Parking reform

Changing or eliminating municipal requirements to provide parking is critical to creating more affordable housing, encouraging sustainable transportation, reducing storm runoff and reducing heat island effects, a US expert told a Toronto conference last month. “In many places in the United States cities are now eliminating their parking requirements,” Dr Dave King told a transportation gathering.

Goodbye one point five

The most prominent climate scientist in North America says the planet has kissed goodbye to the target of keeping global warming below 1.5C. James Hansen says the drastic temperature spurt over the last half year makes this clear.



Marsh reprieve

Hearings on the fate of the Garner Road marsh have been pushed off again as developers scramble to bolster their case for “relocating” the wetland to accommodate construction of five warehouses and parking for more than a thousand vehicles. Fifteen days of hearings before the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) that were supposed to have taken place two months ago are now scheduled to not start until late February 2025.

More investigation calls

Pressure is building for a re-examination of provincial legislation that has weakened Conservation Authorities and banned them from providing ecological advice to city governments. Last week the board of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) unanimously asked the Auditor-General to investigate the changes imposed at the end of last year.

Greenbelt only part of giveaway

Approving development of nearly 2000 acres of local Greenbelt lands last November was in addition to doing the same for over 5400 acres of rural land in Hamilton three weeks earlier. The owners and developers of those farms, forests and wetlands will also reap financial benefits similar to those who own properties removed from the Greenbelt.

Garner Marsh future darkens

The procedural rules for the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) hearing on the Garner Road Marsh have now been set for the three-week hearing beginning on October 2. But the changes to provincial legislation in Bill 23 appear to undermine the potential outcome. And the ultimate fate of the Marsh looks bleaker in the wake of revelations on the other side of the continent where the marsh owners control a much larger environmentally damaging project.

Council challenges Bill 23

Councillors appear fully united in their anger at the provincial Progressive Conservative government’s Bill 23. An initial response decrying the financial impacts of the legislation was approved unanimously. It was accompanied by vows that council will also tackle the environmental, social and democratic implications.

Democracy dismissed

It’s hard to see any democracy left to Hamiltonians in the decision of the provincial Progressive Conservative government to force a massive urban boundary expansion on the city and its residents. Just over a year ago, city council voted 13-3 to reject any boundary expansion, and specifically to turn down a proposed much smaller one than what the Ford government has now imposed.