Council Meeting - February 23, 2026

High-level Summary

The council focused on advancing the official plan review with robust public engagement, clarifying density and transit-anchored growth, and confirming governance and communications processes. Key decisions included approving the meeting agenda, launching a statutory public meeting on the official plan, and establishing procedural motions to move the planning process forward, with several motions deferred for further study or pending outcomes (including governance and affordability discussions).

Five Most Important Topics Discussed

1) Draft Official Plan Review and Public Engagement - The session emphasized that the official plan review is in the fourth phase and includes a statutory public meeting, with feedback incorporated from earlier phases. Quote: “We are now in phase four, which includes the statutory public meeting.” Beiel also noted that “Policies have been updated and simplified to make the document clearer and more consistent.” File reference: the Public Meeting Information Report PA26-04 is discussed as part of this process. Public input opportunities were highlighted, including email submissions to planning staff.

2) Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) and Density/Growth Alignment - The MTSA framework drives growth within defined planning zones, targeting high density near transit. Quote: “It aligns with the provincial requirements of requiring an intensity of about 150 people and jobs per hectare in an area that's immediately adjacent to an area of a major transit station.” The downtown PMTSA focus, density targets, and integration with provincial regulations (including the Greenbelt and related plans) were discussed. File numbers noted: PMTSA references and discussions around related zoning/density targets.

3) Housing Affordability and Inclusionary Tools - Council discussed how to reach a 30% affordable housing target, definitions of affordability, and potential inclusionary zoning in MTSA areas. Quote: “The housing and affordability chapter... targets about 30% of all new housing dwelling units to be constructed to affordable housing level.” Public input and monitoring were framed as essential, with staff invited to define provincial affordability benchmarks. Motions later addressed monitoring plans and inclusionary zoning (see motions).

4) Public Input Process and Transparency - Residents were invited to provide input through meetings and written submissions, and questions not answered during the meeting could be emailed to the planning department. Quote: “Residents were invited to participate in the statutory public meeting.” An explicit contact was provided in one section: planning@grinsby.ca (and other variants appeared in different transcripts), indicating ongoing opportunities for public feedback.

5) Infrastructure, Transportation, and Growth Sequencing - A recurring concern across sections was ensuring infrastructure capacity (water, wastewater, stormwater, roads, power) keeps pace with growth and that transit and road networks are coordinated with new development. Quotes reflect this emphasis, such as planning staff noting the need to align growth with infrastructure capabilities and external transit partners (e.g., Metrolinx) for sequencing.

File Numbers / Bylaws Mentioned

• PA26-04: Official Plan Public Meeting Information Report (document discussed and received).
• PMTSA/MTSA references: Major Transit Station Area planning terms used throughout; no single numeric file listed in every section.
• ByLaw 26-10: Introduced, read, and passed in one section of the transcripts.

Opportunities for Public Input

• Written comments or questions can be submitted to the Planning Department (addresses varied across transcripts; e.g., planning@grinsby.ca and planning@grinsby.ca appear in different sections; some texts show planning@grinsby.ca and ginsbyopin.ca variants). Public input was encouraged at statutory public meetings, with opportunities to sign up for email updates and to submit comments in writing.

Motions Passed, Rejected, or Deferred (titles and outcomes)

1) Motion to Approve the Agenda for February 23, 2026 - Outcome: Passed unanimously.

2) Motion to Initiate Public Meeting on Official Plan Review - Outcome: Passed (public meeting initiated and instructions given for consultation).

3) Motion to Receive Official Plan Public Meeting Information Report (PA26-04) - Outcome: Passed.

4) Motion to Receive Board Minutes (various boards) - Outcome: Passed.

5) Motion to Open the Floor for Discussion on Regional Governance in Niagara - Outcome: Passed.

6) Motion to Discuss the Official Plan Information Report - Outcome: Passed (staff/consultants to address questions raised).

7) Motion to Endorse Council Endorsement Package for the Ginsby Heritage Advisory Committee - Outcome: Passed.

8) Motion to Introduce and Pass Bylaw 26-10 - Outcome: Passed.

9) Motion to Review Duplicate Regional Services (example from another section) - Outcome: Passed.

10) Motion to Gather More Data on Amalgamation and Governance Changes - Outcome: Deferred.

11) Motion to Address Power Infrastructure Needs (PMTSA area) - Outcome: Deferred.

12) Motion to Strengthen the Official Plan Language (shall vs should) - Outcome: Deferred for further discussion.

Notes: Several transcripts reference additional motions (e.g., affordability monitoring, inclusionary zoning in MTSA, defining affordability; capital projects; governance reform discussions). Where explicit outcomes were stated in the provided text, they are listed above; in sections where outcomes were not finalized in the transcript, the note “Deferred” or “Not decided” is used.

Councillors Present

• Mayor Jordan
• Councillor DeFlavio
• Councillor Vardy
• Councillor Costangi
• Councillor How
• Councillor Frank
• Councillor Christi
• Councillor Shaw/Shartwell (varies by section)
• Councillor Bradzi
• Councillor Jacob
• Councillor Brady
• Councillor Corani
• Additional attendees referenced by role (e.g., planning staff, consultants) but not all named consistently across transcripts.

If you’d like, I can tailor this to a single specific section of the transcripts (e.g., the PA26-04 public meeting, or the governance discussion) and present a tighter 2-3 page summary with exact quotes and a clean list of attendees for that section.