That is the headline in this weekends edition of the Milton Canadian Champion. It outlines how town staff to set investigate on how to slow growth…at the direction of Town Council.
Here is the link to this very interesting and dare I say conveniently timed story in the Champion. Town Council have directed staff to investigate the options they have to slow down growth in Milton. This report will take “four to five months to complete” according to town CAO Mario Belvedere. Talk about timing seeing how there is a municipal election in less than 2 months and the new council will have to deal with this report.
I headed out shortly after dinner tonight to commence the usual door knocking and I was confronted with a number of questions already from people (yes it does prove that people DO read their local paper) Questions like “if they were THIS concerned with the pace of growth, why is it that they are just NOW asking for this report…less than 2 months before an election.” Interesting timing to say the least.
Here is the full article by Melanie Hennessey of the Milton Canadian Champion. Let me know what you think of this … send me an email to mike@mikecluett.ca
Ill see you at the doors.
Town investigating growth slowdown
Melanie Hennessey
Sep 29, 2006
Town staff will soon begin investigating how to slow down Milton’s rapid residential growth.
At its meeting Monday night, town council passed a motion put forward by Wards 2 and 4 Councillor Ron Furik that asks staff to look into options or new policies that would reduce the speed of development.
The local and regional councillor recently announced he wants to slow growth down so that Milton’s roads can “catch up.” “I’m committed to fixing this problem,” Furik said during Monday’s meeting. “If we can do anything in our power to slow down the process, we should be doing it.”
THIS COUNCIL NOT TO BLAME: FURIK
Furik also addressed the naysayers who’ve been publicly blaming the current council for the development problems since he announced his intentions to come forward with the motion.
“I laugh to read it’s this council’s fault,” he said, noting he feels the councils from five to 15 years ago were the development decision makers — councils he said he was sitting on as a local representative.
In an interview with The Champion, he went on to say, “Don’t point fingers at this council. They had no decision making in this development. It’s not fair.”
Ward 1 Councillor Rick Day, who’s long been against the rapid development happening in Milton, seconded the motion.
He said while he thinks the “traffic problems in town have become unbearable,” the Town is trying to bring the road infrastructure up to date.
The motion detailed the problems Milton has been experiencing due to rapid growth, such as that roads and other infrastructure required haven’t kept pace with the large population increase.
But Ward 4 Councillor John Challinor begged to differ. “We’re not behind on all roads and infrastructure,” he argued.
During the meeting, Ward 1 Councillor Brian Penman provided background information on how the town’s growing pains evolved. He said the community had a strong opinion that existing residents shouldn’t have to cover the costs associated with growth. So in turn, the Town had to wait for development charges to be paid on the new homes and residents to move in to afford the infrastructure upgrades.
He also pointed to the Region’s timelines for road construction in Milton as a contributing factor to the problem. “I hope we can catch up,” he remarked.
Wards 1 and 3 Councillor Barry Lee presented a more positive view on the state of the town, saying he thinks residents are going to see some relief from the traffic problems soon.
But when it comes to slowing growth down, Lee had one thing to say — “We’re kidding ourselves.”
“Tinkering with growth… I don’t think we can without getting into severe legal implications,” he said. “I think it could be dangerous.”
Town CAO Mario Belvedere told council it’ll take staff four to five months to complete the report that’ll outline financial, legal, policy and infrastructure implications of slowing growth.
After hearing that, Ward 3 Councillor Cindy Lunau said she’s not sure if it’s fair to tie up staff for months and commit the incoming council to dealing with the matter. She suggested the motion be brought forward once the new council is in place. She also expressed skepticism about supporting a resolution that could be “election self-serving.”
Ward 1 Councillor Rick Day countered that one could call supporting the motion “electioneering or a good chance to get issues out and voted on.”
In the end, Lunau reluctantly did vote in favour of the motion, telling The Champion she supports the intent of the idea, but not the timing.
Furik’s resolution indicated about 80 per cent of the required road upgrades in Milton are on regional roads. It also pointed out that council has been advised the Town has no legal authority to declare an absolute moratorium on residential growth.
The motion was unanimously supported by council.
Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com