CENTRE WELLINGTON – Some councillors have shared they're open to building taller buildings in select areas if it will achieve higher density rates and protect prime agriculture.
Centre Wellington council recently endorsed its preferred scenario to achieve the land needs associated with settlement area boundary expansion for the Fergus and Elora-Salem Urban Centres at a council meeting on Monday evening.
Of the four scenarios proposed, council went with staff recommendations that the township work towards a 20 per cent intensification rate and a density rate of 52 people and jobs per hectare in the designated greenfield area (DGA) when making decisions related to settlement area boundary expansion.
Staff said the selected option is the most "realistic and achievable" while still accomplishing the goal of mitigating the need for urban expansion into prime agricultural areas.
It also provides a "key opportunity" for the township to upwardly adjust the density assumed on lands with no approved application through urban expansion said staff.
Council previously approved hiring a consultant to help determine how the township will grow in the future after a land needs assessment showed Centre Wellington has a shortfall of urban land and needs approximately 11,000 new housing units and 14,600 new jobs by 2051.
"We don’t foresee future political support for greenfield densities that exceed South Fergus," said staff in the report. "Similarly, given the difficulty in obtaining political support for taller buildings in the built-up area, at this time we do not believe that an intensification target greater than 20 per cent is realistic or attainable."
When discussing scenarios, councillor Bronwynne Wilton said she'd like to see the township facilitate conversations about what they're trading off regarding the land density versus height debate.
“I don't mind going to six or eight storeys or even 10 storeys in specific areas if it means protecting some more of our prime farmland,” said Wilton. “So maybe it's not today that our community gets to that point, but I think we have to keep having conversations about what we're trading off…and make sure it's really impressed upon the community not to be scared of intensification.”
In the same vein, former president of the Wellington Federation of Agriculture (WFA) Janet Harrop said the WFA would prefer scenario four, which proposes a 30 per cent intensification rate and 55 people and jobs per hectare in the DGA because it would save the most farmland.
The township's managing director of planning and development Brett Salmon said he doesn’t think the township is ready yet for that kind of intensification considering its ongoing challenges with parking.
“These decisions are not easy. I find it difficult to take any kind of agricultural land out of production, given the fact that I grew up on a farm but I also understand that there's got to be realistic expectations here," said Mayor Shawn Watters.
Staff said the selected scenario will result in net land need savings of 72 hectares, or approximately 178 acres.
Coun. Lisa MacDonald also wanted to know where services like daycare factor into the overall intensification goals.
"It's really nice to think we are beautiful towns...but if we can't provide those services, I'm not sure where that is in this whole document, and it's concerning for me," said MacDonald. "I'm more than happy to approve housing in the right way, but I feel like we're setting ourselves up for failure."
Staff said the township is taking a "top-down" approach and the study is a foundational piece of work that will set the table for additional work needed to be done with respect to servicing.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program
