Bruce County is making changes to the proposed County Official Plan.
Changes include improvements to consultation with Saugeen Ojibway Nation on developments, to allow severances to allow for infilling and creating more housing units within existing neighbourhoods and subdivisions, and a change to allow municipalities to require affordable housing to be included in new developments in the future.
Monica Walker-Bolton, Senior Policy Planner for the county, shared the amendments with County Council on Thursday and explained how those changes could be put to use.
She says that in some policies, an update in wording helped to reinforce the collaborative consultation with Indigenous groups. “The values of upholding appropriate and respectful consultation with Indigenous communities in Bruce County has been incorporated into those policies. Indigenous people generally are recognized and Saugeen Ojibway Nation is highlighted as an important Indigenous group within our community.”
There are also changes that would affect future developments if the Ontario government were to give counties and municipal governments the ability to enforce inclusionary zoning.
“A new section has also been added for inclusionary zoning, so if permitted by the province, inclusionary zoning can be used to require affordable housing to be constructed for certain residential development projects,” says Walker-Bolton, explaining that if a developer wanted to build a subdivision, it would have to have units that would be considered affordable housing.
The changes to the OP also have a section that, if approved by the province, would allow for infilling developments. The change would allow builders to build smaller units that do not meet current zoning requirements, such as frontage requirements, or density patterns of an existing subdivision.
“This change could facilitate smaller lots for infilling for an existing development. As we move towards taking advantage of infilling opportunities to capitalize on existing roads and infrastructure, investment to create more housing opportunities, a policy like this facilitates infilling. ”
The requirement of inclusionary zoning and the change to severance policies would need to be approved by the Province under the Planning Act. If the Ontario government makes appropriate changes to allow municipalities to exercise those policies, the OP would not require a future amendment as it would already be in place with the Implementation Amendment presented to county council.
