When it comes to managing growth in Centre Wellington, there are a lot of people who care about the direction the township is headed.
It was a packed house in Aboyne on June 22, as roughly 100 residents attended a meeting about Centre Wellington’s growth management strategy.
Stantec senior planner Krista Walkey said she has been a professional planner for the past 25 years – and is also a resident of Centre Wellington.
“I do want this to be a great place going forward for myself and my children,” she said.
Over the past few months Stantec Consulting Ltd. has been collecting the background information regarding the township’s current services including water, wastewater, recreation and leisure, heritage, natural systems, etc.
The background report, available online or at the township office, is the first phase in the development of a township-wide growth management strategy.
Walkey explained Ontario’s Places to Grow Act recognizes that in order to accommodate future population growth, support economic prosperity and achieve a high quality of life for all Ontarians, planning must occur in a rational and strategic way.
This strategy is being developed to provide council with the tools to undertake a comprehensive and integrated approach to growth in Centre Wellington, she said.
“We want to have a plan which is viable and can be supported in the long term,” said Walkey. “This strategy will ensure that we accommodate growth in a way that promotes a high quality of life while preserving the natural features and small town feel of Centre Wellington including its heritage and rural character.”
The report estimates that by 2041 the township will have to accommodate 20,425 more people, 7,905 more households and 10,810 jobs. That will bring the township’s total population to 52,000 by 2041 – 31,630 in Fergus and over 13,000 in Elora/Salem.
Desired outcomes of the growth management strategy include:
– a defined growth capacity for the township;
– development (servicing) certainty for intensification and approved growth;
– defined capacity for the Fergus and Elora urban area’s additional growth; and,
– effective and sustainable municipal governance for implementation of the growth management strategy.
Walkey stressed the projected growth is not going to happen all at once.
“It is continued growth over time, it does not happen within one year … so we have an opportunity to plan for infrastructure and servicing for a logical extension of growth,” she said.
Walkey said starting in 2015 and for each year thereafter, a minimum of 20 per cent of annual residential development is to occur within the built-up areas of the municipality. In greenfields (currently undeveloped land), the plan is to achieve a minimum density of 40 residents and jobs per hectare.
“The province has directed that growth is going to happen in our community” said Centre Wellington CAO Andy Goldie. “Our goal is to ensure that council, our community and staff have the proper tools to assist in our planning and development decision-making.”
Walkey noted, “the numbers that Centre Wellington is being asked to achieve are lower than surrounding municipalities.” She said the Kitchener-Waterloo area is expected to reach overall targets of 55 residents and jobs per hectare.
While the township is expected to support growth, she said it must be done in a way that is affordable, cost-efficient and makes use of existing services.
“We have to have enough land planned and ready to go to meet the township’s growth needs for the next 25 years,” said Walkey.
She added this means not only having land for residential growth, but employment lands as well.
She noted in 2015 about half of the units were single detached dwellings and the rest were apartment and townhouse units. “Certainly there is still a desire for single detached dwellings, but we’re seeing a shift to apartment dwellings as well.”
Walkey stated that in Centre Wellington, high-density development is comprised of four-storey apartment units, such as Station Square in Elora or the Westminster Highlands development in Fergus.
She foresees continued growth of these buildings to accommodate Centre Wellington’s population growth.
She pointed to the Elora Ridge subdivision on the south side of Elora as being substantially below the provincial density targets – which she agreed is the type of development traditionally seen in Centre Wellington.
The Westminster Highlands subdivision in Fergus is a mix of high and medium density housing that exceeds the minimum provincial density guidelines and in turn helps the township meet its overall density targets.
Walkey said the study will determine if there can be trade-offs “allowing the community to provide low and high density development … so every development does not look the same.”
She noted there is also a shift in employment lands. Instead of large sites with single employers, the trend is moving to multi-unit buildings such as the one on Gartshore Street in Fergus.
Stantec engineer Chad Schwartzentruber spoke briefly on community infrastructure.
He said part of his firm’s work is to look at where and what type of development is going to occur. “Our focus is maximizing the existing infrastructure.”
Walkey said “when we plan for density and intensification we are cognizant of the heritage resources.” She said the official land use plan for the township was overlaid with all the designated and properties of interest in Centre Wellington.
“Not all areas of Centre Wellington are capable of intensification,” she said.
Plans also need to address issues of the township’s natural areas to preserve the natural features as identified within the official plan.
Walkey explained the township will need to provide a greater mix of housing types, as, “Smaller households in the future will result in the need for smaller housing, especially for empty nesters and retirees, again reinforcing the need for more medium density and high density housing.”
At this point, Walkey said the community can anticipate the construction of at least one large apartment block per year. She said currently there are a number of large lot developments on the drawing board.
Another thing being considered is the creation of complete communities – placing housing around a commercial area to create a walkable community not located in a fringe area.
The first question from Rick Cooper, Smart Growth Elora plus Fergus, said this was an important night for the community to have a voice before Stantec develops options. He considered the proposed half-hour question period “totally inadequate” and proposed instead to extend the meeting until at least 8:30pm.
Walkey suggested a compromise of 8:15pm.
Although a few individuals did provide their name before speaking – most did not.
One woman voiced concern that little reference was made regarding public transportation and asked if there was a threshold population to be met before that comes into play.
Walkey said that with a current population of 30,000 it is not likely viable, but at 50,000 it may be potentially viable.
She said that will be part of the recommendations to council – along with where transportation routes should be.
Another person was puzzled why the township must balance high and low density development to meet provincial guidelines. He asked why the township continues to allow the province and Wellington County to dictate what the municipality does.
Walkey pointed out Centre Wellington and Wellington County already have a special reduced number as a growth target … as opposed to the provincial standard.
“Wellington County went to bat for the municipality to have those numbers reduced,” she said.
Another man commented on local traffic patterns and the amount of commuter traffic. He said increasing the density will only increase the degree of commuter traffic in Centre Wellington. He also stated the township is a community of bridges, many of which were built decades ago when the population was far smaller.
Another asked whether the proposed growth will actually fit into Centre Wellington’s current urban boundaries of Elora and Fergus – or if those boundaries need to be expanded.
“We’re not sure yet,” Walkey responded.
She explained that with the background report completed, the next step would be to find out what is proposed to be developed and what lands are remaining.
“We may have to look at boundary expansions. We also have the lands between Fergus and Elora – the county land where the new hospital will be located.”
When asked about trails and bike lanes, Walkey responded the growth management plan looks at where growth should occur.
She noted that in 2018, the township undertakes its recreation master plan. Knowing where the growth will occur will impact on where trails and bike lanes would be located, she said.
She added, “this plan is the stepping stone to a bunch of other (township) plans.”
Another resident wanted to know if commercial water taking would be included as part of the growth plan. For the proposed use of the Middlebrook well by Nestlé, residents were told that currently lies outside the scope of the growth management plan.
Another question voiced was “at what point in the population numbers does Centre Wellington cease to be a part of Wellington County and start plotting its own course?”
Walkey said that is “a big question that I’m not going to touch.”
Elora resident Beverley Cairns said a heritage master plan is needed to understand how to keep and protect the community’s heritage assets.
She said Galt in the 1950s had the most beautiful downtown. “Then the downtown began to dissolve and some terrible buildings were constructed on the main street. Now they are trying to reverse this … but we have the opportunity to keep and protect what we have.”
She added, “It is our council which has the mandate to look after the heritage … we have to demand of our council to not only look after heritage buildings … but (heritage) landscapes.”
Walkey pointed out “heritage is where we started.” She said the plan incorporates official plan policies and the heritage areas in its mapping.
Norman Lord said, “I’m getting increasingly concerned about process.” To him, it appeared things were moving along based on faulty data and gaps in information regarding heritage, transportation, water “and frankly flawed data on jobs … I question the value of scenarios based on that information.”
Walkey said by starting with the basics of how and when growth occurs, then future studies can look at how to accommodate that growth – such as where and when larger roads are needed.
“But until you determine what the community is going to look like, it is very difficult to do that process.”
Another resident stated that just having homes along a pretty river or keeping huge lots in the middle of downtown Elora to preserve heritage … is just going backwards.
The intent is for the consultants to continue work through the summer and fall in the hopes of presenting a final report to council by the end of the year.
Copies of the growth management plan background report and the presentation made by Stantec are online at www.centrewellington.ca.
