Next steps approved in Sarnia official plan appeal

Property owners looking to develop south of Lakeshore Road in Bright’s Grove are being asked if they want to join with the city in making a provincial appeal.

City council Monday approved the next step in its ongoing fight to add 215 hectares to its urban boundary, a provision in Sarnia’s official plan that was rejected by Lambton County planning staff in December because it doesn’t conform with provincial policy that requires municipalities build on lands inside their boundaries before adding new.

Sarnia appealed that decision.

About nine property owners in what city staff are calling Development Area 3 are being asked to pay $16,230 each to join with the city in using a provincial Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (CIHA) toolcommunity services general manager Stacey Forfar said.

“The immediate step to sort out … is, who in the area is interested in participating in this process?” she said.

External consulting likely will be needed to complete the process before submitting to Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, she said.

The minister has sole authority to issue an order, can impose conditions on the municipality or landowners, may require other studies and the decision cannot be appealed, a report to city council says.

Separate applications would be made for each landowner who pays, it says.

If landowners in the area bounded by Lakeshore, Brigden and Waterworks roads don’t want to participate — the deadline to let the city know is May 31 — council can consider making the application without them, Forfar said.

“Or we can take a step back as a city,” she said. “And there’s nothing precluding any of these property owners from coming forward with a ministerial zoning order.”

That’s a similar tool but a different process, she said, noting only municipalities can use the CIHA tool, introduced under the More Homes Built for Everyone Act.

“Our intent is to come back by ideally (by council’s July 10 meeting) with sort of next steps,” she said.

Public consultation also would be part of the process, she said.

If the boundary change proves successful — it’s unclear how long that might take — environmentally sensitive parts of the area would be parceled out and Sarnia would need to conduct a secondary plan to figure out where roads might go within what’s left, Forfar said, noting a land use map shows about four-fifths of the proposed expansion area is marked as environmentally protected.

“A vast majority of this area is really currently encumbered,” she said.

Council would need to control the pace of development if the boundary expansion gets approved, she said, in response to a question about whether proceeding would lock the city into any future expenses.

All but councilors Chrissy McRoberts and Terry Burrell voted Monday in favor of creating a bylaw for the CIHA application fee, creating a Speak Up Sarnia page for public input on the CIHA application process, and for staff to report back to council on progress updates after they ‘ve heard from landowners.

Mayor Mike Bradley and Coun. Dave Boushy were absent.

Burrell noted there’s been no cost estimate available for anything the city might be required to do down the road, in terms of building infrastructure.

count. George Vandenberg meanwhile called it a “baby step” in the process.

“We’ve already approved the official plan, so this is just the next step,” he said.

Council in April approved proceeding with the CIHA process.

Staff in the report noted the ministry also may request things such as planning justification reports, archaeological assessments, or environmental impact statements as part of the CIHA application process.

Meanwhile, a May 5 Ontario Land Tribunal case management conference, where Sarnia and County of Lambton officials were expected to try to come to terms about technical issues with the city’s official plan, has been delayed, Forfar said, noting such delays are common.

The rescheduled date wasn’t immediately available Monday.

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