Review of Changes to 2014 Provincial Policy Statement, Comment on Guides by April 25th
Posted: April 16, 2014
Categories: GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario
City of Cambridge Official Plan.
By Kelly Henderson, MSc Planning Candidate, University of Guelph with input from Sustain Ontario staff and members
**Comment on the PPS guides for Rural Ontario and Northern Ontario by April 25th or send your comments to carolyn@sustainontario.ca. You can also make a comment below**
As part of the Planning Act, the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) addresses all land use in the province of Ontario. Reviewed every five years, the PPS sets the minimum bar for how municipalities and regions govern their land use, allowing each municipality and region to set out their own Official Plan (OP) based on their particular context and priorities. Sustain Ontario previously shared the latest call for comment in October 2012, a review of the PPS’s impact on food and farming alongside a submissions from Sustain Ontario and various members and allies, and joint letters to the ministry in April 2013 and October 2013 to reiterate concerns for revisions that would support Ontario’s food systems. The revised PPS was released this February and comes into effect April 30th 2014. In addition, two guides have been created to help explain PPS implementation in rural and northern areas to meet requests for more clarity and flexibility around policies in these areas. The government is accepting comments on the recently released public drafts of these two guides until April 25th, at which time the comments will be reviewed and all input taken into consideration before finalizing the documents. Comments are being accepted via e-mail, online, by phone and in written form.
What are the new changes to the PPS and how do they relate to food and agriculture? As the PPS regulates planning within Ontario municipalities, it is important to all agricultural and food sectors as it determines permitted uses in different zones (eg. agriculture and value-added activities, community gardens, farmers’ markets etc.) while also outlining restrictions for competing land use interests. The following discusses some of the changes that were made to the PPS, including restrictions to aggregate extraction, clarification on natural heritage protection, the first inclusion of the word “food”, increased permissible uses on agricultural land, mandatory designation of prime agricultural area, and differentiation of “rural areas” and “rural lands” and related policy.
A notable aspect of this PPS revision is the increased amount of statements surrounding agriculture and quarries. Some reviewers say these inclusions have improved the language around rehabilitation requirements, and it has included some minor additional restrictions around extraction in specialty crops. This section may be the most disappointing revision for the agricultural sector, however, as many stakeholders were hoping for stricter restrictions on the matter.
The PPS was relatively unchanged when it comes to natural heritage protection and agricultural uses. However, some minor changes were implemented in order to clarify some language around the flexibility of the policy. For example, misinterpretations of the term “existing agricultural uses” when referring to agriculture in proximity to natural heritage features, could prompt unnecessary zoning by-law amendments when simply seeking change to specific agricultural activities (i.e. pasture to crop production). To help reduce confusion, the word “existing” has been deleted when referring to “[existing] agricultural uses” in proximity to natural heritage features. Nevertheless, this may be concerning to some stakeholders that municipalities may be required to identify natural heritage systems.
One of the most exciting changes is the first inclusion of the word “food” in the PPS, a recognition of the need for raising the profile of food production in Ontario. “Local food” is included as part of long-term economic prosperity policies in section 1.7.1. However, “food systems planning” is still missing from Ontario policy planning. (See PPS review from Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable regarding their recommendations.)
Furthermore, permissible uses on agricultural lands have been improved with the intent to make it more flexible with respect to land practices accepted on agricultural properties. In doing so, doors open for building more diversified value-added on-farm services and agri-tourism opportunities to grow vibrant rural economies.
The requirements around farmland protection were improved by requiring municipalities to designate all prime agricultural areas within their Official Plans (OP). Although many municipalities are already committed to this practice, this change will ensure all prime agricultural areas are designated for better accounting of the status of Ontario’s arable land.
Furthermore, a key revision in section 2.3.1 from the 2005 PPS is the inclusion of Class 4 through 7 land within the prime agricultural area with respect to the protection of prime agricultural areas for long-term use for agriculture. This addition builds on the section which previously listed specialty crop areas and Canada Land Inventory Class 1, 2, and 3 soils as prioritized areas for protection without mention of Class 4 to 7 lands.
During this revision there were significant changes made to ‘rural areas’. The revised PPS creates a hierarchy stating that everything outside of urban areas is “rural area”, which now includes prime agricultural land as well as rural settlement areas, rural lands, natural heritage features and other resource areas. There are policies that now relate to these rural areas as a whole, as well as policies that relate to “rural lands”, formerly termed “rural areas.” The latter policies are improved in order to protect agricultural land in the area, such as Class 4 and/or 5 soils. However, the terminology adjustment may cause some confusion between what constitutes “rural lands” vs. “rural areas”.
Lastly, mitigation measures were improved by adding minor changes to sections 2.3.5 and 2.3.6 about transforming prime agricultural land to settlement areas. There is now a separation in policies for permanent removal from prime agricultural land, such as the creation of a settlement area, versus limited permission for non-agricultural use of the property, such as a golf course, which would not remove the land from a prime agricultural area.
This is just a small picture summary of the changes within the PPS. To learn more, please visit Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing website and consider providing your comments on the Rural Ontario and Northern Ontario guides by April 25th.
Commentary from Sustain Ontario Members and Allies
John Lubczynski for the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable – New Food Policies in the Provincial Policy Statement
Ann Slater, Vice President (Policy) for the National Farmers Union (NFU) – Cherishing and Protecting Land for Future Generations
“The current version of the PPS continues to take the position that residential development, industrial development, aggregate extraction, etc. should not take place on prime agricultural land unless there are no reasonable alternatives which avoid prime agricultural lands. Development of various kinds continues to take place on prime farmland, so it appears that under previous versions of the PPS there were too often no reasonable alternatives. The guidelines for development on prime farmland remain essentially the same in the current PPS as in past versions. In parts of the province, where there is significant pressure to build more residential areas and other urban development NFU members are increasingly concerned about the loss of farmland and the loss of the ability to produce food for ourselves now and in the future.”
Nathan Stevens for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CFFO) – Reaction to Ontario’s Updated Provincial Policy Statement