Hamilton city council votes Friday on expanding the urban boundary by 1,310 hectares
CBC
Hamilton's city council will cast a controversial vote Friday to approve, deny or delay expanding Hamilton's urban boundary by 1,310 hectares.
City staff recommend an "ambitious density" scenario that would expand the city limits to so-called "whitebelt" land — land between the existing boundary and the greenbelt. It's land a local farming representative said this month is some of the best food-growing land in Ontario.
Staff say the expansion is necessary to meet provincial density targets, and to accommodate a projected population increase of 236,000 people over the next 30 years, for a total population of 820,000 by 2051. In that time, the plan says, the city will need to grow by 110,000 more housing units and 122,000 more jobs. Staff and local developers also say the growth is necessary to provide people with a variety of housing choices.
Those opposed say there's enough space in Hamilton's existing urban boundary to accommodate densification, and that the expansion will hurt agriculture, the environment, and the city's pocketbook.
There's also been a variety of public messaging around the issue. Local developers formed a coalition called "Hamilton Needs Housing" and distributed flyers saying the expansion would help ease the city's affordable housing crisis.
A citizen-led group called Stop Sprawl, meanwhile, has held demonstrations and distributed signs encouraging the city to save green space and farmland.
The vote was scheduled for Nov. 9, but the meeting went on for several hours when hundreds of residents gave input through letters and presentations, most against the expansion. So the rest of the meeting was deferred until today.
City council's general issues committee is scheduled to vote on the plan, called the Growth Related Integrated Development Strategy 2, or GRIDS2, Friday morning. City council is expected to then ratify that decision at 3 p.m.