Growth Management Strategy

Growth Management is one of Markham Council’s six strategic priorities. An important action item associated with this priority is the development of a plan for sustainable community growth that addresses Provincial and Regional growth management initiatives. 

The Town is developing a Growth Management Strategy to identify the amount, location, and pace of population and employment growth in Markham to 2031. The strategy will also identify the infrastructure and financial requirements to support the anticipated growth.

The strategy will take an ‘environment first’ approach, starting with the identification and protection of a Town-wide natural heritage network. The accommodation of growth will then be determined with a focus on the existing urban area. A possible extension of the existing urban area will also be addressed.

The recommendations of the Growth Management Strategy will form the basis of a new Official Plan for Markham.

A number planning and study initiatives contribute to the development of the Growth Management Strategy:

• Background (Province/Region requirements)
• Related Studies
  • Agricultural Assessment
  • Employment Lands Strategy
  • Environmental Policy Review
  • Housing Stock Analysis
  • Intensification
    
    
  • Integrated Leisure Master Plan
  • Master Transportation Plan
  • Master Servicing Plan
  • Community Sustainability Plan (Green Print)
  • Economic Competitiveness Strategy

Growth Management Strategy

• Reports/Presentations
• Public Engagement

Staff has recommended a preferred alternative to accommodate forecasted growth to 2031. Council has not taken a position on a preferred growth alternative for Markham. Staff will report back to Council following further public consultation on alternatives for growth.

On February 16, 2010, a public information meeting was held to get public input into Markham’s strategy to manage population and employment growth over the next 20 years. More than 1,000 people attended the February 16 meeting to discuss the future of Markham and how we should grow.

Development of the Growth Management Strategy involves ongoing communication and consultation with Markham residents and businesses, as well as public agencies and other levels of government.

The following is a summary of public engagement activities that occurred between February 2009 and April 2009 associated with the development of Markham’s Growth Management Strategy. The engagement program combined both the GMS and Transportation/Transit initiatives of Building Markham’s Future Together. The program included:

• A launch event
• Five community meetings
• Five meetings with stakeholders
• Online consultation (GMS workbook) ( 33k/8p)

As part of the public engagement activities, the Town used interactive polling technology to elicit feedback from the participants. The polling tool was one method used to gather feedback from participants attending the public events. The results of the polling exercise are not statistically significant.

Summary of Public Engagement Activities Polling Results

• Public Launch ( 33k/8p)
• Milliken (Wards 7 & 8) ( 43k/8p)
• Thornhill (Wards 1 & 2) ( 69k/18p)
• Markham (Wards 4 & 5) ( 62k/15p)
• Unionville (Wards 3 & 6) ( 51l/11p)
• Armadale (Ward 7) ( 53k/12p)
• Mayor's Youth Task Force (MYTF) ( 67k17p)
• Markham Centre Advisory Committee ( 46k/10p)
• Summary of Workbook Submissions ( 260k/64p)
  

Contact

Ms. Teema Kanji
Senior Project Coordinator
Town of Markham
101 Town Centre Blvd.
Markham, ON L3R 9W3
905-477-7000, ext. 4480
growth@markham.ca

Since 2001, the Province of Ontario has passed legislation and developed plans that together form a comprehensive Provincial growth strategy intended to support:

• Creation of strong communities
• Enhance quality of life
• Environmental protection
• Economic growth in Ontario

Two key components of this strategy are:

• Greenbelt Plan (2005)
  Delineates areas within the Region where urban development is not allowed to occur.
  
  
• Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2006) (Growth Plan).
  Focus of the Growth Plan is the planning and development of ‘complete communities’ which are characterized as compact, well-designed urban development, accommodating a mix of housing types and a range of jobs, with convenient access to public transportation.

The Provinical Growth Plan places an emphasis on intensification (development within existing built up areas) as the means of encouraging the development of complete communities, with a focus on developing urban centres and corridors at densities which can support rapid transit. The Plan stipulates certain intensification levels to be achieved for residential development (a minimum of 40% of all new development across the Region of York) and density targets for population and employment growth in built up or new urban areas.

All municipalities within the Greater Golden Horseshoe are required to amend their Official Plans to conform with the requirements of the Provincial Growth Plan. The Region of York is undertaking a

Region of York
The Region on York has completed a growth management exercise, referred to as Planning for Tomorrow , in which it has allocated population and employment growth to the Region’s nine local municipalities, including Markham. On December 16, 2009 the Region of York adopted its new Regional Official Plan

Federal Government Documents
Federal government documents that may be of interest to Markham residents include:

• Pickering Airport Site Zoning Regulations
• Pickering Airport Draft Plan Report  3.26MB/41p)
• Noise Exposure Contours