Elfrida land is some of best farmland in Ontario, OFA rep says in boundary debate

Hamilton city councillors are hearing hours of citizen presentations about expanding the urban boundary — including a prominent local farmer who says it would rob the area of precious food-growing land.

Councillors are scheduled to vote Tuesday to adopt, reject or delay a plan that would see the urban boundary expand to add 1,310 hectares of countryside. But first, they're hearing from speakers like Drew Spoelstra, a Binbrook farmer who's vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA).

Spoelstra says farmland in Elfrida, on the southeastern edge of Hamilton, is some of the finest and most productive in Ontario. He cautioned that building houses on it would eat into the province's already precarious food supply.

"The province is already losing 75 acres of farmland a day," Spoelstra said during his presentation. And "not all land is suitable for farming in the greenbelt."

Spoelstra, who also chairs the city agriculture and rural affairs advisory committee, said the province's planning policy dictates that farmland be protected. So the city should abide by that, he said.

On the plus side, "I don't think I've seen folks talk about agriculture in the last 20 years as much as they have in the last few months."

At issue Tuesday is a staff report about how to accommodate a projected growth of 110,300 households by 2051.

There are two options: an "ambitious density" scenario that would see infill as well as a boundary expansion, and infill with no urban boundary expansion. City planning staff recommend the first option.

With the ambitious density option, 25 per cent of future housing would be detached single-family homes, 25 per cent townhouses and 50 per cent apartments. With the second, nine per cent of new housing would be single-family homes, 13 per cent townhouses and 78 per cent apartments. 

While most speakers don't want an expansion, some do, particularly the West End Homebuilders' Association and the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber policy advisor Paul Szachlewicz said if council doesn't expand the boundary, the province could impose it.

Also, he said, Hamilton's "housing affordability challenges" is a barrier for local employers to recruit workers. 

Brad Clark, Ward 9 (upper Stoney Creek) councillor, wondered if expanding the boundary would make housing more affordable.

In his ward, houses are "popping up like toast in a toaster and the pricing has not come down," he said. "It's shot through the roof."