Centre Wellington council and staff have been working behind the scenes for over a year to plan the township’s future, and council announced the first part of that strategy at a special meeting at the fire hall here on May 2.
Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj said in an interview that after the 2006 elections that saw several changes on council, she met with each councillor and proposed a strategic planning exercise for all departments, and, she said, all councillors supported the proposal.
Council and staff decided the three key areas of focus would be:
– funding;
– community design; and
– services.
Chief Administrative Officer Michael Wood said the department heads had held many meetings over the past months and “tried to keep it manageable.” He said the council has developed deadlines for the work, divided into quarters, until the end of 2010, the end of the council term.
In general terms, the funding includes the statement that council agrees that raising taxes alone is not to be seen as a reasonable strategy for raising revenue.
It plans to work and cooperate with the development community.
There will be more tracking of spending, and a variance analysis.
Council plans to share opportunities beyond township borders, and it also plans to have projects ready for grant applications when the provincial and federal governments have grant cash. It also plans to strengthen its connections with the county.
When the discussion began, council immediately began to consider economic development, and the difficulties of development charges.
Councillor Kirk McElwain had just attended a conference, and noted that many communities are lowering development charges in order to attract businesses. He wondered if anyone is seeing that elsewhere.
Ross-Zuj said the county considered requests from the northern municipalities, but, she said, “Bottom line, [lowering economic development charges] just comes back to bite you.”
Councillor Walt Visser pointed out a previous Centre Wellington council “went through that exercise. We haven’t recovered from it yet.”
Ross-Zuj said all departments were asked the effect of lower charges. Fire Chief Brad Patton said the result is expensive firefighting equipment has to be paid by residential tax dollars if the development charges are not covering those costs.
“There needs to be a balance,” Ross-Zuj said, between attracting business and sticking residents with higher taxes.
In community design, the environment will be important. Council plans to set policies in place to “capture a green agenda.”
It also hopes to foster a culture of good health, including trails, river front, hospital, green network, fire prevention, physical activity, and providing areas that encourage walking.
To that end, the township is already involved in the In Motion program to encourage people to get active.
Council also hopes to do some of that through the zoning bylaw, urban design guidelines, and development standards that encourage trail and bike path building.
It is working towards an economic development plan that addresses industrial and commercial growth, transportation, emergency planning, and communication infrastructure.
Smarter growth
Councillor Fred Morris said he wants the township to follow the provincial Smart Growth policies, but, at the same time, he wants attractive growth in the community.
“We don’t want cookie-cutter [all the same look] neighbourhoods – or speedways that are called arterial roads,” Morris said.
Councillor Shawn Watters, chairman of the planning committee, said council might soon have an answer for that. He said the planning advisory committee has been working on those issues, and is ready now to call a request for proposals to get development standards set.
He said in the past, council could ask for high standards of development, but developers simply replied they did not have to provide them. Watters said with formal guidelines in place, they will have to comply.
Further, with the rules the same for everyone, it would be easier for council to insist.
“Prior to this, there were no rules,” he said, adding that such an approach would be “a definite benefit to our community.”
He was referring to such things as possibly demanding walking trails through subdivisions, and a township desire to see numerous building plans instead of all the houses looking exactly the same, and other esthetic issues.
Morris wondered how far away such things are, and Watters said the planning committee is ready to seek proposals.
Visser said such a move was “in our sights a long time.” He cited, for example, the No Frills store planned for County Road 7 at the south end of Elora.
“Their building proposal was terrible,” Visser said of the food chain’s plan for a store like the ones it usually builds.
“The building we came up with was fabulous,” Visser added. “Even Greenlands [a local environmental planning group] was astounded by the progress we made.”
Visser said there are other advantages to forcing attractive and environmentally friendly development. “People coming here know that’s what the public wants as well.”
Morris said, “I want streetscapes that look nice.”
Visser said, “We’re doing it.” He cited two subdivisions where council insisted the parks be done before the building took place.
He said some subdivisions have been on the books for over two decades, and they will fall outside of the new rules, but all the others will have to comply with new regulations.
Watters said the township might seek “more progressive things we’re not used to,” but he added, “Some developers have seen the future. The request for proposal will help.”
Chief Administrative Officer Michael Wood said changes in the Planning Act now allow council to insist on things that it could not a few years ago.
He cited “architectural integrity.”
That means when someone builds on an infilling lot, he must do so with regard to the rest of the neighbourhood. “Now, we set the standards. You meet it or exceed it.”
Wood added, “There’s some real meat behind these words. As we mover forward, you will see the merits of this.”
Services
Several department heads noted that their departments are finding new ways to generate cash, such as charging for reports.
They also want to give better customer services. One of the difficulties noted by the clerk’s department is the number of people who go to that part of the building, only to learn they need to walk to another part.
Staff are working on ways to better direct traffic and also better handle heavy traffic when a large number of people drop in for such things as fire permits or to pay taxes.
Staff are tracking the traffic daily and hope to soon come up with solutions.
