Farmers Feed Cities

...But farmland's value is much more than just crop production

Farmers Feed Cities is a campaign to lobby the Government of Ontario and further the interests of farmers. Photo Credit: Farmers Feed Cities

Yet, there are County Road 42 proponents who don't seem to comprehend the vital importance of preserving farmland for future generations:

We've seen comments on social media that suggest some people don't understand the long-term consequences of building on productive farmland. Among the posts:

"Most of the city was and is build [sic] on farm land. Why is it bad now?"

"Now you're worried about good fertile farm ground? If you live in Windsor all of the land used to be farmland before they built buildings and houses on it. And it was all bush previous to that. Give me a break!"

"If they were worried about farmland they wouldn't have made so many subdivisions in all of other farmland in windsor essex county"

What many people don't realize: Farmland is a non-renewable resource

"The Windsor-Essex County’s agri-business sector is dynamic and has been identified as one of the region’s nine most promising sectors for business and employment growth."                                                                      -- Workforce Windsor-Essex

According to the Ontario Farmland Trust: 5% of Ontario's land can support farming 18% of Ontario's farmland has been lost in the past 40 years Farmland is not only for growing crops to feed people. It protects against downstream flooding (a serious risk in Windsor-Essex) and urban heat islands. It increases air quality. Productive farmland is ecologically beneficial to wildlife, including pollinators such as insects and birds. A quote from the video below: "We're not just builidng on farmland, we're building on the best farmland we have in this province right now":

Learn more at https://ontariofarmlandtrust.ca/

According to Windsor's Environmental Master Plan: "Goal C – Responsible Land Use: To enhance our community through naturalization, reforestation, park and urban planning, densification and community initiatives."

More new brownfield redevelopment plans just announced in Windsor!   Incredibly, in a period of just six (6) days!  three very encouraging mixed-use (residential & commercial) brownfield redevelopment proposals were announced. We wrote about one of them (HDGH/Amico) in last week's eblast. The second project, by London developer Shmuel Farhi, was revealed on September 24, 2019. Combined, these first two proposals will create nearly 1,200 new housing units in already developed and serviced neighbourhoods -- that's almost 20% of Windsor's anticipated 20-year housing need (as identified by the city's Planning Department in the Secondary Plan approved by City Council in August 2018). We love this kind of incremental urban development! In his September 24, 2019 announcement, Mr. Farhi also revealed a third, much less defined redevelopment plan for a future 24 to 30-storey residential tower at the corner of Janette Avenue and Riverside Drive in downtown Windsor. This alone could provide hundreds more housing units. His plan included two other centrally-located residential buildings, all projected to be built within the next ten years. The Big Picture: Tracking residential supply and demand In August 2018, Windsor's Planning Department modestly projected the existing supply of designated residential land could accommodate just 3,255 (47% - not even half!) of the 6,900 new homes needed in Windsor through 2036. This was a critical justification for rezoning Sandwich South, the 990 acre (400 ha.) future development adjacent to Windsor Airport (and the proposed location for Windsor's single-site acute care hospital):

However, if one adds just two of the recently announced projects (the former Grace Hospital and GM Trim Plant sites - yellow dots on the map below) to those already earmarked by the City for new residential development, a total of 4,956 new housing units will soon be built within Windsor's existing footprint. This far exceeds what city planners thought possible just over a year ago and eliminates the purported need to develop Sandwich South anytime soon!

Amazingly, these 4,956 units represent 72% of Windsor's total anticipated 20-year new housing needs, according to the City Planning Department's August 2018 projections.  This puts into serious doubt the claim that productive farmland in Sandwich South must be developed now to meet Windsor's next two decades of demand for new residential housing. (It also makes us wonder if the local residential construction industry will soon be out of work? Though there will likely be plenty of renovation potential for the city's older housing stock.)   A monumental logistical headache: Access to hospital-based services If the County Road 42 single-site acute care hospital goes forward as proposed, the 2,000+ future residents of these major, new centrally-located housing developments will be 8-18 km from hospital-based services. This is significantly farther than these locations are to Windsor's two current acute care hospital campuses. This doesn't make any sense. More incremental development is what Windsor really needs It's far more responsible to continue to build housing where municipal infrastructure already exists. It's wasteful to burden residents with higher property taxes to underwrite the costs of essential amenities in speculative locations. For example: As evidenced by these recent announcements, medium and high-density housing can be built in the many open spaces located in central neighbourhoods Secondary suites (converted basements and garages) are a viable option to create new affordable rental housing. Or they may be used as "mother-in-law suites" by aging parents wishing to live independently, yet near their children and grandchildren Farmland is a finite and non-renewable natural resource To preserve our farmland, we must locate our healthcare, homes and businesses in areas that have already been developed. To do otherwise is not only an irresponsible waste of taxpayer dollars, it robs future generations of their precious natural resources.