Sarnia is going to need more parkland as the city grows, a new report says.
Sarnia is going to need more parkland as the city grows, a new report says.
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With the city’s population projected to grow by nearly 15,000 people, to about 87,000 by 2046, Sarnia is going to need to add about 19.5 hectares of parkland, city planning manager Eric Hyatt said in a recent report.
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Most new parks will be planned in development areas one and two, both in the city’s east, but about 5.6 hectares will need to be acquired in built-up areas, it says.
Currently, the city has 266.4 hectares of active parkland across 97 parks, “excluding greenways and natural areas,” he said.
At Sarnia’s current population, that’s about 3.7 hectares for every 1,000 residents, which matches the parkland provision in the city’s parks, recreation and culture master plan from 2019, he said.
With Sarnia’s official-plan intensification target of 45 per cent, and changes under the provincial More Homes Built Faster Act, including parkland dedication exemptions for non-profit housing developments, maintaining the 3.7 hectares ratio isn’t feasible, he said.
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A new parkland dedication by law coming to council March 11 for approval proposes lowering the target to 1.3 hectares for every 1,000 residents, a combination of 1.7 hectares per 1,000 residents in greenfield areas like development areas one and two, and 0.85 hectares per 1,000 residents in built -up areas.
“This is right-sizing (the target) and making it appropriate,” Hyatt said, noting 1.3 hectares is more in line with the target in other municipalities.
The new bylaw, replacing one from 1991, also would let the city take advantage of an alternate rate — also introduced under the More Homes Built Faster Act — for parkland dedication, that creates more parkland for larger, more dense developments, Hyatt said.
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Normally it’s a five per hundred allocation per development, he said, or one hectare for every 20 hectares of development.
The new rate would give one hectare for ever 600 net residential units, meaning anything more than 30 units a hectare would lead to more parkland, he said.
“Just to make sure that, where possible, as a city we are maximizing the potential we have with respect to parkland dedication,” he said about including the alternate rate option, noting no other changes to the parkland dedication process are recommended.
“Equitable access to parkland for everyone in the municipality is a priority,” he said.
HAS parks planone in a series of studies lead by Watson and Associates Economists Ltd, found generally equitable parks access throughout the city, with some gaps around Exmouth and Russell Street and along Modeland Road.
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Those areas should be prioritized for new parkland acquisition, the report says.
“It did identify that, generally, throughout the city access to parks is pretty good and pretty equitable, but there are a few areas,” Hyatt said, noting again new parks planned for development areas one and two will help fill many of those gaps .
“Because the parkland hasn’t yet been provided (there).”
Council approved the draft new bylaw for public input in February and there have been no comments after it was posted on speakupsarnia.caHyatt said.
The parks plan and parks dedication bylaw were part of a broader $174,000, 100 per cent grant-funded contract that also included a development charge background study, development charge bylaw, and community benefits charge analysis, Hyatt said.
The community benefits charge is a new charge available to municipalities to recover growth-related costs not covered by development charges, Hyatt said, noting it’s only applicable to high-density developments.
Based on projections, a feasibility assessment from Watson and Associates recommends not proceeding with such a charge at this time, but the city may reconsider later, Hyatt said in the report.
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