Today, at City Council, we discussed an item labeled the “Gold Belt,” which has become a major issue of concern amongst my constituents and in the media.

The Gold Belt itself is intended to be a growth management tool in terms of directing future Councils where to select future urban land.  The purpose is solely to help guide future urban growth.

The Gold Belt highlights lands presently zoned as agricultural, environmental or aggregate. These lands are protected from development under the current provincial policy statement. However, after the release of the Gold Belt concept, some major misconceptions I've heard is that the Gold Belt added policies that further restrict the uses of land within. This is simply not true.

Your current permissions will continue to be permitted into the future.

• If you own a home within this area, your home will not change.
• If you own a farm within this area, your farm will not change.
• If you own commercial or industrial property, you still have a right to build.
• If you own land that permitted for an estate lot subdivision, you can still proceed.

This is about the urban boundary and its ability to expand without changing the natural and unique feature of our rural villages.

After listening to constituents, the Ottawa Federation of Agriculture and farming community there was some confusion regarding the name of the belt. We as a Council decided to revise our previous motion and will revert to the original Rural Countryside label for these lands. Hopefully, this alleviates any uncertainties my residents have on the Gold belt concept.

I encourage you to visit my website  www.GeorgeDarouze.ca, where we are regularly posting information for public consultations. Please also feel free to reach out to my office via email at George.Darouze@ottawa.ca where my team and I are happy to respond to any questions.

Constituents who have concerns should also email the New Official Plan team at NewOP@ottawa.ca. All feedback sent to this account is reviewed by City planners working on the project, and I welcome you to include me on that correspondence. You can also register your comments through the Engage Ottawa website Engage Ottawa, which is a great resource for the public on upcoming consultations.

George Darouze

 Osgoode Ward 20 Councillor | Deputy Mayor