Shaping Guelph: Official Plan Review

Please join us for a virtual open house. The open house will provide you with an opportunity to learn about and provide your comments on the Shaping Guelph Official Plan Review proposed policies and land use designations for the Rolling Hills area.

Date: Monday, May 2, 2022

Time: 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Where: Online

You can join the open house through the virtual Microsoft Teams meeting at https://bit.ly/ShapingGuelph

The open house will include:

About the Shaping Guelph project

In October 2019, we began a municipal comprehensive review of Guelph’s Official Plan to conform to A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. This project is known as Shaping Guelph. Here is what we’ve done so far:

• Had community conversations about:
  1. where and how to house Guelph’s growing population
  2. one possible way for Guelph to grow and what other growth options should be explored, and
  3. Guelph’s employment lands supply and future needs

• Explored growth scenarios; and

• Presented the growth management strategy to City Council.

If you are unable to attend the meeting, please send us your comments, questions or feedback to plan2051@guelph.ca

The official plan amendment for the Shaping Guelph Official Plan Review is available for review and comment.

This Official Plan Amendment (OPA 80) proposes to revise the Official Plan’s vision, urban structure, population and employment figures, density and intensification targets and associated policies and land use designations as part of the City’s municipal comprehensive review for conformity with A Place to Grow: The Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. This amendment also revises the Official Plan for conformity and consistency with:

• Recent amendments to the Planning Act
• Recent amendments to the Clean Water Act, and
• The Provincial Policy Statement (2020).

Amendments to improve clarity for implementation or to address city approved plans, procedures or Council decisions are also included along with housekeeping changes related to such things as, for example, names of provincial ministries, to update municipal address references or to correct policy numbering references. OPA 80 also includes revisions to implement the recommendations of the York/Elizabeth Land Use study.

The virtual Open House provides an informal opportunity to learn about the proposed amendment and to ask questions of City Staff. This meeting will take place:

Open House

Tuesday, March 22

6:30 p.m.

You can join the open house through the virtual WebEx event at bit.ly/GuelphOP or watch it live on guelph.ca/live.

The purpose of the Public Meeting is to share information about the amendment and consider public comments regarding the Official Plan Review which will be reviewed by staff prior to Council’s decision at a future meeting. This meeting will take place:

Statutory Public Meeting

Wednesday, March 30

6 pm

This is a remote City Council meeting that can be watched online at guelph.ca/live

Throughout the course of this year, the City has undertaken several engagement opportunities to obtain feedback on the Official Plan Review Policy Paper. A summary of this engagement and what we heard is available here.

Virtual workshops are happening on June 1 and 3 to discuss proposed policy directions for climate change and natural heritage systems and water resources in response to changes in planning related Provincial legislation, policies, and plans. The Official Plan review policy paper provides an overview of these Provincial changes and outlines proposed policy directions to consider as we update Guelph's Official Plan.

Here are some things to read and think about ahead of these workshops.

Climate Change Workshop

Climate change is the present and future consequences from changes in weather patterns at local and regional levels including extreme weather events and increased climate variability (Provincial Policy Statement, 2020).

1. How can we use land use planning to mitigate or adapt to a changing climate?
2. The Official Plan includes a section on climate change and provides policy direction to increase community resiliency to climate change recognizing that addressing climate change requires two complementary sets of strategies, mitigation and adaptation. The Official Plan review policy paper includes what we think are required updates to the Official Plan to align with changes in provincial policies and plans. What are your thoughts on these proposed updates? What do you think should be included in our Official Plan to set the stage for future work through climate change mitigation and adaptation plans?

Resources

• Official Plan Review Policy Paper
• City of Guelph Official Plan
• City of Guelph Community Plan
• City of Guelph Strategic Plan
• City of Guelph Energy and Climate Change Webpage

Natural Heritage System and Water Resource Workshop

A natural heritage system is a system that is made up of natural heritage features and areas and linkages intended to provide connectivity and support natural processes which are necessary to maintain biological and geological diversity, natural functions, viable populations of indigenous species and ecosystems (Provincial Policy Statement, 2020). Guelph’s natural heritage system is shown on Schedules 4 and 4A-4E of the Official Plan.

A water resource system consists of ground water features and areas and surface water features and hydrologic functions, which provide the water resources necessary to sustain healthy aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and human water consumptions. Water resource systems will comprise key hydrologic features and key hydrologic areas (Provincial Policy Statement, 2020).

1. How can we use land use planning to further protect and manage our natural heritage system and water resources?
2. The Official Plan is based on an environment first approach to land use planning. It includes the identification of and policies related to our natural heritage system. The Official Plan review policy paper includes what we think are required updates to the Official Plan to align with changes in provincial policies and plans. What are your thoughts on these proposed updates? Are there other changes to the Official Plan that should be considered to align with Provincial policies and plans?

Resources

We hope that you will take the time to explore some of the related resource documents below:

• Official Plan Review Policy Paper
• City of Guelph Official Plan
• City of Guelph Community Plan
• City of Guelph Water Supply Webpage
• Water Supply Master Plan update
• Wastewater Treatment and Biosolids Master Plan update
• Stormwater Management Master Plan update
• City of Guelph Strategic Plan

Residents and stakeholders are invited to provide input on proposed policy changes to Guelph’s Official Plan, by participating in two virtual workshops and completing an online survey.

The City is updating its Official Plan to conform with changes to Provincial legislation, such as the Planning Act, and policies such as the Provincial Policy Statement by July 1, 2022. We encourage Guelphites to read the policy paper outlining proposed policy directions to address these changes, covering topics including housing, employment, climate change, natural heritage systems and water resources.

We need your input on the proposed policy directions to help us understand your perspectives as we consider updates to the Official Plan.

We are holding virtual workshops about policy directions for climate change and natural heritage systems and water resources. If you are interested in discussing other topics, join us during our open office hours listed below.

Virtual workshops

Join us for virtual workshops by topic. Please register in advance:

• June 1, 7-8:30 p.m. to discuss climate change
• June 3, 7-8:30 p.m. to discuss the natural heritage system and water resources

Online survey

Complete the online survey between June 1 and 27. Hard copies of the survey are available by calling 519-822-1260 extension 2459.

Call us during open office hours

• Tuesday, June 1 from 2-3 p.m. (Stacey Laughlin 519-822-1260 extension 2327)
• Thursday, June 3 from 11 a.m.-noon (Natalie Goss 519-822-1260 extension 3548)
• Tuesday, June 8 from 11 a.m.-noon (Natalie Goss 519-822-1260 extension 3548)
• Thursday, June 10 from 2-3 p.m. (Stacey Laughlin 519-822-1260 extension 2327)
• Tuesday, June 15 from 11 a.m.-noon (Natalie Goss 519-822-1260 extension 3548)
• Thursday, June 17 from 2-3 p.m. (Stacey Laughlin 519-822-1260 extension 2327)
• Tuesday, June 22 from 11 a.m.-noon (Natalie Goss 519-822-1260 extension 3548)
• Thursday, June 24 from 2-3 p.m. (Stacey Laughlin 519-822-1260 extension 2327)

Why we’re updating Guelph’s Official Plan

Guelph’s Official Plan is a legal planning document that establishes a vision for the future of the municipality and provides policy direction to manage future land use patterns and growth. The plan covers:

• How land can be used, whether it should be used for houses, industry, offices, commercial, parks, natural areas or a mix of uses;
• What services, like roads, sewers, parks and schools, are needed; and,
• When, and in what order, parts of the municipality will grow.

Revisions to the Official Plan will ensure Guelph conforms and is consistent with:

• Recent amendments to the Planning Act,
• Recent amendments to the Clean Water Act,
• The Provincial Policy Statement (2020), and
• A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2019).

An update to the Official Plan is needed now to address these legislative and policy changes.