On the recommendation of the undersigned, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, by and with the advice and concurrence of the Executive Council of Ontario, orders that:

Whereas subsection 17(1) of the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act (“NEPDA”) requires a review of the NEP to be carried out at the same time the review of the Greenbelt Plan is carried out under the Greenbelt Act, 2005;

And Whereas on February 28, 2015 the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry caused a review of the Niagara Escarpment Plan (“NEP”) to be carried out, as part of a coordinated review at the same time as the reviews of the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe;

And Whereas subsection 6.1(2) of the NEPDA allows any person or public body to make an application requesting an amendment to the NEP;

And Whereas subsection 6.1(2.3) of the NEPDA allows the following types of applications to be made only during a review of the NEP: applications to redesignate land to the land use designations of Minor Urban Centre, Urban Area or Escarpment Recreation Area, and application to amend the NEP to permit urban uses;

And Whereas the Niagara Escarpment Commission (“NEC”) received a number of applications from private individuals and public bodies requesting site specific amendments to the NEP during the review;

And Whereas the Minister carried out consultation regarding these site specific amendment applications in accordance with subsection 17(2) of the NEPDA;

And Whereas in accordance with subsection 17(3) of the NEPDA, the Minister proposed the site specific amendments to the NEP after completion of the review;

And Whereas in accordance with subsection 10(1) of the NEPDA, the NEC invited comments from the municipalities, the Public Interest Advisory Committee and the public for a period of 60 days;

And Whereas subsection 10(9) of the NEPDA requires the NEC to give consideration to any comments received during the comment period and submit its recommendations on the proposed amendments;

And Whereas the NEC submitted its recommendations on the proposed site specific amendments to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry;

And Whereas after receiving the NEC’s recommendations, the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry submitted the proposed site specific amendments with her recommendations thereon to the Lieutenant Governor in Council in accordance with subsection 17(4), paragraph 2 of the NEPDA;

And Whereas subsection 17(5) of the NEPDA requires that amendments to the NEP resulting from a review shall be consistent with and promote the objectives of the NEP;

And Whereas subsection 10(14) of the NEPDA provides that the Lieutenant Governor in Council may refuse the proposed amendments or may approve the proposed amendments with any modifications that the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers desirable;

Therefore,

  1. having determined that amendments to the NEP are desirable, and are consistent with and promote the objectives of the NEP, the site specific amendments listed in Schedule A attached hereto are hereby approved effective June 1, 2017, and
  2. the site specific amendment proposals listed in Schedule B attached hereto are hereby refused.

Schedule A - Approved NEP Amendments

Schedule B - Refused NEP Amendment Proposals

Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry

Approved and Ordered: May 16, 2017