Wilmot council to vote on an MZO that would see 1,200 new residential units

A Vaughan, Ont., development company wants Wilmot Township council to support a proposed ministerial zoning order (MZO) that would clear the way for a 1,200-unit development near the corner of Nafziger Road and Snyder's Road.

The proposed MZO from Cachet Developments Inc. will be discussed at a special council meeting Tuesday night, although councilors won't decide whether to endorse it until their regular meeting later this month.    

An MZO is a provincial tool that allows the minister of municipal affairs to bypass local planning rules to spur development. But they're also controversial.

"MZOs have drawn significant attention in recent years due to the significantly increased volume being issued," township staff said in a report to council.

"[They] are often cast in a negative light as they are not required to follow the traditional planning processes, do not require public consultation and are not subject to appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal."

Last year, local MPPs criticized the City of Cambridge for endorsing an MZO without consulting Six Nations of the Grand River. In Stratford, the city approved, then asked the province to rescind, an MZO for a proposed glass company to build a factory in the city.

CBC KW asked Cachet Developments why it opted to pursue the MZO, rather than going through the normal planning process. Vice-president Ramsey Shaheen declined to comment ahead of the council meeting Tuesday. 

A fairly new process

Wilmot Coun. Jeff Gerber, whose ward includes the land subject to the proposed MZO, said Monday he'd received about a dozen calls and messages about the matter. He expected more in advance of Tuesday's meeting.

"The process is certainly new to people, and I think that's gathered a lot of attention," said Gerber, who believes this is the first time an MZO has been presented during his time on council.

Gerber said he hadn't yet made up his mind about whether to support to the MZO.

The proposed Wilmot Village development would include a mix of residential, commercial and employment areas, along with parks, trails, a community "Agri-Hub" and space for a future transit hub.

The 1,200 residential units would include at least 850 apartments, a number the township "would struggle to provide" in absence of an MZO, the report to council said.

Development would add affordable housing

At least 15 seniors' apartments and 50 rental apartments would be classified as affordable, meaning they would cost 80 per cent or less of the average market rent.

"The Cachet proposal may be an opportunity to provide for the broad range of housing needs in the community with a focus on providing more affordable and more attainable housing options than the traditional single family dwellings that dominate our landscape," the report said.

The report noted the township has previously identified the corridor between New Hamburg and Baden — south of Snyder's Road and north of the railway tracks — as a potential area for more high-density residential growth.

All in all, the report said the MZO supports "most aspects" of the Wilmot strategic plan, aside from the goal of community engagement. The process of granting an MZO doesn't give the public the same level of right to consultation – or to appeal – they typically expect.

Tuesday's council meeting will kick off at 5 p.m. and will be for information only. Council is expected to vote on whether to endorse the MZO at its regular meeting Jan. 17.