On 9 /23 Council agenda there is are a report recommending that Council adopt the draft OP (September 2019). (Click on the link and scroll down to 9.1 for the report at all appendices.) This plan has been in process for several years. Overall I am pleased with the end product.  i)  Even though we have discontinued the practice of separate OP’s for the 3 villages and the hamlets etc and now have “One King” I don’t believe we are setting the stage for standardization across King; what is standardized is the process for assessing issues/activities.  And I do believe the complexity for everyone engaged in the development of King will be simplified by having only one plan. ii) The risk of climate change has been understood by many for many years but it is only very recently that King has really acknowledged the necessity of dealing with it by setting very aggressive targets and declaring a climate emergency.  This has been incorporated in this draft OP.  The recommendation from Staff in this report is to “adopt” the OP; the approval authority of it is York Region.  As YR has been very involved with the process I am hopeful that it will become “in force and in effect” quickly.

As will be the case with everyone I have disappointments and worries.

i) Despite numerous submissions by residents the draft OP does not prohibit additional drive-throughs but does define requirements in terms of location.

ii) I think the severance criteria in established neighbourhoods do not protect the character of those neighbourhoods adequately, or least not in all the designated neighbourhoods.

iii) I support that the draft OP opens the door to permitting a built form with heights greater than our previous OP did. Because the latter was so restrictive every development application has required official plan amendments and/or zoning bylaw amendments which costs money and time. The draft OP now brings in opportunities for greater height in certain areas depending on the specific context.  My worry about this is that we may learn that we have not defined the required context well enough.  My rationale for wanting to do this as I would rather a developer put their energy and money to creating great design as opposed to seeing how far they can push past the  2nd or 3 rd storey.

Finally, the quality of this draft OP is very much influenced by the submissions by residents throughout the whole process.  Appendix C of the report 9.1 is a chart of comments made by both residents and others; and the response of Staff to the issue raised is documented.

If you haven’t been engaged to date  and are now interested I suggest you go to speaking@king.ca where you can find the draft and all the history.  Note:  if you wish to provide input you can make a deputation at Council or you can send a letter to Clerk at  kmoyle@king.ca.