The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake is undergoing one of its most significant policy updates and it’s been busy with efforts to get the public’s feedback and informing them of changes to come.
The municipality is updating its official plan guiding community growth and future priorities and will stop using the one from 2017, in response to 2024 provincial policy changes and the shift in planning authority from the region to the province.
The process includes public engagement via two public forums held in late March and early April.
Other municipalities in Niagara are also updating their plans to align with the region’s 2022 plan — once the province approves all plans, Niagara’s 2022 plan will no longer be in effect.
To gather input, the town hosted two forums, which it called “public information centres.”
Steve Burke, the town’s manager of policy and heritage planning, told the crowd during the Old Town forum that the City of Niagara Falls, for example, is following the same process on a similar timeline as NOTL.
The update covers growth management, housing, employment and economy, climate change, agriculture, cultural heritage, natural environment, Indigenous engagement, transportation and infrastructure, growth in already-developed areas, employment area designations, secondary planning, natural heritage, and watershed planning.
At the second forum on April 1 in Old Town, a week after the first one held March 27 in St. David’s, residents, again, voiced concerns and asked questions. The Old Town session also covered details on the Queen-Picton (Old Town) Heritage Conservation District project.
Both offered drop-ins from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., with a presentation at 7 p.m.
March 27 saw just five residents over the two time periods, but April 1 saw around 30 for the earlier session and close to 50 for the later one, said the lord mayor’s communications and executive assistant, Christie New.
Urban design was a key issue raised over the two forums.
At the forum in Old Town, resident Peter Neame, vice chair of the urban design committee, voiced his concerns about the absence of urban design as a key theme in the town’s list of priorities.
“Urban design is about the look and feel of the town, how it works for people, how new developments fit into the existing framework,” Neame said. “(It) integrates the other themes, but I think it’s important enough that it should be one of your themes on its own.
Burke responded and said that while it wasn’t a planned theme, Neame’s engagement shows it can and should be. “Great feedback,” Burke said.
Neame said, in an interview, that he was happy with Burke’s response to his question.
“Because I’m concerned about the attitude of the town to urban design in general,” he said, adding that the town has essentially suspended the committee, which hasn’t met in six months
“Many of the councillors say that they value our input and right now, we aren’t making any input. And that’s a frustration for us,” he said.
At the forum in St. Davids, resident David Snelgrove, also on the urban design committee, asked how members could contribute and told The Lake Report he was kindly given mechanisms.
Resident Chris Toye also asked, at the Old Town forum, for clarity on who’s calling the shots when it comes to planning decisions.
“I’m a little puzzled about the overlap and hierarchy of power here,” Toye said, questioning how much control municipalities really have if the province has the final say.
Burke responded and said, although NOTL must “conform” to the region’s 2022 plan when updating its own, once that’s complete, the town only needs to ensure its plans are “consistent” with provincial priorities.
Conformity means following the rules exactly, while consistency means making sure plans align with broader goals. Consistency gives the town more flexibility than conformity.
So the province has the final say, but the town has significant control in shaping its plans before reaching that stage.
A draft official plan is expected in June, with public consultations over the summer and adoption targeted for fall, followed by pending provincial approval.
Residents can still have their say until April 16 via an online survey, available at jointheconversationnotl.org.
