Opinions are divided on how Hamilton should grow to meet an expected population of 780,000 by 2041, if an open house in Stoney Creek is any indication.
People who spoke to the Stoney Creek News were roughly split between those wanting the city to keep housing and employment growth within existing development limits and those in favour of building on farmland in Elfrida and the south mountain.
“I’d like to see more expansion outside the city because the majority of your taxes come from urban expansion,” said Binbrook resident Jim Frenza.
“They don’t make money from downtown, they make it from outside development. If you took all that away the city would be broke.”
But Laura Anderson, who lives near Gage Park, said she opposes sprawl and believes the city’s declaration of a climate emergency requires compact development.
“I moved here because I only need one car in my household, because I live on a transportation route and can bike to work,” she said. “That’s the type of city we need to support.”
A provincial growth plan asks Hamilton to build at least half of all new housing units in existing built-up areas — known as intensification — a target the city met in 2018 but missed the three preceding years.
The goal requires construction of 45,000 intensification housing units by 2041, including 35,000 highrise apartment units, equal to four to 10 buildings each year.
By comparison, about 10,000 intensification units were built between 2007 and 2018, an average of 800 per year, well below the 2,000 needed to meet the 2041 target.
The provincial plan allows new homes in “designated greenfield areas" within the current urban boundary, most of which are on the south mountain between Highway 403 and Upper Centennial Parkway, with pockets in Ancaster, Waterdown, Fruitland and Winona.
The province has given Hamilton a minimum density target of 50 residents and jobs per hectare in these areas — lower than the goal of 70 in the city’s official plan — and the open house asked if the city should lower, meet or increase the goal.
Going lower will need provincial approval and likely require expanding the urban boundary, while higher densities will minimize or avoid the need to do so.
Should the urban boundary need to be expanded, the city has identified four potential areas, with the biggest being an L-shaped area of about 1,000 hectares in upper Stoney Creek and Elfrida.
An approximate map shows it running east of Upper Centennial Parkway from about the midway point between Green Mountain Road and Mud Street to about halfway between Rymal and Golf Club roads.
It then stretches west beyond existing development to about the midpoint between Fletcher and Trinity Church roads. The other three areas follow the same westward trajectory south of Rymal between Nebo Road and Kitty Murray Lane in Ancaster.
John Paul, who owns land in one of the three smaller new development areas, said he believes Hamilton “is uniquely positioned” to expand the urban boundary.
He said unlike other municipalities in the Golden Horseshoe, the city has greenfield land unconstrained by Niagara Escarpment and Greenbelt planning restrictions, allowing it to become a destination for people seeking single-family or town homes.
Paul said not everyone wants to live in a condo and the city will be hard-pressed to meet the province’s 50 per cent intensification target, because it requires investors willing to build downtown.
“I think we should embrace this bit of sprawl. Its benefits outweigh its disadvantages,” he said. “Going forward, I think Hamilton will be a lot more vibrant than many other municipalities because of the fact that we’re still able to grow.”
But Stoney Creek resident Dan van den Beukel said he opposed previous urban expansions in Winona and Elfrida, and doesn’t want to see the city go further in that direction.
He said he found the minimum target of 50 residents and jobs per hectare in designated greenfield areas poorly defined because it could mean 48 people and just two jobs, which wouldn’t meet his goal of residents being able to work near where they live.
“I just get very nervous about the whole process,” van den Beukel said, criticizing the lack of publicity and signage to direct people to the open house at Battlefield Park’s Nash Jackson House. “It’s like the city intentionally wants us to not pay attention.”
Four open houses held between Nov. 26 and Dec. 4 will help the city come up with a preferred growth option, scheduled for another round of open houses in May.
More details are available at hamilton.ca/city-planning/official-plan-zoning-by-law/grids-2-and-municipal-comprehensive-review.
Opinions are divided on how Hamilton should grow to meet an expected population of 780,000 by 2041, if an open house in Stoney Creek is any indication.
People who spoke to the Stoney Creek News were roughly split between those wanting the city to keep housing and employment growth within existing development limits and those in favour of building on farmland in Elfrida and the south mountain.
“I’d like to see more expansion outside the city because the majority of your taxes come from urban expansion,” said Binbrook resident Jim Frenza.
“They don’t make money from downtown, they make it from outside development. If you took all that away the city would be broke.”
But Laura Anderson, who lives near Gage Park, said she opposes sprawl and believes the city’s declaration of a climate emergency requires compact development.
“I moved here because I only need one car in my household, because I live on a transportation route and can bike to work,” she said. “That’s the type of city we need to support.”
A provincial growth plan asks Hamilton to build at least half of all new housing units in existing built-up areas — known as intensification — a target the city met in 2018 but missed the three preceding years.
The goal requires construction of 45,000 intensification housing units by 2041, including 35,000 highrise apartment units, equal to four to 10 buildings each year.
By comparison, about 10,000 intensification units were built between 2007 and 2018, an average of 800 per year, well below the 2,000 needed to meet the 2041 target.
The provincial plan allows new homes in “designated greenfield areas" within the current urban boundary, most of which are on the south mountain between Highway 403 and Upper Centennial Parkway, with pockets in Ancaster, Waterdown, Fruitland and Winona.
The province has given Hamilton a minimum density target of 50 residents and jobs per hectare in these areas — lower than the goal of 70 in the city’s official plan — and the open house asked if the city should lower, meet or increase the goal.
Going lower will need provincial approval and likely require expanding the urban boundary, while higher densities will minimize or avoid the need to do so.
Should the urban boundary need to be expanded, the city has identified four potential areas, with the biggest being an L-shaped area of about 1,000 hectares in upper Stoney Creek and Elfrida.
An approximate map shows it running east of Upper Centennial Parkway from about the midway point between Green Mountain Road and Mud Street to about halfway between Rymal and Golf Club roads.
It then stretches west beyond existing development to about the midpoint between Fletcher and Trinity Church roads. The other three areas follow the same westward trajectory south of Rymal between Nebo Road and Kitty Murray Lane in Ancaster.
John Paul, who owns land in one of the three smaller new development areas, said he believes Hamilton “is uniquely positioned” to expand the urban boundary.
He said unlike other municipalities in the Golden Horseshoe, the city has greenfield land unconstrained by Niagara Escarpment and Greenbelt planning restrictions, allowing it to become a destination for people seeking single-family or town homes.
Paul said not everyone wants to live in a condo and the city will be hard-pressed to meet the province’s 50 per cent intensification target, because it requires investors willing to build downtown.
“I think we should embrace this bit of sprawl. Its benefits outweigh its disadvantages,” he said. “Going forward, I think Hamilton will be a lot more vibrant than many other municipalities because of the fact that we’re still able to grow.”
But Stoney Creek resident Dan van den Beukel said he opposed previous urban expansions in Winona and Elfrida, and doesn’t want to see the city go further in that direction.
He said he found the minimum target of 50 residents and jobs per hectare in designated greenfield areas poorly defined because it could mean 48 people and just two jobs, which wouldn’t meet his goal of residents being able to work near where they live.
“I just get very nervous about the whole process,” van den Beukel said, criticizing the lack of publicity and signage to direct people to the open house at Battlefield Park’s Nash Jackson House. “It’s like the city intentionally wants us to not pay attention.”
Four open houses held between Nov. 26 and Dec. 4 will help the city come up with a preferred growth option, scheduled for another round of open houses in May.
More details are available at hamilton.ca/city-planning/official-plan-zoning-by-law/grids-2-and-municipal-comprehensive-review.
Opinions are divided on how Hamilton should grow to meet an expected population of 780,000 by 2041, if an open house in Stoney Creek is any indication.
People who spoke to the Stoney Creek News were roughly split between those wanting the city to keep housing and employment growth within existing development limits and those in favour of building on farmland in Elfrida and the south mountain.
“I’d like to see more expansion outside the city because the majority of your taxes come from urban expansion,” said Binbrook resident Jim Frenza.
“They don’t make money from downtown, they make it from outside development. If you took all that away the city would be broke.”
But Laura Anderson, who lives near Gage Park, said she opposes sprawl and believes the city’s declaration of a climate emergency requires compact development.
“I moved here because I only need one car in my household, because I live on a transportation route and can bike to work,” she said. “That’s the type of city we need to support.”
A provincial growth plan asks Hamilton to build at least half of all new housing units in existing built-up areas — known as intensification — a target the city met in 2018 but missed the three preceding years.
The goal requires construction of 45,000 intensification housing units by 2041, including 35,000 highrise apartment units, equal to four to 10 buildings each year.
By comparison, about 10,000 intensification units were built between 2007 and 2018, an average of 800 per year, well below the 2,000 needed to meet the 2041 target.
The provincial plan allows new homes in “designated greenfield areas" within the current urban boundary, most of which are on the south mountain between Highway 403 and Upper Centennial Parkway, with pockets in Ancaster, Waterdown, Fruitland and Winona.
The province has given Hamilton a minimum density target of 50 residents and jobs per hectare in these areas — lower than the goal of 70 in the city’s official plan — and the open house asked if the city should lower, meet or increase the goal.
Going lower will need provincial approval and likely require expanding the urban boundary, while higher densities will minimize or avoid the need to do so.
Should the urban boundary need to be expanded, the city has identified four potential areas, with the biggest being an L-shaped area of about 1,000 hectares in upper Stoney Creek and Elfrida.
An approximate map shows it running east of Upper Centennial Parkway from about the midway point between Green Mountain Road and Mud Street to about halfway between Rymal and Golf Club roads.
It then stretches west beyond existing development to about the midpoint between Fletcher and Trinity Church roads. The other three areas follow the same westward trajectory south of Rymal between Nebo Road and Kitty Murray Lane in Ancaster.
John Paul, who owns land in one of the three smaller new development areas, said he believes Hamilton “is uniquely positioned” to expand the urban boundary.
He said unlike other municipalities in the Golden Horseshoe, the city has greenfield land unconstrained by Niagara Escarpment and Greenbelt planning restrictions, allowing it to become a destination for people seeking single-family or town homes.
Paul said not everyone wants to live in a condo and the city will be hard-pressed to meet the province’s 50 per cent intensification target, because it requires investors willing to build downtown.
“I think we should embrace this bit of sprawl. Its benefits outweigh its disadvantages,” he said. “Going forward, I think Hamilton will be a lot more vibrant than many other municipalities because of the fact that we’re still able to grow.”
But Stoney Creek resident Dan van den Beukel said he opposed previous urban expansions in Winona and Elfrida, and doesn’t want to see the city go further in that direction.
He said he found the minimum target of 50 residents and jobs per hectare in designated greenfield areas poorly defined because it could mean 48 people and just two jobs, which wouldn’t meet his goal of residents being able to work near where they live.
“I just get very nervous about the whole process,” van den Beukel said, criticizing the lack of publicity and signage to direct people to the open house at Battlefield Park’s Nash Jackson House. “It’s like the city intentionally wants us to not pay attention.”
Four open houses held between Nov. 26 and Dec. 4 will help the city come up with a preferred growth option, scheduled for another round of open houses in May.
More details are available at hamilton.ca/city-planning/official-plan-zoning-by-law/grids-2-and-municipal-comprehensive-review.