Report says: time to move Kingston's urban boundary
At City Council on Tuesday, August 13, 2024
An 152-page report to Tuesday’s upcoming Council meeting calls for the expansion of the City’s urban growth boundary.
The report relies on the projection that Kingston’s population will be 220,000 by 2051. Based on this projection, the calculation is that the City will have 66,800 new residents, requiring 29,300 new housing units. The prediction includes an additional 33,400 jobs.
With these estimates, the Community Lands Needs Assessment, prepared by Watson & Associates Economists Ltd., says that the City will need to add 660 hectares — 1631 acres — in new areas that are outside the urban growth boundary. The urban growth boundary is set to preserve rural, natural, and agricultural areas.
In Kingston, land north of the 401, west of Collins Bay Road, and outside the developed areas of the former Pittsburgh Township are all outside the urban growth boundary. The red dotted line shows the currently in-place urban growth boundary.
The possible future use of large properties within the urban boundary, such as the Novelis and Invista properties, are not included in the calculations.
The Watson report explains why the Collins Bay Penitentiary property and other federal and provincially-owned land within the City were not taken into account —
“Federal and provincial lands could be made surplus, but this is not a City decision. The land needs assessment has considered lands within the urban boundary, including the potential for intensification. While federal and provincial sites have potential for future development, the land is not divested easily, and there are competing interests for their use. There may be federal or provincial housing initiatives whereby some or all of the land becomes available to contribute lands for growth, but the lands are not available for residential uses presently.”
The last three pages of the Report show the properties where the City has already received requests to develop outside the urban growth boundary.
The Staff Report asks:
That Council endorse the City of Kingston Community Area Land Needs and Intensification Analysis, dated July 31, 2024, prepared by Watson & Associates Economists Ltd., attached as Exhibit A to Report Number 24-172; and
That the Community Area land needs requirement, as presented in Exhibit A to Report Number 24-172, inform the more detailed work to be completed as part of the Official Plan project, which will identify the location of future urban boundary expansion lands.
