So much to do, so little time – that’s what politicians across Simcoe County will discover this fall, as the municipalities in the area work to create a long-term plan to manage growth.
As well as hosting a series of public open houses and specialized forums and workshops through September and October, local politicians are being asked to volunteer for Simcoe County’s five growth subcommittees.
Each committee must deal with an issue – several of which are contentious and difficult, others that are more political.
Perhaps the most controversial will be the employment lands subcommittee, which will determine where the jobs will be located over the next 25 years.
“There are a number of proposals coming down the pipe in establishing a very large employment area in the south. We suspect there will be members of the development community promoting what they see as the best economic course, with economies of scale,” warned county planning consultant Ray Simpson.
“It will be the issue of concentration versus dispersion. Some of these issues are all about money, and that will be extremely important and controversial.”
Having a very direct impact on residents and their well being is the healthy lifestyle sub-committee, which will not only examine timely and convenient access to health care, but ways to build communities that increase physical activity and reduce obesity.
“In Simcoe Muskoka, we have a higher rate than the provincial average for heart disease, diabetes, motor-vehicle accident injuries, lung disease, colorectal and breast cancers,” said Jane Sinclair, Simcoe County’s manager of health and cultural services.
“There are three main areas we’d focus on, such as active transportation systems (such as cycling paths and pedestrian walkways), recreational spaces and theatres,” she told the county’s growth management steering committee Wednesday.
Ontario’s Places to Grow strategy encourages the creation of “complete communities”, places where people cannot only live, but work and play, whether they choose sports or cultural activities.
The committee would tackle issues such as safe driving, to make streets safer for young cyclists, through use of traffic lights and other speed control tools, like Community Safety Zones.
A third committee would focus on municipal finance, and would include planers and economists, with the ultimate goal of increasing economic opportunities in the area, said county CAO Mark Aitken. It would also tackle the issue of sustainable growth.
The fourth committee would be the community structure subcommittee, which would examine density and intensification strategies and targets as well as municipal projections and how they fit with the provincially imposed limit of 667,400 people for the entire Simcoe County area; the 2006 population was 438,700.
The fifth committee will have a greater impact on areas that rely on tourism, as it examines seasonal and recreational housing.
“The northern areas are heavily dependent on seasonal and recreational housing. They provide a lot of jobs and opportunities and we will have to find a way to recognize that,” said Simpson, noting that Ontario’s Places to Grow projections do not include seasonal residences, despite a trend in Ontario for aging baby boomers to buy recreational homes and spend significant time there.
“We have to find a way of defining those and determining where and how much and under what rules.”
