City of Brantford Comments on the Provincial Consultation: Growing the Size of the Greenbelt (ERO Posting 019-3136) [Financial Impact – None]

Alternative formats and communication supports available upon request. Please contact [email protected] or 519-759-4150 for assistance. Date April 13, 2021 Report No. 2021-248 To Chair and Members Committee of the Whole - Operations and Administration From Nicole Wilmot, Director of Planning People, Legislated Services and Planning 1.0 Type of Report Consent Item [X] Item For Consideration [X] 2.0 Topic City of Brantford Comments on the Provincial Consultation: Growing the Size of the Greenbelt (ERO Posting 019-3136) [Financial Impact – none] 3.0 Recommendation A. THAT Report 2021-248 titled “City of Brantford Comments on the Provincial Consultation: Growing the Size of the Greenbelt (ERO Posting 019-3136)”, BE RECEIVED; and B. THAT the City Clerk BE DIRECTED to forward a copy of Report 2021- 248 to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Will Bouma, MPP, Brantford-Brant as the City of Brantford’s official comments in response to ERO Posting 019-3136. 4.0 Executive Summary The Province has requested feedback on ways to grow and further enhance the quality of the Greenbelt, including a Study Area focused on the Paris Galt Moraine, and ideas for adding, expanding and further protecting Urban River Valleys. The Study Area does not include the City of Brantford; however it is Report No. 2021-248 Page 2 April 13, 2021 adjacent to the northwest municipal boundary of Brantford. In addition, the consultation does not specifically contemplate adding an Urban River Valley in Brantford. It is to be noted that the discharge of water to the Grand River from Paris Galt Moraine improves the quality and quality of source water for Brantford’s drinking water supply. This Report provides Planning Staff’s comments in regard to this consultation. The City of Brantford is supportive of the Greenbelt in principle and protections for natural heritage features and agricultural land. However, similar to comments submitted to the Province in 2018 regarding a previous proposal to expand the Greenbelt, the City already has comprehensive policies in place to protect these features within Brantford, established in the new Official Plan recently adopted by Council and the Grand River Source Protection Plan. Therefore, expanding the Study Area for growing the Greenbelt into the City’s municipal boundary, and the addition of an Urban River Valley designation within Brantford, are not necessary and redundant. It may also jeopardize the Province’s timely approval of the new Official Plan recently adopted by Council, including the proposed Settlement Area expansion in the northwest area. If an expanded Study Area or additional Urban River Valleys are contemplated within the municipal boundaries of Brantford in the future, the Province should provide the City with additional opportunities for consultation. 5.0 Purpose and Overview The purpose of this Report is to provide the City of Brantford’s comments to the Province regarding the Growing the Greenbelt initiative, including the proposed Study Area and considerations for adding new Urban River Valleys. Additional comments may be required in the future when the Province seeks feedback on a more specific Greenbelt expansion proposal within a finalized Study Area. 6.0 Background 6.1 Request for Comments on Growing the Greenbelt (ERO Posting 019-3136) On February 17, 2021, the Province of Ontario released a request for feedback on ways to grow and further enhance the quality of the Greenbelt, with a priority of: A Study Area of lands focused on the Paris Galt Moraine, as shown in Appendix A, which is home to critical groundwater resources; and Report No. 2021-248 Page 3 April 13, 2021 Ideas for adding, expanding and further protecting Urban River Valleys, which are publicly owned lands in river valleys within an urban context, as shown in Appendix B. The complete posting on the Environmental Registry of Ontario is available at https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-3136. The deadline for submitting comments is April 19, 2021. The Greenbelt is a broad band of protected land that is established under the Greenbelt Act, 2005. The Greenbelt is covered by the policies of the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, and the Niagara Escarpment Plan, which identify where urbanization should not occur to provide permanent protection to the agricultural land base and the ecological and hydrological features, areas, and functions occurring on this landscape. The City of Brantford is not currently located within or adjacent to the existing Greenbelt or subject to the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, or the Niagara Escarpment Plan. Brantford is subject to A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (the Growth Plan). The Study Area released by the Province as part of the current consultation to grow the Greenbelt is focused on the Paris Galt Moraine, which runs generally from Caledon in the northeast to Brantford in the southwest. The Study Area does not include the City of Brantford or Settlement Areas within other municipalities also subject to the Growth Plan; however it is adjacent to the northwest municipal boundary of Brantford. The Paris Galt Moraine is an area of rolling, hilly terrain comprised of sand and gravel deposits that is the headwaters for many rivers and streams. Moraines allow rain and snowmelt to soak into the ground more rapidly and in much greater amounts than the surrounding, less permeable areas. The Paris Galt Moraine helps to protect and recharge groundwater aquifers and provides baseflow to rivers and streams, including the Grand River which is the source of Brantford’s drinking water supply. The Urban River Valley designation in the Greenbelt Plan applies to publicly owned lands in 21 river valleys within an urban context, connecting the Greenbelt to Lake Ontario in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Urban River Valleys are often lands designated in municipal official plans for parks, open space, recreation, conservation and/or environmental protection. The Province notes that there may be opportunities for additional Urban River Valleys to be added to the Report No. 2021-248 Page 4 April 13, 2021 Greenbelt or existing ones to be expanded to include additional publicly owned land. In particular, the Province is seeking feedback on adding new Urban River Valleys to provide connections to the Paris Galt Moraine through the Speed and Eramosa Rivers in the urban areas of Guelph and Cambridge. The Province has not specifically identified any potential Urban River Valleys in Brantford, such as the Grand River, for inclusion in the Greenbelt Plan. 6.2 Previous Comments to the Province The Province previously initiated public consultation regarding growing the Greenbelt in December 2017. At that time, the Study Area for a potential expansion of the Greenbelt included much of the northern Boundary Expansion Lands that were transferred from the County of Brant to the City of Brantford through the Municipal Boundary Adjustment approved by the Province in 2017. Planning Staff outlined a number of concerns with a potential expansion of the Greenbelt into Brantford’s northern Boundary Expansion Lands in Report CD2018-033, attached as Appendix C. Since growing the Greenbelt into Brantford’s northern Boundary Expansion Lands would have prohibited a future Settlement Area expansion, these concerns were largely centred around the conflict the Greenbelt would have with the provincially approved municipal boundary adjustment, including the following: The inability of the City to meet population and employment forecasts and intensification and density targets set by the Province in the Growth Plan; The inability of the City to gain the anticipated growth in assessment value in order to fulfill the City’s contractual requirement to compensate Brant County for the Boundary Expansion Lands; and The disruption to the City’s ongoing Official Plan Review and Municipal Comprehensive Review, which was planned to include extensive technical analysis on water resources and natural heritage features. On February 27, 2018, Council passed the following resolution to serve as the City’s official comments on that consultation: A. THAT Report CD2018-033, City of Brantford Comments on the Provincial Initiative: Protecting Water for Future Generations – Growing the Greenbelt in the Outer Ring, BE RECEIVED; Report No. 2021-248 Page 5 April 13, 2021 B. THAT the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs BE ADVISED that the official comments from the City of Brantford in regard to the Provincial Initiative: Protecting Water for Future Generations – Growing the Greenbelt in the Outer Ring are as follows: i. The City of Brantford DOES NOT SUPPORT the inclusion of any City of Brantford lands within the Study Area for the Expansion of the Greenbelt in the Outer Ring for the reasons outlined in Report CD2018-033; and ii. The City of Brantford DOES NOT SUPPORT any future extension of the Greenbelt into the City of Brantford’s municipal boundary for the reasons outlined in Report CD2018-033; C. THAT a copy of Report CD2018-033 BE APPENDED to the City’s official comments submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs; and D. THAT a copy of the City’s letter to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs, including a copy of Report CD2018-033, BE FORWARDED to Phil McColeman, MP, Brantford-Brant and Dave Levac, MPP, Brant. The Province did not make any changes to the size of the Greenbelt as a result of the 2017/2018 consultation. As noted previously, the Study Area being considered through the current consultation excludes all lands located within the City of Brantford, including the northern Boundary Expansion Lands. 7.0 Corporate Policy Context This Report is related to two of the desired outcomes outlined in City Council’s priorities for 2021-2022. Desired Outcome 5: Growth is successfully accommodated in expansion lands. Desired Outcome 7: The City is mitigating its environmental footprint and adapting to climate change.

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