Urban sprawl affects both urban and rural Ontario. decreases air quality, endangers source water resources and contributes to climate change. Municipalities pay considerably more to service low-density communities than high-density ones.

The Green Party asserts that we need communities where you can live where you work, walk to essential services and take efficient rapid transit for longer trips. Ontario’s planners must be given the support to create higher-density, walkable communities that incorporate sustainable design and extensive greenspace. Municipal official plans and local vision must be respected by the Ontario Municipal Board. The time has come to stop urban sprawl.

The Green Party will work with municipalities to build communities that cost less to service, create a heightened sense of neighbourhood and counter negative development effects such as pollution, gridlock and long commutes.

To achieve these goals, the Green Party of Ontario will:

■ Make the Ontario Greenbelt permanent and modify the Greenbelt Act to prevent urban sprawl as follows:
● Move the boundaries of the four Greater Toronto Area (GTA) regions inward to the edge of the designated urban areas in the regional official plans.
● Allow subdivision of agricultural land for intensive local food production, provided the land is zoned for agriculture.
● Permit limited non-agricultural use on agricultural land by farm families whose primary activity is local food production.
● Establish an accelerated program of agricultural and conservation easements within the Greenbelt, using funding from development charges and other sources.

■ Establish a Land Owners Roundtable with stakeholders in the Greenbelt to develop strategies to address the economic impacts, especially for farmers, of Greenbelt legislation.

■ Freeze urban boundaries around all municipalities and allow new construction only on land already zoned urban. New greenfield development would only be allowed by an act of the provincial legislature.

■ Increase the 40% intensification target for new residential development in existing built-up areas to 60% by 2012.

■ Direct provincial infrastructure investments to projects that fight urban sprawl. Cancel sprawl-promoting projects, such as large highway extensions. All new infrastructure projects will undergo comprehensive environmental and sprawl assessments.

■ Introduce legislation that by 2009 requires all new developments in Ontario to be designed as walkable communities, with access to public transit and zoning plans that balances population and job growth.

■ Lobby the federal government to cease all development of the proposed Pickering Airport; purchase expropriated airport lands from the federal government to establish a provincial park but retain agricultural uses where applicable through long-term lease agreements tied to continued agricultural usage.

■ Reform the Development Charges Act to:
● Remove the current 10% reduction on allowable development charges for any service
● Reinstate the authority of municipalities to calculate development charges based on the true cost of growth for infrastructure and services, including roads; culture, parks and recreation; municipal offices; water, wastewater, waste and recycling; health care and health promotion; and any other downloaded services
● Permit municipalities to include a development charge for transit and for other services not currently provided by the municipality provided that a 10-year plan for the development of such a service has been prepared
● Permit municipalities to levy development charges based on an improved level of service, provided it implements a 10-year plan for the development of that service
● Permit municipalities to offset greenfield development with development charges to fund acquisition of woodlots and/or conservation easements and/or large-scale tree planting programs to preserve tree cover and/or biomass equivalent to anticipated losses during the planning period