Statutory public meeting for proposed Official Plan Amendments, town wide, town-initiated 52.57.03

Statutory public meeting for proposed Official Plan Amendments
Town-wide, town-initiated
52.57.03
Wars 1 to 7

Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at 6:30 p.m.
In-person and by videoconference broadcast from the Council Chamber
Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road
youtube.com/TownofOakvilleTV

You are invited to attend either in-person or virtually and provide input at this meeting hosted by Planning and Development Council.

Instructions on how to view the meeting or participate in-person, by written submission, videoconference or telephone are provided below.

Town-initiated Official Plan Amendments (OPA) will be recommended to the Town of Oakville Planning and Development Council. The purpose of the OPAs is to preserve the town’s protected employment areas pending completion of an employment area review that informs how the town will implement the provincial direction regarding employment areas.

Without the OPAs as proposed, the town’s employment areas could be reduced through individual, piecemeal processes outside of a town-initiated, comprehensive process that may impact the town’s long-term employment land needs.

If passed, the proposed OPAs will:

• Restrict uses that are excluded from the new definition for “area of employment” in the Planning Act, i.e., institutional and commercial uses, within the town's official plan policies for employment areas after October 20, 2024;
• Allow lands occupied by uses within the town’s employment areas that are excluded from the new definition for “area of employment” in the Planning Act to continue as “areas of employment”, so long as they were “lawfully established" prior to October 20, 2024; 
• As it relates to lands within the town's employment areas, allow the application of policies related to conversion of employment lands under Section 2.8.2.5 of the Provincial Planning Statement, 2024; 
• As it relates to lands within the town’s employment areas, ensure continued restriction of appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal on council decisions related to applicant-initiated amendments on employment area conversions under subsections 22 (7.3) and 34 (11.0.5) of the Planning Act;
• Preserve the town’s employment areas as protected pending completion of an employment area review to determine long term employment land needs and only allow the reduction of employment areas through a comprehensive process;
• Allow the town to have regard in its long- and short-term planning decisions to provincial interests related to the provision of adequate employment opportunities, protection of the financial and economic well-being of the province and its municipalities, and the appropriate location of growth and development; and
• Ensure that the town’s employment areas that connect to employment areas within adjacent municipalities remain protected and any changes in land use are based on a coordinated and comprehensive review.

The proposed policies will apply to the town’s employment areas within:

• lands in the Employment Area designations of Office Employment, Business Employment, Industrial and Business Commercial in the Livable Oakville Plan; and
• lands designated as Employment District in the North Oakville East and West Secondary Plans. 

These employment areas include swaths of land south of Highway 407; west and east of Highway 403; north and south of the Queen Elizabeth Way; and north and south of Royal Windsor Drive.

If a person or public body would otherwise have an ability to appeal the decision of the Town of Oakville to the Ontario Land Tribunal but the person or public body does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or make written submissions to Council c/o the Town Clerk at the Town of Oakville, Clerk’s department, 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville, ON L6H 0H3 (Dropbox is located in front of Town Hall) or at townclerk@oakville.ca before the official plan amendment is adopted, the person or public body is not entitled to appeal the decision.

If a person or public body does not make oral submissions at a public meeting, or make written submissions to Council c/o the Town Clerk at the Town of Oakville, Clerk’s department, before the proposed official plan amendment is adopted, the person or public body may not be added as a party to the hearing of an appeal before the Ontario Land Tribunal unless, in the opinion of the Tribunal, there are reasonable grounds to do so.52.57.03

If you wish to be notified of the decision of the Town of Oakville on this matter, you must make a written request to the Town Clerk at the Town of Oakville, Clerk’s department, 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville, ON L6H 0H3 or at townclerk@oakville.ca.

This meeting will be live streamed on our Live Stream page and also on YouTube.

Any submission to the Planning and Development Council, either in hard copy or in electronic format, must be forwarded to the Clerk's department for receipt no later than noon on October 15, 2024, to ensure its availability to the Members of Council at the meeting. Individuals wishing to make an oral submission at the meeting are encouraged register online at or contact the Clerk’s Department at 905-815-6015  before noon on October 11, 2024 to register as a delegation and to obtain instructions on how to participate. Requests to delegate will not be processed during the meeting.

All submissions should include the full name and address of the presenter.

A copy of the proposed official plan amendment and information and material will be available to the public for inspection on September 25, 2024, along with more information about this matter, including preserving your appeal rights, by visiting our Provincial Changes to Employment Areas page, or contact Amaraine Laven, Policy Planner, Planning and Development department at 905-845-6601, ext. 3551 (TTY 905-338-4200) or at amaraine.laven@oakville.ca. 

If you have any accessibility needs, please advise Amaraine Laven one week before the meeting.

The personal information accompanying your submission is being collected under the authority of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended, and may form part of the public record which may be released to the public.

Dated at the Town of Oakville September 25, 2024.