Future Caledon is “now” as Council adopts new Official Plan

Policy document has been in the works since 2019

By ZACHARY ROMAN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Caledon has a new guiding policy document.

At a March 26 council meeting, Caledon Councillors approved “Future Caledon”, the Town's new official plan. 

Town of Caledon staff describe the document as a “detailed roadmap” that will help shape the future of Caledon over the next 30 years. Staff said that over the course of the plan's creation, there were 60 community engagement events held about it.

Caledon's official plan will direct services and land use across the following five areas: natural resources and agriculture; tourism, heritage, healthy communities and culture; transportation, technology, and infrastructure; growth, settlement, housing and employment; and climate change.

Caledon's official plan will now be submitted to the Region of Peel for approval. 

Town staff have been working on the plan, a massive 447-page document, for years now.

A first draft of the plan was released in spring 2022 for residents to share their opinions on, and that draft had been in the works since 2019.

The plan's adoption was then pushed back, and a second draft of it was released in June 2023. After more community consultation and subsequent work from staff, a third draft was released in August 2023. 

Work continued, and a fourth draft was released in February of this year. Finally, the official plan that Council approved came at the March 26 Council meeting.

According to Town staff, the Official Plan is divided into phases. Phase One is complete, and consists of a vision and guiding principles; Town structure; growth management policies; natural environment system and open space policies; rural system policies; urban system policies; and implementation policies.

Phase Two of the plan is currently in progress according to staff, and this includes the following: major transit station area policy updates; mineral aggregate resources policies; truck parking and goods movement policies; the Bolton secondary plan; and the Bolton special policy area. 

Phase Three of the plan has yet to begin, and it will include reviews of approved secondary plans and the creation of new secondary plans.

Caledon's official plan is required to conform with the plans of higher tiers of government, such as the Region of Peel and Government of Ontario.

In the new official plan, there's 4,000 hectares of new urban area in the south of Caledon that will be developed as new community and employment areas in the next 30 years. Staff said the future secondary plans will provide detailed policies for those areas.

According to Town staff, there were 1,833 residents who participated in public events about the official plan. The “Future Caledon” web page on haveyoursaycaledon.ca has received over 46,000 visits so far. Caledon's new official plan can be viewed in its entirety on the site.