Advocates are urging Pickering city council to reject a plan to develop 1,600 hectares of rural land in the city’s northeast end pending further consultation with First Nations and studies on the project’s environmental impact and cost. 

The proposal aims to transform the area — which is surrounded by but located outside the Greenbelt — into a residential community for 72,000 people. Currently, the lands are partly home to corn and soybean crops, according to the local farmers’ union president. 

“This is developed farmland… Saying it’s this undeveloped resource like it’s just being wasted is a falsity,” said Adrian Stocking, president of the National Farmers’ Union Ontario Local 345. 

City council will vote on a plan for the residential development, known as a secondary plan, at a special meeting on March 30. 

The plan, available on the city’s website, provides outlines for neighbourhoods, housing density and roads. The area being considered for development stretches roughly from Eighth Concession Road to the north, Highway 7 to the south, Westney Road to the west and Lake Ridge Road to the east.

Anti-sprawl advocates say the city should complete outstanding environmental and fiscal planning studies before they approve the plan —  but the city’s deputy mayor says that the plan needs to be approved in order for those assessments to happen. 

“You can’t do those studies if you don’t have a conceptual plan to base those studies on,” said Deputy Mayor David Pickles, who is also regional councillor for Ward 3, where the lands are located. 

Studies should be done first, advocates say

But Abdullah Mir, co-chair of advocacy group Stop Sprawl Durham, says it’s “ridiculous and illogical for those studies to be done after the fact.” 

He said councillors ought to know how much it will cost to build the community from scratch, including sewage systems and transit access, before they approve the plan.

Mir said he also wants to know how much of these costs will be covered by taxpayers, versus what’s covered by development charges — fees collected from developers by municipalities when building permits are issued. 

It’s not clear what percentage of fees for northeast Pickering will be covered by development charges. Pickles estimated that roughly 90 per cent or more of infrastructure for new communities is typically paid for by development charges, but regional councillor Maurice Brenner suggested that figure is closer to 60 per cent. 

“That’s why the financial impact study is so important to know exactly what it’s going to cost,” Brenner said. 

Plan may be updated based on results of studies

Brenner said he may suggest that council consider approving the plan in principle, but with the condition that “nothing gets implemented” until the outstanding studies are completed. 

But Pickles stressed that the secondary plan is not set in stone and it may be adjusted and refined after its approved based on the results of studies that haven’t begun yet. 

Another concern with the plan is about safeguards to protect valuable agricultural land in the area. 

The area being considered for development includes Class 1 soil, Stocking said, which is the highest quality soil in Ontario. This classification means there are no significant limits on what kind of crops can be grown there. 

“Losing this land reduces our ability to feed ourselves,” he said. 

Stocking said any development should also create room for the next generation of farmers in Ontario, who are already struggling with affordability and access to land. 

Pickles said the city is continuing to engage with farming representatives about the plan.

If outstanding studies find that some lands have “particular environmental concerns, then we can adapt those neighborhoods to avoid or to mitigate those issues,” he said. 

Pickles said the city is also continuing its engagement with the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, which has been consistently opposed to developing northeast Pickering. 

Last month, Chief Kelly LaRocca wrote a letter to Durham Regional council saying the nation has been “willing partners” but they haven’t been properly consulted. 

The letter was considered at a council meeting on Feb. 25. During that meeting, the region voted to direct the Northeast Pickering Landowners Group to pay for and develop an environmental assessment that incorporates “meaningful Indigenous engagement and collaboration.” 

The landowners group is made up of private landowners and developers who are collaborating with the city on this development. The group represents approximately 54 per cent of the land within the secondary plan boundary. 

LaRocca was not available for an interview, but said in a statement the nation appreciates that the region required Indigenous engagement for the assessment. 

“At the same time, our central priority remains clarity around an independent, region‑led [environmental assessment] process that provides transparent, timely access to information for rights‑holding First Nations,” she said. 

Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe was not available for an interview.