Designated employment lands in Clair-Maltby, York Road areas taken out of the equation
The city has enough employment lands to keep pace with mandated population growth, and then some, says a recent staff report.
It’s anticipated Guelph will need 319 hectares of employment lands in order to accommodate provincially mandated jobs growth of 33,300 by 2051, intended to go along with required population growth of 60,000 during that time.
The report, known as the employment lands strategy, estimates the city has 354 hectares of vacant employment lands available for development
“This is a sufficient supply,” states the report. “Post-2051, Guelph is forecast to have a small surplus of employment lands totaling about 35 hectares.”
Currently, the city has a population of about 143,000, along with 82,250 jobs.
It’s anticipated about 15 per cent of the city’s employment growth will be accommodated through intensification and expansion of existing businesses, notes the report.
Though there is sufficient supply of employment lands, the report recommends city officials take several steps to ensure that’s the case.
Recommendations include preventing currently-designated employment lands from being used for another purpose, promotion of downtown as a major area for office jobs (with potential incentives offered), getting the Hanlon Creek Business Park lands “shovel ready” for development, and creating an employment lands intensification strategy.
“The city has a large, stable, and diverse employment base that is highly oriented to manufacturing that has evolved significantly in the last 10 years with respect to the mix of uses and location of new development,” reads the report. “The city has experienced strong employment growth and development activity between the years 2008 and 2018, with half being accommodated on employment lands. There was high growth for the industrial sector which was largely accommodated for on employment lands.”
The report excludes employment lands set aside in the Clair-Maltby Secondary Plan (CMSP) and industrial lands on the north side of Yord Road at Watson Road, which are “no longer appropriate” and “not needed” as part of the city’s long-term employment lands strategy.
Designated lands within the Clair-Maltby plan are “isolated” and “scattered with an extensive natural heritage system,” explains the report.
“This poses some geographic challenges as most of the existing arterial roads within the area would be subject to truck and vehicular traffic, specifically Clair Road and Maltby Road, and would make it so that these arterial roads would be heavily utilized by residential and commercial traffic,” it states. “These will all pose challenges in the future in respect to accessibility, land-use compatibility, and the broader vision for the CMSP.”
As for the…
Read More: City has enough employment lands to meet job growth target: report