Key river valleys in urban areas adjacent to the Greenbelt provide opportunities for additional connections to help expand and integrate the Greenbelt and its systems into the broader southern Ontario landscape. The Urban River Valley designation provides direction to those areas where the Greenbelt occupies river valleys in an urban context. These urban river valleys may be the setting for a network of uses and facilities, including recreational, cultural and tourist amenities and infrastructure, which are needed to support urban areas.

6.1 Description

The Urban River Valley designation as shown on Schedule 1 applies to lands within the main corridors of river valleys connecting the rest of the Greenbelt to the Great Lakes and inland lakes. The lands in this designation comprise river valleys and associated lands and are generally characterized by being:

  • lands containing natural and hydrologic features, including coastal wetlands
  • lands designated in official plans for uses such as parks, open space, recreation, conservation and environmental protection

6.2 Policies

For lands falling within the Urban River Valley, the following policies shall apply:

  1. Only publicly owned lands are subject to the policies of the Urban River Valley designation. Any privately owned lands within the boundary of the Urban River Valley area are not subject to the policies of this designation. For the purposes of this section, publicly owned lands means lands in the ownership of the Province, a municipality or a local board, including a conservation authority.
  2. The lands are governed by the applicable official plan policies provided they have regard to the objectives of the Greenbelt Plan.
  3. All existing, expanded or new infrastructure which is subject to and approved under the Environmental Assessment Act, or which receives a similar approval, is permitted provided it supports the needs of adjacent settlement areas or serves the significant growth and economic development expected in southern Ontario and supports the goals and objectives of the Greenbelt Plan.
  4. The Protected Countryside policies do not apply except for:
    1. The policies of section 3.2.6; and
    2. The policies of section 3.3.