BYLAW - Employment Land Retention Strategy - 20050208 - 455004DTHE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF AURORA
By-law Number 4550-04.0
BEING A BY-LAW to adopt Official Plan Amendment No. 55
The Council of the Corporation of the Town of Aurora, under Section 17 (22) of the
Planning Act, RSO 1990 Chapter P. 13 as amended, hereby enacts as follows:
1. Official Plan Amendment No. 55 for the Town of Aurora, consisting of the
attached explanatory text and schedules, is hereby adopted.
2. The Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to make such application on behalf
of the Corporation and to execute under the Corporate Seal such documents as
may be required for the above purposes.
3. This By-law shall come into force and take effect on the day of the final
passage thereof.
READ A FIRST AND SECOND TIME THIS 81
h DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2005.
READ A THIRD TIME AND FINALLY PASSED THIS 81h DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2005.
T. J
(
B. MUNICIPAL CLERK
AMENDMENT NO. 55
TO THE
OFFICIAL PLAN
FOR THE TOWN OF AURORA
AMENDMENT NO. 55
TO THE
OFFICIAL PLAN FOR THE
TOWN OF AURORA PLANNING AREA
The Amendment No. 55 to the Official Plan for the Town of Aurora Planning Area which
was adopted by the Council of the Corporation of the Town of Aurora is hereby
approved under Sections 17 and 21 of the Planning Act.
Date: __________ --,-
Neil Garbe,
Director of Development Services
Regional Municipality of York
AMENDMENT NO. 55
TO THE OFFICIAL PLAN FOR THE TOWN OF AURORA
STATEMENT OF COMPONENTS
PART 1-THE PREAMBLE
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Purpose of the Amendment
3.0 Location
4.0 Basis of the Amendment
PART 2 -THE AMENDMENT
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Details of the Amendment
3.0 Implementation and Interpretation
Schedule "0" -Land Use Plan
PAGE
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
4
Town of Aurora-OPA #55 1
PART 1 -THE PREAMBLE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This part of the Amendment entitled Part 1-The Preamble, introduces the Amendment
and describes the context and planning process leading to the document's preparation.
It is for explanatory purposes only and does not form part of the Amendment.
2.0 PURPOSE
The purpose of this amendment is implement a strategy for the retention of employment
lands within the Town of Aurora and in order to establish site specific policies to restrict
the redesignation of employment lands to other land uses.
3.0 LOCATION
The lands affected by this amendment are the existing employment areas within the
Town of Aurora as identified on Schedule "A" attached hereto.
4.0 BASIS OF THE AMENDMENT
Council has enacted this amendment in response to the following:
4.1 As part of the Five Year Review of the Official Plan Council identified a number of
initiatives that were to be undertaken following the review. The development of a
strategy to retain employment land was established as a priority
4.2 In Decemberof2003, Council authorized staff to retain Hemson Consulting Ltd. to
undertake an Employment Land Retention Strategy.
4.3 A review team comprising of Planning Department Staff, the Economic
Development Officer and the Town's external legal counsel have provided
guidance to the consultant.
4.3 The completed employment strategy provides policies to be included within an
official plan amendment in order to implement the recommendations of the
strategy. ·
Town of Aurora-OPA #55 2
PART 2-THE AMENDMENT
1.0 INTRODUCTION
All of this part of the document entitled Part 2 -The Amendment, consisting of the
following text and attached map, designated Schedule "0" (Employment Areas),
constitutes Amendment No. 55 to the Official Plan for the Town of Aurora.
2.0 DETAILS OF THE AMENDMENT
The Official Plan of the Town of Aurora is hereby amended as follows:
Item (1)
Item (2)
By adding the following new Schedule "0" to the Official Plan, as included
within this Amendment:
i) Schedule "0" -Employment Areas
Section 3.3.1 is hereby amended by the addition of a new Section 3.3.1.1
-Employment Land Retention as follows:
3.3.1.1 Employment Land Retention
INTRODUCTION
Employment land has traditionally been referred to as land in industrial
areas, but currently accommodates a much wider range of uses.
Employment areas today accommodate traditional activities such as
manufacturing, distribution and warehousing as well as many other types
of uses such as research and development, offices, service commercial,
recreational facilities, institutional and accessory retail uses.
In the Town of Aurora, employment land accommodates a full range of
uses from traditional activities such as manufacturing and distribution, to
support services such as commercial printing, to small commercial
businesses serving local needs such as garden supplies and bakery
products.
Employment land is a critical component of the variety of land uses that
create a vibrant and healthy community. From a community perspective,
no one land use is more important than any other. Instead, what matters
is balance. Within this context, it is important to· maintain a balance
Town of Aurora-OPA #55 3
between population and employment. To create a balanced community, in
which opportunities are provided within the community for residents to
work, employment growth is required. Employment growth is beneficial to
a community for a number of reasons:
1. Promoting a better. live-work relationship helps reduce traffic
congestion when fewer residents must leave the community to find
employment opportunities.
2. A greater diversity in the property assessment base allows the
community greater flexibility in responding to unanticipated
changes in the community or the market.
3. In most cases, non-residential development still generates a
greater long term net fiscal benefit to the municipal corporation.
In June of 2002 the Town of Aurora commenced a Five Year Official Plan
Review process. The Town of Aurora Five Year Official Plan Review
process identified a concern pertaining to conversion of employment
lands to other land uses. The Final Strategic Directions report dated April
2003, completed as part of the official plan review, concluded that
guidelines be added to the Official Plan pertaining to redesignation of
employment lands to other uses. This recommendation was approved by
Council on May 27, 2003
The Town recognizes the importance of protecting the employment land
supply. The Town also recognizes that pressure for the redesignation of
employment land to other urban uses will continue. The vacant land .
supply is becoming constrained for all types of urban uses. Because of
this situation, strong policies regarding the retention of the employment
land supply are required. The Town has undertaken an employment land
retention strategy to address this need.
3.3.1.2 POLICIES
a Within employment areas as identified on Schedule "0", Council
shall not approve applications for the redesignation of employment
land to other urban uses that involve or are based upon
disagreement with, or challenges to, the overall amount of
employment land designated in the Town, including arguments of
scale, outside of a comprehensive growth management process,
or five year official plan review process.
Town of Aurora-OPA #55 4
b Otherwise, employment land shall only be. redesignated to other
urban uses if both of the following two conditions are met:
i. The proponent shall have the onus of demonstrating that
the site cannot be developed for any employment land use
due to a valid physical planning reason: site configuration;
access; or surrounding land uses: and
ii. The proponent shall have the onus of demonstrating that
the proposed alternative is compatible with all land uses
permitted on surrounding and nearby lands, will not cause
any negative effects on the existing or prospective employ-
ment land uses, including potential destabilizing effects, and
will also be beneficial to the Town in the areas of:
• Contribution to the overall intent, and goals of the Town's
policies;
• Demands on serviCing and infrastructure;
• Fiscal impacts; and
• Alternative locations within the Town to accommodate the
proposed use.
c If either condition is not met, the application shall not be approved.
Any reports submitted in support either of these above two
conditions must be subjected to a full peer review process, at the
expense of the applicant.
3.0 IMPLEMENTATION AND INTERPRETATION
3.1 The implementation and interpretation ofthis Amendment shall be in accordance
with the respective policies of the Aurora Official Plan and in accordance with the
provisions of the Employment Land Retention Strategy prepared by Hemson
Consulting Limited dated May 2004.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Re: Official Plan Amendment No. 55
Official Plan Amendment No. 55 has the following purpose and effect:
To provide policies to be considered within employment land areas pertaining to the
retention of employment lands and conversion or redesignation of lands within
employment area to other land uses. The policies and principals pertaining to the
retention of employment areas have been derived from the "Employment Land
Retention Strategy" completed by Henson Consulting Limited dated May 2004. The
"Employment Land Retention Strategy" will be consulted in assisting in the interpretation
of the specific policies set out within this amendment.
TOWN OF AURORA THIS IS SCHEDULE "0"
THE REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF YORK
TO BY-LAW NO. 4550-04.D
PASSED THIS <6 DAY
Official Plan
Amendment No. 55
-EMPLOYMENT AREAS
Town of Newmarket
•AURORA
EAST
OF~ ,2005.
WELLINGTON/
404 •
SCHEDULE "0" TO BY-LAW NO. 4550-04.0