Fort Erie council turns down support request for MZO

Figuring there’s always going to be land “just outside the urban boundary,” Fort Erie town council has opted not to support a local developer’s request for an Ontario Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) to have his property included.

On Tuesday, council was presented with the request by Leigh Whyte, a planner for PLW Planning and Environmental Consulting, who was representing Bryce Ivanchuck, who owns the property at 1598 Nigh Rd.

The property, between Rose Hill and Buffalo roads, is approved for a draft plan of subdivision for 10 single-detached homes to be serviced with private septic systems and water cisterns, and has been since 2012.

Ivanchuck is the third owner of the property since that approval was obtained, and Whyte said much of the landscape has changed since that time.

This includes the addition to the urban boundary of a property just east of his client’s land.

Because of this, Whyte said, his client would like to have his property also added so it could be developed in a denser fashion.

Whyte said he wouldn’t have made the request had the other property, owned by Stuart Wright, not been added.

This occurred when Niagara Region completed a Land Needs Assessment (LNA) as part of a Municipal Comprehensive Review ahead of approving its 2022 Niagara Official Plan.

“It would not have made sense without that other action having taken place first,” he said.

Whyte said his client hopes to sell the property and use the proceeds to work on a different local project. But instead of 10 large homes going up on the 9.5 hectares of land, the intent is for 196 units, which roughly works out to 20 units per hectare, he said.

Whyte said it would be similar to the project planned for the adjacent property and noted his client has been working co-operatively with that owner.

He said the homes would be smaller scale and more affordable, selling for under $500,000 instead of 10 “$3-million homes” currently in the plan.

An MZO is a way for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to grant developers permission to build on land without first going through the local government approval process.

However, Whyte noted that if the appeal for an MZO was successful, the local process would then be followed.

“We’re not looking for a subdivision plan approval,” he said. “We’re not looking to circumvent the normal public consultation period to have a subdivision created and all of those fulsome discussions that need to take place.

“We want to achieve one thing: we would like this parcel to be included in the urban area,” he added.

The staff report, which recommended not supporting the request, said that if council wishes to expand the urban boundary it should do so through a different process called the Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (CIHA).

This allows the minister, at the request of a municipality, to establish site-specific zoning provisions to facilitate development.

However, before this can be done, there needs to be a public consultation process and a draft bylaw prepared and presented as part of the application. The staff report notes that this front-ending of the planning process raises concern about “inadequately prepared zoning bylaws that are based on limited information.”

Despite this, staff said the CIHA process is more defined and provides for more local input.

Asked to explain the recommendation, senior community planner Aaron Hair said the town has never made a request for a MZO before and doing so raises concerns about “slippery slopes.”

“If we allow it here, are we going to allow for every property that’s adjacent to the municipal boundary?” Hair said.

Council voted to receive the report for information, meaning no action will be taken. However, a separate report with a recommendation for a one-year extension of draft plan approval for the Nigh Road draft plan of subdivision was approved.