City of Vaughan Land Acquisition Strategy Attachment 1
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Attachment 1 City of Vaughan Land Acquisition Strategy Final Report February 2020 City of Vaughan Land Acquisition Strategy February 2020 Confidential and Proprietary – Disclosure of this report to third parties is prohibited. It is intended to be used solely by the City of Vaughan. In preparing this Report, EY relied upon unaudited data prepared through market research reports from other third-party sources. We also relied on consultations and information provided by the City of Vaughan, and industry databases such as RealNet, CoStar, ESRI, and Urbanation (collectively, the “Supporting Information”). EY reserves the right to revise any analyses, observations or comments referred to in this Report if additional Supporting Information becomes subsequently available to us. EY assumed the Supporting Information to be accurate, complete and appropriate for purposes of our report as the date of publication, January 2020. EY did not audit or independently verify the accuracy or completeness of the Supporting Information and, accordingly, is not liable for any impacts to results due to the Supporting Information’s accuracy. EY expresses no opinion or other form of assurance regarding the Supporting Information. This report is confidential and has been prepared to assist the City of Vaughan. Our report has not considered issues relevant to third parties. Any use a third party may choose to make of this report is entirely at its own risk. © 2020 Ernst & Young LLP. All rights reserved. Please consult the Appendix for a list of images sources for the front cover of this report. 2 City of Vaughan Land Acquisition Strategy February 2020 Defined terms ATMP Active Together Master Plan CBC Community Benefits Charge City City of Vaughan DC Development Charge EY Ernst & Young LLP FMV Fair Market Value Ha Hectare GIS Geographic Information System GTA Greater Toronto Area GGH Greater Golden Horseshoe GIS Geographic Information Systems Hydro One Inc. Hydro One IO Infrastructure Ontario JOC Joint-Operations Centre MHBC MacNaughton Hermsen Britton Clarkson Planning Limited MNRF Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry NEP Niagara Escarpment Plan ORMCP Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan TRCA Toronto and Region Conservation Authority YRDSB York Region District School Board YCDSB York Region Catholic District School Board Vaughan City of Vaughan VPL Vaughan Public Libraries VTB Vendor Take-Back Mortgage 3 City of Vaughan Land Acquisition Strategy February 2020 Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... 5 Current State Assessment ................................................................................................ 20 Parkland Analysis ............................................................................................................ 36 3.1 Parkland Provision Targets & Future Coverage Gap ..................................................... 38 3.2 Funding Future Land Acquisition for Parkland ............................................................. 40 3.3 Parkland Provision & Service Level Gaps ..................................................................... 43 3.4 Alternative Approaches to Securing Parkland & Other Public Open Spaces .................... 48 3.5 Natural Heritage Lands as Parkland ............................................................................ 54 3.6 Parks and Open Space Land Acquisition Guiding Principles ........................................... 60 Recreational Trail Analysis ............................................................................................... 62 4.1 Vaughan Super Trail Overview ................................................................................... 62 4.2 Vaughan Super Trail Development Partners ................................................................ 66 4.3 Land Acquisition and Funding the Vaughan’s Super Trail .............................................. 71 4.4 Prioritization of Recreational Trail Land Acquisition ..................................................... 73 Municipal Services Analysis .............................................................................................. 76 5.1 Municipal Service Requirements Gap Analysis ............................................................. 77 5.2 City-Wide Land Acquisition Requirements ................................................................... 81 5.3 Prioritization of Municipal Land Acquisition ................................................................. 83 5.4 Strategic Land Acquisition Reserve ............................................................................ 86 5.5 Near-Term Land Acquisition Considerations ................................................................ 89 Natural Heritage Land Analysis ......................................................................................... 92 6.1 Prioritizing Natural Heritage Land Acquisition ............................................................. 93 6.2 Additional Strategies to Support Natural Heritage Land Securement ............................. 98 Third-Party Real Estate Proposals ................................................................................... 101 7.1 Background ............................................................................................................ 101 7.2 Relevant Legislation & Policy Review ........................................................................ 102 7.3 Illustrative Framework to Manage Third-Party Real Property Requests ........................ 104 7.4 Additional Guidelines to Management Third-Party Real Property Requests .................. 105 7.5 Municipal Contribution and Risk Assessment ............................................................. 109 7.6 Additional Implementation Tools .............................................................................. 112 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 115 Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 121 4 City of Vaughan Land Acquisition Strategy February 2020 Executive Summary About the Land Acquisition Strategy Over the last 40 years, Vaughan has undergone a significant transformation. A formerly rural township, Vaughan experienced growth of over 80% from 1996–2006, redefining itself as a major centre situated in Canada’s largest urban area. With suburban growth shifting to high- density, mixed-use intensification, Vaughan will redefine itself again as a mature, urban area. Suburban Greenfield Development High-Density Mixed-Use Development Transforming Vaughan’s urban landscape, this growth environment creates challenges for the Corporation of the City of Vaughan (the “City”) to manage municipal land requirements in an increasingly challenging land acquisition environment. Tools and policies to guide land acquisition established during rapid suburban, greenfield expansion will not enable expanding services in the current environment with growth of 172,600, or nearly 50%, expected by 2041. To assist with longer-term strategic planning, the City engaged Ernst & Young LLP and MHBC (collectively, the “Consultant Team”) to prepare a municipal Land Acquisition Strategy. The Land Acquisition Strategy is anticipated to help guide and inform future decision-making with various tools, policies and processes. Recommendations may further enable the City’s ability to acquire land for its next phase of growth in a strategic, timely and cost-effective manner over the 20-year period to 2041. The recommendations from this Land Acquisition Strategy are supported by the segment- specific analysis of four municipal land demand segments: parkland, recreational trails, municipal services and natural heritage lands. A review was also undertaken of the City’s approach to managing third-party real property inquiries when unsolicited proposals involving real property transactions are received. 5 City of Vaughan Land Acquisition Strategy February 2020 Recommendations from this Land Acquisition Strategy are intended to help guide and inform future decision-making. Unlike a master planning document that provides tactical, action- oriented implementation plans, the Land Acquisition Strategy will inform internal processes with recommended tools, policies and processes. 1 Following the commencement of this Land Acquisition Strategy, the Province of Ontario introduced new legislation that may dramatically impact its findings. Outlined below is a brief summary.1 Similar disclaimers have been provided throughout this report where impacts from the proposed legislation may occur. Released in June 2019, the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019 (“Bill 108”) proposes changes to the Planning Act and Development Charges Act. While some impacts may be minor in nature, others will have more significant impacts to Vaughan’s fiscal future and ability to provide public services. Significant financial implications proposed with Bill 108 may impact how municipalities fund the acquisition of land to maintain service levels for new urban growth areas. Many implications, however, are currently difficult to estimate without complete details of the proposed legislation. As a result, the Consultant Team has been unable to analyze any financial impacts that may arise. When full details of the legislation are released, the findings from this Land