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Mary Asselstine

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Category: Nature

Bill 23 – “The promote urban sprawl and get rid of that pesky green space Act”

November 30, 2022

On October 25, 2022 the Ontario government tabled Bill 23, the More Homes, Built Faster Act.
According to the government this Bill is designed to address the “Housing Crisis” in Ontario and supports the construction of 1.5 million new housing units over the next ten years.

On the surface this seems laudable however the legislation fails to acknowledge that there is also an “Affordability Crisis”, a “Climate Crisis”, a “Species Diversity Crisis”, and a “Crisis in Democracy”. This myopic single issue legislation will do more harm than good and it is unclear who will actually benefit from it.

Let’s look at just a few of the details:

Your taxes are at risk of going up!
Development charges (fees levied to developers to pay for new infrastructure and services), and your tax dollar pay in part for the introduction of new residential development. Bill 23 proposes a reduction in Development Charges in an effort to reduce the price of new homes. In
reality, there is no guarantee that lower home prices will result. What is likely to happen however, is that your taxes will go up to support new development.

Conservation Authorities and York Region Planners provide assistance to the Township of King on matters of natural hazards, conservation of wetlands and woodlots, watershed planning, growth management, transportation planning, and service infrastructure.

Bill 23 cuts both the Region of York and the Conservation Authorities in part out of the local planning process downloading the roles to the Township of King. If we want to continue to implement the vision in our Official Plan new tools and staff resources will be required for King Township. As a result, it is likely that your taxes will go up.

Our Vision for Our Communities is at Risk!
Over the last few years the Township of King has completed a new Official Plan, new Zoning By-laws for the Villages and a Rural Zoning Bylaw. These documents form the vision that we chose for our communities. Along with these planning documents we have tools such as the Green Development Standards and the Village Design Guidelines that are implemented through “Site Plan Control”. These standards and guidelines help to encourage modern energy efficient and sustainable building designs and help to protect the character of our heritage and established neighbourhoods.

Bill 23 limits the ability of municipalities to apply “Site Plan Control”. So on a lot by lot basis, in our established neighbourhoods, there will be no ability to protect the character of the neighbourhood or encourage sustainable building design.

In addition, Bill 23 has made it much more difficult to protect heritage character by putting new rules and limitations on the application of the Heritage Act.

Your right to have a say in the future of your community is at risk!
Major changes to the Planning Act through the application of Bill 23 will severely limit your right to be involved. When planning applications are made for the development of a subdivision, there will no longer be a requirement for a statutory public meeting. Concerns from the public will consequently be heard later in the approval process when it is less likely to have any influence on the outcome. In addition, members of the public will no longer have any right to appeal a decision to the Ontario Lands Tribunal.

Our environment is at risk!
The Conservation Authorities have many roles including helping to protect our communities from the impact of natural hazards; protecting environmentally sensitive lands such as wetlands; and, assisting the Township of King by providing direction on development applications.

Bill 23 will seriously compromise the role of the Conservation Authorities by allowing exemptions from natural hazard permits, allowing wetlands to be drained and built upon, opening Conservation Authority lands for sale to the development industry and preventing municipalities from entering into agreements with conservation authorities to review planning applications on their behalf.

The Bill also sets the stage for urban expansion and future sprawl. Following the tabling of this Bill the Ontario Government proposed opening up Greenbelt Lands for development. These lands, which are outside of the defined urban boundary, have historically been protected to safe guard our drinking water, protect agricultural lands and protect sensitive ecosystems.

Conclusion
We need more homes, but what we need is increased density in existing urban areas (soft density) and support for more affordable units. There is enough existing designated residential land to accommodate growth for decades to come.

There is no need for Bill 23.

Discussions at the Door, Heritage, Nature, News, Planning & Development, Recent Posts

The Roland Michener Conservation Award

August 30, 2022

I was honoured this spring to receive the Roland Michener Conservation Award from the Canadian Wildlife Federation.   I travelled to Charlottetown for the award ceremony in my electric vehicle which was an adventure of its own and which I will talk about in another blog post.    It was inspiring and empowering to meet the other winners and to listen to their stories.  For more information on the award go to:
 https://cwf-fcf.org/en/explore/awards/winners/2022/CW-JulAug-Awards-1.pdf

I have included the text of my acceptance speech below.  It talks about the importance of support and community.  I know I would never have been able to accomplish what I have done without the help of my community.  King Township is a great place to live. 

 

It is an honour to be here tonight to receive the Roland Michener Conservation Award and to be recognised by the CanadianWildlife Federation.

I have to admit when I first heard about the award I was somewhat surprised.  Why was I receiving this recognition?  I just plod along and do what I do because I think it is the right thing to do; because it is who I am.  Then after discussions with my friends and family I realised that it is not really about me at all, but about the thousands and thousands of people like me;  those that care about nature and the communities that they live in. 

Behind me you are seeing photos of the Dufferin Marsh in Schomberg Ontario … a 5 ha wetland in the middle of the village … and pictures of some of the activities that the Dufferin Marsh Nature Connection has been doing over the last 30 years. I am a founding member of this community group and in reviewing the photos the first thing I noticed was how young I was.  I am heartened to know that there are still many young people today that are active and passionate about nature and some of them are in this room. 

I also realised that passion and tenacity and giving has given back to me.  I have learned so much about nature, fund raising, project management, communications, governance, development processes, and what makes a community work.  I have learned that through patience and persistence even the most ardent opponent can become an advocate.  My work with the Dufferin Marsh Nature Connection has provided the opportunity to make new and lifelong friendships; it has opened the door to positive and productive community, business and agency partnership; it has allowed me to share my knowledge and passion with anyone who will take time to listen; and best of all it has allowed me to advocate for the protection of the little gem of a wetland just down the street. 

When my 2 kids were growing up they had the luxury of roaming around and exploring our village.  I remember once my son Garth and his friend Scott got lost among the six foot high cattails in the Marsh looking for a short cut through town.  What an adventure they had.  I don’t think there are many childhoods like that anymore.  I was secure in the knowledge that they were being cared for and watched by the whole community. 

My community of family, friends, neighbours and business people have supported me through everything.  And most surprisingly they believe in me.  I want to acknowledge my husband, who sadly is not with us anymore, for teaching me about nature and how to find it a source of peace and joy; and my two beautiful children who helped with so many restoration projects and other activities with hardly a complaint; so many friends and family who answered the call to volunteer and were there to guide me when things got me down; from dog walkers to Township staff I could not have achieved anything without them. 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

 

 

Discussions at the Door, Nature, News, Recent Posts

2018 Birdathon

May 20, 2018

To say I was excited to get up at 4:45 am would be an exaggeration but I thought it would be a good idea to hear the dawn chorus. After breakfast in the dark (need my energy) I slipped out to the backyard to be greeted by all the eager early birds. To my disappointment the dawn chorus was a dud. Only the usual suspects were singing and even that was thin. This was a fore-shadowing of my whole day. I cannot remember the last time I had to work so hard for so few birds.

I could always count on Robins. They had been singing since 4:00 am. And the Grackles had already claimed their territory by the feeders making the Chickadees, Nuthatches, Mourning Doves and Red-winged Blackbirds wait their turn. I didn’t spend long in the yard but made my way along the ridge north of the Dufferin Marsh. I was greeted by a plethora of Yellow Warblers and Catbirds. A Swamp Sparrow was singing in the same place it does every year and I was lucky to see it up close, head tilted back and “chipping” with abandon. My husband Gary used to say it sounds like a Singer Sewing Machine. Does anyone remember what that sounds like? There were lots of Swallows diving over the marsh and one of them was a Roughed-winged Swallow. That was a satisfying bird.

more “2018 Birdathon”

Nature
  • Bill 23 – “The promote urban sprawl and get rid of that pesky green space Act”
  • The Roland Michener Conservation Award
  • Blog
  • What is Bill 66
  • Schomberg/Lloydtown
  • November 2022
  • August 2022
  • January 2019
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018

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