Developers win big, planning committee agrees to maximize land for new housing in rural London

The proliferation of housing in bedroom communities around London convinced the Planning and Environment Committee (PEC) to recommend adding up to 2,000 hectares of new residential land inside the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB).

On Tuesday, lobbyists for local developers and homeowners offered dire warnings about the consequence of adding less land inside the UGB.

“If you don't grow the Urban Growth Boundary here, people will go elsewhere,” Mike Wallace of the London Development Institute told the committee. “[Housing] on farmland surrounding London.”

Wallace added that people living in surrounding communities, drive in here every single day using your resources that taxpayers of London have paid for.

“An ample supply of land allows the [housing] market to work better, creates greater affordability, choice, and the ability for people and families to stay in London,” said Jared Zaifman of the London Home Builders Association.

The city established the UGB to prevent sprawl and ensure the creation of new subdivisions doesn’t outpace the installation of water, sewer, and other municipal infrastructure.

A Land Needs Assessment Report prepared by city staff estimates the UGB should be adjusted to add 1,130 more hectares of land for residential to accommodate population growth for the next 25 years.

Whereas a Housing Supply Marketplace Analysis performed by independent consultant, Colliers, estimates 2,000 hectares of additional land will be required over the same timeframe.

"If you took the area that was bounded by Fanshawe Park Road to the south, north to Sunningdale, Adelaide to the east and Richmond to the west, that's approximately 340 hectares," Deputy City Manager Scott Mathers explained. "So, if you're looking at 2,000 hectares, that is approximately six to almost seven times that area."

Former city councillor Sandy Levin advised the committee that opening up too much land that requires servicing could financially strain the city in the future.

“The amounts included in the [Land Needs Assessment] report, either for 25 or 30 years, is going to be sufficient,” Levin said. “To ask the province to go beyond its own policy, it's frankly unnecessary.”

Londoner Brendon Samuels pointed out that local developers were consulted during the development of each report, but the final reports were only released to the public last Wednesday afternoon.

He encouraged councillors to seek out additional opinions from local planning consultants and members of the public, “It's really, really tough for you to hear perspectives that are not motivated by profit-seeking development.”

But the mayor echoed the concerns of the development community about suburban growth in communities around London.

“In Kilworth, Komoka, Arva, and Thamesford you see an explosion of small single-family homes across the immediate region near the City of London. There is no access to transit. The people who are driving into the city are consuming city resources,” said Josh Morgan.

Coun. Steve Lehman said that the city already experiences financial pressure from people paying property taxes in nearby rural communities but driving into London to work and play.

“We will have the control to shape a city the way that London wants to shape it. If we don't go down this path we will lose control, there'll be forces outside the city that will dictate how things are happening,” Lehman said.

Developers got what they were seeking. The committee recommended asking the province to permit 2,000 hectares be added to the Urban Growth Boundary.

If unsuccessful, the city will alternatively seek the maximum 30-year option from the Land Needs Review (1,476 hectares).

“What concerns me the most is the idea of a random number, 2,000 hectares, that came from a so-called market analysis. That is beyond what the province permits,” said Levin after the meeting.

Adjustments to the Urban Growth Boundary can be a windfall for developers who own rural properties opened up for new housing.

The report by Colliers estimates raw land prices increase five and a half to eight times higher than their original value ($25,000-$100,000 per acre rises to $200,000-$550,000 per acre) when they are included within the boundary.

The owners of 26 properties had already contacted the city requesting inclusion within the new UGB prior to council’s direction to initiate the current review.

Mary Ann Hodge, who also spoke as a delegation, felt local developers had too much influence in the decision, “An interest group puts forward their ideas of what they want to see. They have a laundry list of all their wants, and they're just given whatever they want because they hold council hostage.”

Council will consider expanding the Urban Growth Boundary on Dec. 17.