Dear editor:

I am writing to express my concern that Niagara-on-the-Lake council’s longstanding commitment to develop a secondary plan for Chautauqua has been removed from the 2025 draft official plan.

In the draft, Section 4.16.19: “Secondary plans will be developed for … including the Chautauqua neighbourhood” has been struck through and replaced with Section 3.15.11: “Other areas that will be considered for area-specific plans or character area policies include the Chautauqua neighbourhood …”

The words “will be developed” and “will be considered” have very different meanings. The former is a commitment and the latter an option. This change in language in the draft official plan is unacceptable.

Further, that something is deemed important in no way presupposes any action in support of that importance. In The Lake Report article from July 31 (“Chautauqua neighbourhood group says town dropped key planning promise“), Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa states that Chautauqua is “important.”

I call on the lord mayor and council to support his statement by affirming the town’s commitment to develop a secondary plan for Chautauqua in the 2025 official plan.

If, as the lord mayor also states in the article, there is a misunderstanding and the town still intends to develop a secondary plan for Chautauqua, then I request that he cease using equivocating and confusing language.

To state that areas such as Chautauqua are in need of special policies in no way expresses a commitment to address the neighbourhood’s needs in any way.

If the town’s intention is truly to develop a secondary plan for Chautauqua, then this intention must be affirmed by reinstating the clear, explicit language of the 2019 official plan.

Words have meaning: now more than ever, in these times of “alternative facts,” we need to use language for clarity, not obfuscation.

Kate Sullivan
Old Town