Town confirms objections to Everett growth plan, OPA 15

New Tecumseth Free Press September 10, 2013
Plans to grow Everett by approximately 10,000 people over the next 20 years, will be opposed by New Tecumseth.

Council last night directed its planning department to layout the Town’s concerns to Simcoe County, which is the next level of the approval process. On Sept. 3, Adjala-Tosorontio council approved Official Plan Amendment (OPA) 15 – Everett Secondary Plan and Settlement Area Boundary Expansion.
In a bid to quell some of the objections, council amended the growth plan as a phase-in, which in the first part would allow Everett to grow to 3,500; phase 2, to 5,300; Phase 3, 7,450, and final build out (beyond 2031) to 10,669. There’s also concerns about more than 150,000 sq. ft of commercial space to accompany the residential growth.
“While OPA 15 indicates phasing, the document does not contain policies on how the phasing will restrict development or how the listed phases will be controlled,” according to the New Tecumseth planning report to council last night.
OPA 15 breaks from all the provisions of the Places to Grow legislation governing growth in Simcoe County through 2031. Everett is not identified as one of the urban settlement areas. It currently has a population of 1,645, while Adjala-Tosorontio is 10,603. It has population allocation to grow by approximately 3,000 by 2031.
The subject lands of OPA 15 abut the north and west boundary of Everett, and majority owned by the Walton Group. The Alberta based land bank speculator, which owns more than 4,000 acres of land in the New Tecumseth area, has been paying for the planning studies, and has proposed to finance the cost of the water, wastewater infrastructure required to service the development.
“I think it’s a very grave mistake because it certainly is contrary to County planning policy, and severely opposed to the provincial planning documents in effect today,” said Ward 3 councillor Paul Whiteside. “The growth numbers they don’t have, and one of the main concerns I have is the growth plan identifies Alliston as the primary settlement area, and the Township of Adjala Tosorontio does not contain a primary settlement area, and I have a feeling if OP 15 does get approved, and implemented, it will certainly have an impact on the commercial area of New Tecumseth.”
The Town is also fighting Adjala-Tosorontio on another front, namely the Township’s plans to expand the commerical and dry industrial area along Hwy 89 between the western boundary of Alliston and Cty Rd 50. Also a means to find compromise, the employment lands have been scaled back in terms of retail uses permitted so as to lessen the impact on the ABIA district. Councillors last night discussed its go forward strategy in camera.