MINTO – Town of Minto council are working towards getting county approval for expanding Palmerston’s urban boundary to accommodate for anticipated growth.
At Tuesday’s remote council meeting, Triton Engineering senior planner Bill White presented a plan to expand residential development land in Palmerston to meet county growth expectations.
White’s report to council shows that Palmerston’s population is expected to grow from 2,875 in 2016 to 4,660 by 2041.
A booming population means more housing is needed but planning work done by Triton found serviceable land is lacking.
“What we determined when that work was done was there was not enough serviceable land in the urban boundary for the 635 household units needed to meet the county growth projection for Palmerston,” White said.
White recommends the town go forward with a 202-acre urban boundary expansion in the north west portion of Palmerston.
Normally, urban expansion would have to be done through a County of Wellington five-year review with the next round expected to start in 2021.
Recent amendments to the provincial growth plan now allow this outside but urban land has to be reduced elsewhere in the town.
To make up for this, 185-acres of urban land would need to be removed from Harriston and Clifford with the latter making up the majority.
Clifford is also expected to experience some growth. White said county projections say there needs to be 165 future residential units built by 2041.
White said there is more than enough serviceable land in Clifford even with the urban reduction.
The suggested areas to be removed are in south Clifford which White described as farmland, lowlands and sewage lagoon land.
Councillor Judy Dirksen asked if they would be stuck with this for 20 years if county projections are wrong and the boundaries don’t work at that time.
White said the short answer is yes but there are still options under the province’s exemptions.
“I think Minto might want to talk to the county about if this is enough,” White said, adding that they may want to review putting the removed land back in or adding more in Palmerston.
Deputy mayor David Turton said the expected growth is hard to fathom in west Palmerston.
“To think that all that land will be full of houses and industry,” Turton said. “Look at the last 20 years, look at the last five years, it’s been crazy.”
