3. Development process

The Central Pickering Development Plan establishes the key elements of new urban and agricultural communities, including the basic land use designations, Natural Heritage System, transportation network, and servicing system. The implementation of the Plan will occur in 3 stages.

3.1 Stage 1

Stage one is approval of this Plan under the  Ontario Planning and Development Act, 1994 . Schedule 2 of this Plan establishes the land-use designations for the Central Pickering Development Planning Area. The approval of this Plan may be either preceded or followed by the adoption of Official Plan amendments by the City of Pickering and the Regional Municipality of Durham that conform to and complement the policies and schedules of this Plan.

3.2 Stage 2

Stage two involves the logical phasing of Neighbourhood Planning through the preparation of a municipally-undertaken Master Environmental Servicing Plan, together with other required studies, including a Highway 407 Economic Development Study, a Seaton Retail Market Analysis Study, Natural Heritage System Management Plan including a master trail plan, and Environmental Assessments. Detailed Neighbourhood Plans shall be prepared by the City of Pickering, acting reasonably and in a timely fashion, and in no event commencing such work later than one year following the approval of this Plan, and concurrent with or prior to the processing of plans of subdivision. These Neighbourhood Plans will be completed in a manner consistent with the City of Pickering’s Official Plan amendment process. Unless otherwise indicated by this Plan, all studies required by this Plan to permit future development of lands will be the financial responsibility of the benefiting development proponents.

The Master Environmental Servicing Plan will develop phase-specific implementation recommendations in the context of the Central Pickering Development Plan and local and regional Official Plan considerations, as applicable. This Master Environmental Servicing Plan is to fulfill the requirements of the Municipal Engineers Association Class Environmental Assessment (MEA Class EA) - Master Planning Process as set out in Section A.2.7.1 of that document. At a minimum, the Master Environmental Servicing Plan should address the first two phases of the MEA Class EA for all non-regional road, water and wastewater projects (subject to the conditions below).

The Master Environmental Servicing Plan will be prepared in consultation with the City of Pickering, the Regional Municipalities of Durham and York, and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority prior to or concurrent with the completion of the first Neighbourhood Plan. It is a policy of this Plan to require that the timing for commencement and preparation of the Master Environmental Servicing Plan, any required environmental assessments, including those to be carried out by the City of Pickering and/or the Region of Durham, and the Natural Heritage System Management Plan be co-ordinated as much as possible in order to avoid duplication of work and permit achievement of common and inter-related objectives. The preparation, review and approval of these and other studies required by this Plan shall be carried out in a manner consistent with accepted land use planning and environmental assessment processes and applicable regulatory requirements. It is a policy of this Plan that the timely completion of these studies shall be an objective of both proponents and review/approval agencies.

The Master Environmental Servicing Plan should at a minimum address the following matters:

  1. identify any requirements for water source protection
  2. conduct an overall water balance on a subwatershed basis
  3. conduct an erosion sensitivity analysis for all receiving watercourses on a subwatershed basis
  4. prepare digital floodline mapping to the requirements of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
  5. promote maintenance and enhancement of the Duffins Creek fisheries
  6. determine the general location, type and discharge targets for all stormwater management facilities
  7. to the extent that they are not identified through the Regional Master Class Environmental Assessment for servicing, confirm the overall municipal service requirements, including trunk alignments, general facility locations and open space crossings
  8. to the extent that they are not identified through the Regional Master Class Environmental Assessment for the transportation system, confirm the overall major transportation system requirements, including bridge locations and open space crossings, and neighbourhood traffic calming measures
  9. identify the number and general location of major community facilities, including emergency service facilities, secondary schools, neighbourhood and community parks and recreational complexes, and in determining locations for such facilities, consider accessibility to transit and arterial roads, accessibility to multiple neighbourhoods, locations that buffer the Natural Heritage System, and locations that provide gateways to the Natural Heritage System and connections to associated trail systems
  10. provide preliminary servicing cost estimates for all Regional and City infrastructure required to be constructed within the Central Pickering Development Planning Area and for the development of the urban community including the cost of infrastructure external to the Development Planning Area that may be required to service the development of the urban community
  11. identify as an input to the City’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan an interconnected network of pedestrian, bicycle and multi-use trails throughout Central Pickering, and
  12. identify existing and proposed major utility requirements, such as appropriate locations for large utility equipment and utility cluster sites, installations, corridors, easements and substations

3.3 Stage 3

Stage three is the ongoing role of the City of Pickering in managing change over the long term. Any changes to the City’s Official Plan or zoning, as well as any other planning applications, will continue to be required to conform to the Central Pickering Development Plan, the Official Plan of the Regional Municipality of Durham and the Official Plan of the City of Pickering, as applicable. As set out in Section 5 of this Plan, a process to review and update this Plan, as necessary, is provided for in order to keep the Plan relevant and responsive to changing circumstances.