Yesterday was brutally disappointing as both of the new specialized MZO's called Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (CIHA) were endorsed by Vaughan Council.
For the Langstaff CIHA there was a recorded vote as follows.
In Support: Mayor Del Duca, Regional Councillors Jackson, Ferri, Rosati, Local Councillors Defrancesca (Ward 3), Ainsworth (Ward 4), Martow (Ward 5) & Volpentesta (Ward 2)
Opposed: Regional Councillor Racco & Local Councillor Ifrate (Ward 1)
Today I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the province will not be supporting future MZO's until they conduct consultations on how requests for MZOs are received and considered going forward. I am not entirely sure what this means. It could mean the CIHAs are dead in the water, will come back in a different form or just on hold. Please let your MPP know that you are disappointed in Vaughan Council and how the entire process unfolded.
“The intention is to develop a new process that is more open and transparent while maintaining this important tool to cut through red tape to get shovels in the ground sooner,” the news release says.
Excluding three new MZOs the provincial government plans to soon issue, no others will be approved until it wraps up its consultations, according to the government.
I went to the Special Budget Meeting last night to let Vaughan Council know that it was fiscally irresponsible to support unplanned growth in the absence of supporting studies and financial analysis. Especially when staff are warning of a growing infrastructure funding gap, and funding shortfalls resulting from Bill 23. It proved that they are not expecting that either of these developments will proceed in the near future, which begs the question why do they need a tool to fast track developments that can't be fast tracked because they have oodles of approval conditions?
The petition will be left open for now, I may start a new one once I understand what this all means. Thank you all for your support.