A longstanding dispute over land needed for growth in the Peterborough region has flared up again, with Peterborough County accusing the City of Peterborough of violating a confidentiality agreement governing provincially facilitated negotiations.
On Thursday (July 23), the city issued a media release announcing that representatives of the city, county, and the Township of Cavan Monaghan had attended their first meeting with a facilitator appointed by Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Hours later, the county issued a brief and sharply worded response saying the city’s public announcement was contrary to an agreement signed by the participating municipalities.
“I am very disappointed that Mayor Leal has decided to issue a release contrary to the agreement,” said Peterborough County Warden Bonnie Clark in a media release. “We take agreements and confidentiality as paramount.”
“To my knowledge, there has been no proposal put forward by the city, and this release (from the City of Peterborough) seeks to undermine the agreed-upon collaborative process.”
The city’s media release said the province had appointed a facilitator from the Office of the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator in response to the city’s request regarding its future employment and residential land requirements.
According to the city, it and Cavan Monaghan Township — one of the eight lower-tier municipalities that make up Peterborough County — have completed independent land needs studies prepared by third-party consultants.
Describing the studies as confidential, the city said they “provide critical data to support informed discussions regarding future growth opportunities within the region.”
The city said “representatives from all participating municipalities and stakeholders” attended Thursday’s meeting to review and share the findings of the land needs studies, with more meetings planned over the coming months to review the studies “and discuss potential options for accommodating future growth.”
However, the county said Thursday’s session was the first and only meeting held so far and that only the city had presented its land needs study.
“The county and township have not yet had a similar opportunity,” the county stated.
The county said it would not provide any further information because the municipalities are involved in negotiations led by the provincial facilitator and are bound by a confidential process.
“The county will abide by the terms of the agreement that all parties signed,” the county’s media release stated.
The city’s public announcement acknowledged the confidentiality requirement, stating that discussions would remain private so participants could engage in “open and constructive dialogue.”
The city did not reveal any details about the discussions, but said “This collaborative process aligns with both provincial and local priorities by supporting responsible growth, increasing housing opportunities, creating employment lands, fostering economic development, and ensuring communities are positioned to meet future needs.”
“Our focus as a region is on enabling growth, housing construction, employment lands for job creation, and opportunities for residents,” said Peterborough mayor Jeff Leal in the city’s release.
“Peterborough is committed to finding solutions that contribute to shared economic growth and long-term sustainability. I want to personally thank the Province of Ontario for its strong leadership on this critical need for housing and economic prosperity in the Peterborough region.”
The city added that any mutually supported proposal requiring provincial approval would eventually be made public through a future community engagement and approval process.
According to the Ontario government, the Office of the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator provides impartial facilitation services or acts as a negotiator for the province. Its work can include disputes involving growth management, land use, infrastructure planning, municipal governance, and environmental protection.
The new “facilitated discussions” appear to be the latest attempt to resolve a dispute that has persisted for decades, particularly over the availability of serviced employment land near the city’s western and southern boundaries with Cavan Monaghan Township.
In 2017, city, county, and township staff developed a memorandum of understanding under the guidance of a provincial facilitator that proposed transferring around 4,140 acres from Cavan Monaghan Township to the city. The land was intended to accommodate future employment and residential growth, with the township and county to receive compensation over 25 years.
Peterborough city council declined to proceed under the proposed agreement’s financial terms. Council directed the city’s chief administrative officer to ask the province to act on a boundary adjustment, stating that a mutually agreeable solution had not been reached despite extensive negotiations and that the proposed compensation for the township and county was too high.
The issue resurfaced in late 2021, when then-Cavan Monaghan mayor Scott McFadden proposed a much smaller boundary adjustment involving five properties comprising approximately 138 hectares of employment land south of the North Monaghan Parkway and west of Airport Road. The proposed transfer excluded airport lands and residential properties.
Peterborough County council endorsed entering negotiations over the proposal, subject to the approval of Cavan Monaghan council. The county’s conditions included requiring the transferred properties to be designated as employment lands in the city’s new official plan.
At the time, the county and local economic development officials argued the Peterborough region did not have enough appropriately located and serviced employment land to respond to potential investors.
The city’s 2021 land needs assessment projected that an additional 110 hectares of employment land would be needed to accommodate 3,300 jobs outside existing employment areas by 2051. The assessment said new employment areas would have to be evaluated based on access to municipal services, highways and goods-movement routes, the availability of different parcel sizes, and their proximity to sensitive land uses.
During his mayoral election campaign in 2022, Leal promised to complete the annexation of lands from Cavan Monaghan Township. With less than a month before the nomination period closes on August 21 for the October municipal election, he has not yet declared whether he will run for a second term.
