Official Plan getting a refresh in Oshawa

Oshawa’s Official Plan review will take the stage at a special meeting of Council Tuesday evening, with public input now being sought on a document that gives direction to zoning by-laws and all other statements of local planning policy for decades to come.

The Oshawa Official Plan is a document that sets out a unified set of policies and land use designations to guide long-term growth and development in the city and was last updated in 2016.

The adoption of the Region of Durham’s Envision Durham Official Plan and “significant” land planning changes from provincial legislation – notably Bill 23, the ‘More Homes Built Faster Act,’ which mandates 1.5 new homes by 2031, with a target of 23,000 set for Oshawa – have prompted the City of Oshawa get the process for its Official Plan up and running as expeditiously as possible.

For the public input, City staff have prepared a feedback form that can be accessed either online at https://connectoshawa.ca/OPReview or at Service Oshawa. The public is also invited to tonight’s meeting, with the festivities getting underway at 6:30 p.m.

The feedback is intended to collect people’s initial thoughts about Oshawa, including what people like most about living, working or studying here, how the public would like to see the city grow, and what should be considered as part of the Official Plan Review.

Feedback will be received until the end of day on Friday, May 10, with the information gathered part of the future report to be presented to the Economic and Development Services Committee.

Planning staff will also be attending the upcoming ‘Shape Oshawa Open House’ event at the Oshawa Centre Wednesday to engage with the public and provide information on the Official Plan Review.

The review process, which got underway in January, will have eight themes:

• Growth Management
• Housing
• Transportation
• Cultural Heritage Resources
• Agriculture & the Rural System
• Environment
• Climate Change & Sustainability
• Economic Development

The process is currently in Phase 1 (Visioning/Background Research and Review), which includes a review of relevant policies, legislation and various themes – including growth management, housing, transportation, cultural heritage resources. Phase 2 (Initial Findings/Policy Development) will follow, with this phase covering policy development, more public engagement and preliminary drafting of the Official Plan Amendment.

The Statutory Phase is next – the introduction of the draft Official Plan Amendment, as well as the statutory open house and public meetings required under the Planning Act – with Phase 4 marked by adoption of the Official Plan Amendment.

The current Official Plan can be viewed here: https://www.oshawa.ca/en/business-development/resources/Documents/Official-Plan.pdf.