over capacity of trunk sewers and the Woodward Avenue sewage treatment plant.
Councillor Dave Mitchell, who represents the area, said the city should immediately expand the boundary and start development.
But staff planner Paul Mason told councillors Hamilton still must justify the expansion to the province, and that's what the current Growth-Related Integrated Development Study (GRIDS) is expected to provide.
Planner Steve Robichaud said it would be premature to say there's a need to do anything now, that "the most prudent course would be to move ahead with GRIDS." Mason said GRIDS should provide key answers by year-end.
The Hamilton-Halton Home Builders' Association also urged councillors to tell the province Hamilton can't accommodate 80,000 more people within its existing urban area, as Places to Grow would require in order to curb sprawl.
The association said the new city already has 23.8 housing units per hectare, a higher density than the amalgamated city of Toronto with 23.5, and much higher than Burlington's 10.3 or Oakville's 6.6.