Richmond Hill Council Holds Public Meeting on Official Plan Amendment 18.9

Richmond Hill council held a public meeting June 23 on Official Plan Amendment 18.9 and related zoning updates, with Mayor David West emphasizing that no final decisions would be made that night. He told attendees, "The purpose of this meeting tonight under the Planning Act is to collect information and thoughts from the public," adding that comments would be referred to staff and return to council later. The meeting focused on bringing the city's official plan into conformity with provincial policy, including changes to employment lands, growth planning to 2051, environmental protections, and site-specific requests such as the Lorne Park School lands. Public comments were referred to staff, with additional feedback scheduled for July 7 and a final OPA 18.9 report expected in September.

Topics Discussed

1. Official Plan Amendment 18.9 process and timeline

Council heard that OPA 18.9 is a conformity exercise tied to provincial legislation and planning policy. West said, "this is just about having a dialogue," and explained that the motion at the end of each item would be to send comments back to staff for analysis before council considers any action at a later meeting.

The timeline presented was: - June 11: statutory open house - June 23: public meeting - July 7: special council meeting for additional feedback - September: staff report with a finalized amendment for council consideration - After adoption: submission to the province for approval

Council also repeated the standard notice that people who do not make oral or written submissions may lose appeal rights at the Ontario Land Tribunal.

2. Employment lands redesignation and permitted uses

Staff said provincial policy changes would narrow most employment area permissions to industrial-type uses. Staff told council the city is already "in a deficit of approximately 50 55 to 57 hectares of land out of the employment lands" because of earlier changes by the minister, the tribunal and city studies.

Delegates challenged the city's approach. Planning lawyer Ian Andres said, "there's really only two reasons that the city might remove office or commercial permissions from its employment lands," arguing neither applied in this case. He warned that if lands are "down-designated and down-zoned now, it's going to significantly undermine my clients' ability to re-tenant those spaces or redevelop those spaces or expand existing buildings," which he said would mean "reduced flexibility, less job creation, inhibited economic development, and less tax revenue."

Councillor Carol Davidson asked staff to clarify how much discretion the city has under provincial rules after hearing delegates argue the legislation was being interpreted too narrowly.

3. Growth, intensification, and height policies

Council reviewed growth planning to 2051. Mayor West said, "Based on this forecast, the city is projected to grow to a population of 320,100 and employment of 122,500 by 2051."

Staff also outlined intensification and built-form changes, including updates to mixed-use corridors, mid-rise permissions and angular plane rules. Councillor Scott Thompson explained one proposed measurement change this way: "the measurement will be taken 15 m up, which would allow the four stories, and then you strike the angular plane," calling it a consistent approach across most of the city.

Discussion also touched on sites near transit that delegates said had been excluded from higher-density permissions despite being close to GO service and other tall-building approvals.

4. Environmental, water, and agricultural policy updates

Staff said OPA 18.9 includes updates on source water protection, watershed planning, agriculture and climate policy. Senior planner Catherine Frias said, "The PPS directs planning authorities to apply an agricultural systems approach to maintain and enhance a geographically continuous agricultural land base and to support agri-food networks including urban agriculture."

Council also heard that the amendment reinforces environmental goals. A city policy excerpt presented at the meeting said the update "re-emphasizes support for the development of sustainable, low carbon, compact, mixed use, and transit-oriented communities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, encourage active transportation, and protect the environment."

Other updates included refined wellhead protection mapping, policies for development near natural hazards, and protections for vulnerable drinking water areas.

5. Lorne Park School lands and other site-specific requests

Several delegations focused on the Lorne Park School properties at 500 Elgin Mills Road East and 93 Edward Avenue. School representatives argued the proposed designations would prevent expansion of the existing school and block plans for a soccer field at 93 Edward Avenue.

A delegate for the school, Mr. Cross, said, "if the 93 Edward Avenue is approved for the more restrictive manufacturing and warehousing permissions in the proposed official plan amendment, the property will be unusable by the school and by the city, who will otherwise benefit through community access to the field."

Staff responded that the school use at 93 Edward had previously been allowed only through a temporary use bylaw during COVID. Deb Jeanette said, "institutional uses were not permitted in the employment area under the designation that is currently applicable."

Mayor West said he is generally protective of employment lands, but added that in this case the site is "right on the very edge of an employment area" and "actually very appropriate place for a school in and of itself," suggesting the matter warranted further review before returning to council.

Motions

Passed: - Motion to refer all public comments on Official Plan Amendment 18.9 to staff for analysis - Motion to refer comments on related planning and zoning updates back to staff - Public meeting items received without final adoption of OPA 18.9

Deferred / Future action: - Final adoption of OPA 18.9, pending a staff report expected in September - Any final decision on the Lorne Park School lands, pending further staff review through the OPA process

Attendees

Councillors and officials specifically identified in the meeting materials: - Mayor David West - Councillor Carol Davidson - Councillor Karen Cilevitz - Councillor Scott Thompson - Regional Councillor Godwin Chan

Other participants specifically identified: - Senior planner Catherine Frias - Deb Jeanette - Ian Andres - Mr. Cross