
Official Plan Review
Statutory Open House and Public Meeting Information
The City of Hamilton is completing a Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR) to update the Urban and Rural Hamilton Official Plans to conform with Provincial planning documents and to implement City Council’s direction for the “No Urban Boundary Expansion” growth scenario. The City of Hamilton will be holding both a statutory Open House and Public Meeting, pursuant to subsection 17.5 and 17.6 of the Planning Act R.S.O. 1990, as amended.
Open House
The City hosted a virtual Open House on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at 6 pm. Participants submitted questions to Staff during the Open House and in advance. A Question and Answer summary as well as a recording of the virtual Open House will be available on Engage Hamilton.
Public Meeting
A Public Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at 9:30 am and will be held virtually as part of a meeting of the City’s Planning Committee. The purpose of the Public Meeting is to present the final draft Official Plan Amendments for the MCR to Planning Committee for approval and to give an opportunity for the public to provide input. Following the Public Meeting and ratification by Council, the Council-adopted Official Plan Amendments for Phase 1 of the MCR will be forwarded to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for final approval. Delegations at the Public Meeting must register in advance. Request to speak as a delegate
- Written comments for the Public Meeting can be submitted up noon May 16, 2022 by emailing [email protected] or by mailing the Legislative Coordinator, Planning Committee, City of Hamilton, 71 Main Street West, 1st Floor, Hamilton, Ontario, L8P 4Y5
- This meeting as part of the scheduled Planning Committee can be viewed at:
- City’s Website: https://www.hamilton.ca/council-committee/council-committee-meetings/meeting
- City’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/InsideCityofHamilton
Information, Materials, and Draft Official Plan Amendments for Public Review
In accordance with the Planning Act, this information, materials and draft Official Plan Amendments are presented to the public in advance of the Statutory Public Meeting for the purpose of public inspection and comment. Written comments for the Public Meeting can be submitted up to 12 noon on May 16, 2022 by emailing [email protected] or by mailing the Legislative Coordinator, Planning Committee, City of Hamilton, 71 Main Street West, 1st Floor, Hamilton, Ontario, L8P 4Y5.
- Staff Report PED21067(b)
Note: Appendix A - Draft Urban Hamilton Official Plan Amendment revised on May 5, 2022 to: revise Policy B.3.7.3, Volume 1 for clarity; revise Policy B.6.4.10.1, Volume 2 to implement GIC direction; remove policy B.7.4.18.X, Volume 2 to implement GIC direction; revise map B.7.4.1, Volume 2 to implement GIC direction; and to add appendices AJ (Volume 2) and AT (Volume 3) which had been inadvertently omitted.
Supporting materials include the staff report and associated appendices presented to Planning Committee and Council in January 2022 to present proposed updates to the Urban Hamilton Official Plan (UHOP) and Rural Hamilton Official Plan (RHOP), including policy and mapping changes to conform with Provincial policies on a topic area basis, as well as updates to both Official Plans and the Zoning By-law of the Former Communities to implement Council’s No Urban Boundary Expansion growth option.
- Staff Report PED21067(a) - Municipal Comprehensive Review/Official Plan Review – Proposed Amendments to the Urban Hamilton Official Plan and Rural Hamilton Official Plan
- Appendix C - Growth Management Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C1 - Employment Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C2 - Cultural Heritage Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C3 - Provincial Plans Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C4 - Housing Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C5 - Climate Related Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C6 - Urban Structure Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C7 - Infrastructure Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C8 - Transportation Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix D - Glossary Updates
- Appendix E - Updates to Schedules, Appendices and Maps
- Appendix F - Table of Departments Circulated by Topic Area
- Appendix G - Table of Proposed Text Changes to the Rural Hamilton Official Plan
- Appendix H - Table of Proposed Amendments to Rural Hamilton Official Plan Schedules, Appendices and Maps
- Appendix I – Table of proposed Zoning By-law Amendments to the Former Communities
- Appendix J – MCR / GRIDS 2 Workplan
Additional supporting materials include the staff report to be presented at the Statutory Public Meeting of Planning Committee on May 17, 2022, including the final Draft Urban Hamilton Official Plan(UHOP) Amendment and Draft Rural Hamilton Official Plan (RHOP) Amendment, identified above, which includes revisions necessary to address public and stakeholder comments received during the public engagement sessions held in February/March 2022. The appendices to this report include a summary of all public and stakeholder comments received on the draft Amendments as well as summaries of changes to the Amendments from the previous versions.
- Staff Report PED21067(b) - Municipal Comprehensive Review/Official Plan Review - Amendments to the Urban Hamilton Official Plan and Rural Hamilton Official Plan - Firm Urban Boundary - Revised May 5, 2022 (PDF, KB)
- Appendix C - Public Consultation Summary Document (PDF, KB)
- Appendix C1 - First Nations and Indigenous Communities Comments - Summary of Discussions (PDF, KB)
- Appendix C2 - Agency Comments - Email (PDF, KB)
- Appendix C3 - Stakeholder Comments - Email - Revised May 5, 2022 (PDF, KB)
- Appendix C4 - Public Comments - Email (PDF, KB)
- Appendix C5 - Public Comments - Engage Hamilton (PDF, KB)
- Appendix C6 - Public and Stakeholder Engagement Round 4 - Spring 2022 - Addendum
- Appendix D - Revisions to Proposed Amendments to the UHOP Text - By Topic Area - Municipal Comprehensive Review - Revised May 5, 2022 (PDF, KB)
- Appendix D1 - Revisions to Proposed Amendments to UHOP Schedules, Appendices and Maps - Municipal Comprehensive Review - Revised May 5, 2022 (PDF, KB)
- Appendix E - Revisions to Proposed Amendments to RHOP Schedules, Appendices and Maps - Municipal Comprehensive Review (PDF, KB)
- Appendix F - Permitted and Proposed Uses in Existing Low Density Residential Zones (PDF, KB)
- Appendix G - Relationship between Converted Dwellings, SDUs, and D-SDUs (PDF, KB)
- Appendix H - Proposed Amendments to the Former Community Zoning By-laws (PDF, KB)
Municipalities review their Official Plans on a regular basis to ensure they remain up-to-date, reflect current provincial policy, and represent the long term vision of the municipality. The Rural Hamilton Official Plan and Urban Hamilton Official Plan were approved by the Ontario Municipal Board and came into effect on March 7, 2012 and August 16, 2013, respectively.
The Planning Act, the Places to Grow Act, and the Greenbelt Act all contain municipal requirements to undertake Official Plan reviews and conformity exercises to ensure the City’s official plans are reflective of community goals and objectives, and that they implement the provincial policies contained in the Provincial Policy Statement, the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, and the Greenbelt Plan.
Changes to the Official Plans that implement provincial policies are referred to as a Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR) or the “Conformity Review”. Changes that are reflective of community goals and objectives are referred to as the “Official Plan Review – Local Context”.
The Official Plan Review is not intended to be a rewrite of the City’s Official Plans, but rather a targeted update to only those sections and policies that require changes to address provincial policies and significant locally-identified issues. The organization and structure of the Official Plans will remain the same.
GRIDS 2 & Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR) Project
The City is undertaking an update to GRIDS, known as GRIDS 2, which is a long term growth strategy to allocate forecasted population and employment growth to the year 2051. Many of the studies that are required as part of the City’s growth strategy are also part of the City’s Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR). As such, the MCR will be completed concurrently with GRIDS 2, which has the benefit of combining the public and stakeholder consultation into one process, and efficiently utilizes staff time and resources. The outcome of the MCR and GRIDS 2 will be implemented through Official Plan Amendments to the Urban and Rural Hamilton Official Plans.
This flow chart depicts the City of Hamilton’s Municipal Comprehensive Review Process, as it relates to the GRIDS 2 process.
The Conformity Review is a key component of the MCR. The MCR will result in official plan amendments to each of the Urban and Rural Hamilton Official Plans that comprehensively apply all the necessary changes to reflect the policies of the Provincial Policy Statement and Provincial Plans. Under Section 26 of the Planning Act, MCR amendments require the approval of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. These amendments are unlike other Official Plan Amendments adopted by Council that are exempt from the approval of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Ontario Regulation 525/97).
The Province has set July 1, 2022 as the date by which municipalities must submit to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing those Official Plan Amendments that address conformity matters as part of the MCR.
Project components
The OP Review has been broken down into 4 project phases, each resulting in separate Official Plan Amendments, as detailed in the sections below. Review of the City’s Official Plan policies will occur at the same time as the GRIDS 2 project completes the necessary steps to determine how and where the City will accommodate additional growth.
Phase 1: Conformity Review – Urban Focused Review (Current Phase)
Topic Areas
Urban Hamilton Official Plan Amendment - All UHOP conformity matters related to the Provincial Policy Statement, Growth Plan, Greenbelt Plan, and Niagara Escarpment Plan:
Rural Hamilton Official Plan Amendment - RHOP matters related to implementation of Council direction:
Official Plans - Tracked Changes (Draft OPAs)
Draft Policy Amendments - Urban - changes proposed to the Urban Hamilton Official Plan sections as a result of the Phase 1: Conformity Review.
- Volume 1: Parent Policies (draft OPA track changes)
- Chapter A - Introduction (PDF, 432 KB)
- Chapter B - Communities (PDF, 1 MB)
- Chapter C - City Wide Systems and Designations (PDF, 779 KB)
- Chapter E - Urban Systems and Designations (PDF, 978 KB)
- Chapter F - Implementation (PDF, 745 KB)
- Chapter G - Glossary (PDF, 433 KB)
- Volume 2: Secondary Plans (draft OPA track changes)
- Chapter B-6 - Hamilton Secondary Plans (PDF, 2 MB)
- Chapter B-7 - Stoney Creek Secondary Plans (PDF, 1 MB)
- Volume 3: Special Policy Areas, Area Specific Policies, and Site Specific Policies (draft OPA track changes)
- Chapter B-5 - Hamilton Area Specific Policies (PDF, 165 KB)
- Chapter C - Urban Site Specific Policies (PDF, 3 MB)
Draft Policy Amendments - Rural - changes proposed to the Rural Hamilton Official Plan sections as a result of the Phase 1: Conformity Review
- Volume 1: Parent Policies (draft OPA track changes)
- Volume 3: Special Policy Areas, Area Specific Policies, and Site Specific Policies (draft OPA track changes)
- Chapter A - Rural Special Policy Areas (PDF, 165 KB)
Note: Policy sections that are not listed above are not proposed to change. To view all sections of the Urban and Rural Hamilton Official Plans, visit hamilton.ca/uhop and hamilton.ca/rhop
Timing
- January 2022 - Draft UHOPA - Conformity Amendment and RHOPA – Firm Urban Boundary Amendment to Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH)
- Febuary 2022 - Public consultation and non-statutory virtual Open Houses – visit engage.hamilton.ca/grids2mcr for more information
- May to June 2022 - Statutory Open House and Public Meeting (Planning Committee) and Final Council-Adopted UHOPA/RHOPA to MMAH
Phase 2: Conformity Review – Rural Focused Review
Topic Areas
Rural Hamilton Official Plan Amendment - Conformity matters related to the Provincial Policy Statement, Niagara Escarpment Plan, Growth Plan, and Greenbelt Plan:
- Agricultural System Mapping refinements;
- Natural Heritage Mapping refinements;
- Prime Agriculture and Open Space Policy updates; and, complementary RHOP updates, as per UHOP updates of Phase 1.
Timing: Q1 - 2023
Phase 3: Local Context Review
Staff recognizes that updates to the City’s Official Plans will be necessary to address local community issues. This phase will not be subject to the stringent timelines of the matters related to the MCR conformity review with the Provincial Plans and the resulting Official Plan Amendments will be exempt from the approval of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Once the Conformity Review component of the Official Plan Review has been completed, staff will complete the Official Plan Review process by addressing policy and mapping updates focussing on local community issues.
Topic Areas
- Noise
- Urban Design
- Waste
- Neighbourhoods
- Parks and Recreation
- Institutional
- Right-of-Ways
- Commercial/Mixed Use
-
Residential density and built form
This list may be updated or refined as additional revision areas are identified during the course of the review.
Timing: Q2, 2023
Phase 4: Major Transit Station Areas
As work progresses on the development of the Light Rail Transit (LRT), an Urban Hamilton Official Plan Amendment will be required to delineate all of the Major Transit Station Areas (MTSA).
Topic Areas
- Mapped delineation of all MTSAs
- Prescribed Density Targets for MTSAs along the B-Line Route
- Possibility of Inclusionary Zoning Policies
Timing: Q2 – 2023
*this phase may be added into Phase 3 depending on the planning and development of the LRT project.
Staff reports
- January 11, 2022 (January 19, 2022 – Council): Municipal Comprehensive Review/Official Plan Review – Proposed Amendments to the Urban Hamilton Official Plan and Rural Hamilton Official Plan (PED21067(a))
- Appendix A - Proposed UHOP Amendment
- Appendix B - Proposed RHOP Amendment
- Appendix C - Growth Management Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C1 - Employment Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C2 - Cultural Heritage Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C3 - Provincial Plans Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C4 - Housing Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C5 - Climate Related Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C6 - Urban Structure Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C7 - Infrastructure Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix C8 - Transportation Topic Area Amendments Table
- Appendix D - Glossary Updates
- Appendix E - Proposed Amendments to Urban Hamilton Official Plan Schedules, Appendices and Maps
- Appendix F - Table of Departments Circulated by Topic Area
- Appendix G - Table of Proposed Amendments to the Rural Hamilton Official Plan
- Appendix H - Table of Proposed Amendments to Rural Hamilton Official Plan Schedules, Appendices and Maps
- Appendix I – Table of Proposed Amendments to Zoning By-laws to the Former Communities
- Appendix J – MCR / GRIDS 2 Workplan
- May 5, 2021: Municipal Comprehensive Review/Official Plan Review Work Plan (PED21067)
Project timeline
- May 2021: General Issues Committee: Commencement of Official Plan Review
- Fall 2021: Staff Drafting of Conformity Review Official Plan Amendments
- January 2022: Planning Committee: Draft MCR Conformity Review – Official Plan Amendments and Authorization to Consult, Public Open House (Non-statutory): Public and Stakeholder Consultation on Draft Conformity Official Plan Amendments
- February 2022: Public and stakeholder consultation
- April 2022: Statutory Public Meeting for MCR / OP Review (Sec. 26 Planning Act: Draft Conformity Official Plan Amendments
- May 2022: General Issues Committee: Approval of Conformity Official Plan Amendments
- Late May/ Early June 2022: Submission of Conformity Official Plan Amendments to the Province (Urban Focus)
Public consultation
Public Consultation on Phase 1: Conformity Review – Urban Focused Review is currently underway. Visit engage.hamilton.ca/grids2mcr for more information.
If you would like to be added to the project mailing list and be notified of project updates, please send your contact information to [email protected].
Contact us
Delia McPhail
City Hall, 4th Floor
Phone: 905-546-2424 ext. 6663
Email: [email protected]
Lauren Vraets
City Hall, 4th Floor
Phone: 905-546-2424 ext. 2634
Email: [email protected]
- Date modified: