Former regional city planner critical of current housing developments

With housing starts stalling across the province, people wouldn’t think that was the case in Waterloo Region.

There are several major housing developments underway, but Kevin Eby, former director of community planning with the region, worries that those builds didn’t undergo the proper due diligence because local official plans were created before the land was opened up by the province.

Eby was a guest on The Mike Farwell Show and said these builds are not responding to today’s realities.

“It’s responding to the realities or perceived realities back in the middle of COVID. Things have changed so dramatically that we’ve got to step back and really take a look at the base information. You can’t solve a problem unless you know what the problem is,” he said.

Eby points to how land prices have skyrocketed while the condo market has crashed, and governments have decreased immigration, the number of international students and the number of migrant workers in recent years.

The former planner said when he left the job in 2015, he was confident the region was prepared for growth, but the Doug Ford government turned that on its head.

“We had good financial planning being done by our treasurer to ensure that services could be paid for. And, all of a sudden, the province comes along and throws in a whole whack of land that really has not gone through the proper planning process.”

Eby mentioned specifically the new housing development in South Kitchener, which is being built on sensitive lands that supply a good portion of the region’s drinking water. He believes the new build puts the drinking water at risk.

While it is difficult to see much of his hard work being undermined by short-term thinking, Eby is positive that some of the measures he helped develop remain.

“It’s a little frustrating to watch it come undone. And yet, I think we have some confidence in our area that things like the countryside line will ultimately hold, and the LRT will ultimately direct development. So, there’s still positive there, but there is concern.”