My view: Midhurst Secondary Plan

Good or Bad Planning? You decide

By Bill French Springwater News 

I realized my brief mention of the Midhurst Secondary Plan (MSP) in recent articles is not something everyone is familiar with these days as we have seen probably a 25 to 30% population change in Springwater over the last 5 or 6 years.

With that in mind, I would like to provide some history and background. Over 20 years ago the Province, recognizing that unbridled urban sprawl was unsustainable and asked all municipalities to look to the future and plan where they would like to see urban type developments occur. The control mechanism became what is known as the Provincial Policy Statement and the guiding policy, Places to Grow, was introduced around 2005 and 2006.

Springwater from its 9 settlement areas, identified Elmvale, Hillsdale and Midhurst as obvious places to grow, as there were some core infrastructures and services already in place. For some reason Elmvale and Hillsdale developed settlement areas that, depending on density, would accommodate growth of about 2 to 3 times their size over the next 40 or 50 years.

No one seems to be able to say why but Midhurst added about 2,000 acres from the Old Second in the East to Wilson Drive in the West for future development and depending on density would allow a 10 fold increase in population.

The Midhurst area in my opinion became a target for land speculators and developers as they had exhausted the lands around the GTA and moved north. If you are a conspiracy buff you might want to check who was on Council at the time around in the late 90’s and which lands became part of this new Midhurst expanded settlement area.

It is worthy to note that the Ontario Places to Grow Policies, because of the “wild west” approach to residential development in Simcoe County at the time, developed growth forecasts to control growth. Springwater, in 2006, was projected to grow to about 25,000 people or about 6,500 more people by 2031 or a 25 year time frame.

Simcoe County sprawl was so bad and eating up so much good agricultural land the Province even added a special section to the Places to Grow called the Simcoe Sub Area. The Province recognized the same major loss of good farmland had occurred in the Southern York Region area and they wanted to stop that in Simcoe County before it was too late. The land developers saw an opportunity with the wide expanse of land deemed to be in the settlement expansion around Midhurst.

That was the origin and start of the Mega Developments of the Midhurst Secondary Plan. In 2008 the Springwater Council of the day approved the Secondary Plan and the future developments planned for that area. Ironically the County of Simcoe objected to the Plan as it was not consistent with neither the Provincial Places to Grow Policies nor the growth forecasts. In 2011 for some reason the County approved the MSP and it was then appealed to the OMB by the Province as it did not meet the Policies they had put in place.

But then along comes Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Bob Chiarelli, who invoked the Midhurst Special Rule in 2012 and modified in 2013 which permitted the development of the first phase of up to 300 hectares (about 750 acres) and about 5,000 homes which opened the flood gates.

In 2014 the OMB approved the development plans with 150 conditions to be met, including a Long Term Financial Plan which was to assure the long term sustainability of such a huge development and minimize the direct impact on the existing taxpayer.

There was an extensive Environmental Assessment process for the development as it was one of the first large development that did not have access to a large body of water for either the intake of fresh water or the discharge of effluent from its wastewater treatment facility. The MSP will supply its fresh water from deep wells and the wastewater effluent will discharge into Willow Creek a slow running stream that empties into the Minesing Wetlands and then Georgian Bay.

Of the course the last and most important was a development agreement that protects Springwater from every possible negative impact that such a mega development might create.

This is where I will digress and express strong disagreement with the Mayor’s response to my questions at the last two Council Meetings. He stated that this Council is following the same due diligence as was the Council I led from 2014 to 2018. Our Mayor, then Deputy Mayor was appointed to the Financial Advisory Committee, which enhanced the Long Term Financial Study as the original scope was somewhat shallow in nature.

When the report was received by the committee and studied by them in 2016, they recommended adoption by Council which we did. However, it was clear and understood that this was a preliminary study as the cost estimates could not be confirmed until after the EA studies were done.

Just as a comparison the MSP projected infrastructure costs for Transportation, Water and Wastewater was $109 million in 2009 but when the EA was submitted in 2018, it had grown to about $330 million. I believe the number that was used in the preliminary study was about $150 million, so how could that be considered meeting the requirements of the OMB conditions as it was based on incorrect information?

I do question the recent advancement approvals prior to a valid Long Term Financial Plan and more Importantly a bullet proof Development Agreement which are still not complete. You must decide, “Is that really practicing due diligence?”

The development of the 700 home Stone Manor Woods development had all the boxes checked before it proceeded in 2015 as a comparison. Do I believe that the MSP can ever be stopped? The simple answer is no, but it should also not be fast tracked as the consequences are far too severe.

As I stated when campaigning in 2014, Springwater Council could not stop or modify the development, as the Council of 2008 had approved it and it would be acting in bad faith if a current Council reversed that decision and would be subject to a law suit.

However, I did promise to raise the growth concern and issues with Minister Ted McMeekin at the time and both the now Mayor, who was Deputy at the time, and I met with Minister McMeekin and his key staff asking them to re-evaluate the MSP because of some major concerns and conflicts with their Growth Plan and left it in his hands.

But I am sure the pressures from outside the legislation made sleeping dogs lie and a polite letter from Minister McMeekin suggested they would not interfere with the process that was in play. With that in mind we simply ensured that all the I’s were dotted and T’s crossed as we proceeded.

So contrary to the Mayor’s prepared response at the meetings where I posed questions, I am not convinced the same diligence is being followed and there is now a rush to get shovels in the ground, so there is not even a question about the MSP at the next Municipal Election.

Remember Springwater has had the most controlled and ideal growth of any local rural municipality to date. It has averaged anywhere from 100 to about 300 or about 2 to 3% growth in new homes a year for about a decade which makes managing the growth and servicing quite manageable. The largest development to date, as noted above, has been in the Stone Manor developments in Centre Vespra with about 700 homes and about 2,000 new residents being built over what will be about a 7 year time frame and it has been able to be assimilated well. There is quite a difference between that development and the first wave of up to 3,850 homes or about 12,000 people in the MSP over a similar time frame.

For those that have asked, I doubt I will be back to fight the battle on your behalf, but everyone in Springwater, regardless of where you live, needs to be vigilant and hold this Council’s feet to the fire or you will be paying the price for many decades if growth is not managed properly from the top.

If you don’t believe me, just check out the negative financial impacts of rapid urban sprawl development in York Region and closer to home Bradford West Gwillimbury and Innisfil.

I know some find my thoughts abrasive and confrontational and I am sorry about that. Please remember these are my thoughts and I am not asking you to agree. I respect your freedom of expression and encourage you to SPEAK UP, before that freedom is taken from us!

Bill served as Mayor of Springwater and a County of Simcoe Councillor from 2014 to 2018 and has taught business at the college level for over 15 years.