Belleville Official Plan Review Background Report

This Background Report serves as the foundational document for the City of Belleville’s Official Plan Review. It will provide a discussion of issues and highlight/identify policy areas for the Policy Direction Report.

The primary goal is to update the City’s land-use policies to ensure they align with new Provincial legislation, respond to the current housing crisis, and integrate recent local studies.

The report reviews how Belleville will manage its urban boundary, density, and housing diversity for the next 25 years and identifies several critical areas where Belleville’s current planning framework requires modernization to meet the needs of a growing community.

“Missing Middle” housing

The City is shifting focus toward “gentle density” to address affordability and supply.

• Four units as-of-right: Belleville has committed to allowing up to four residential units per lot in urban areas as part of its Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) initiatives.
• Missing Middle focus: New policies will encourage housing types that are “missing” from the current landscape, such as duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, and mid-rise apartments.
• Density caps: The current maximum density of 115 units per hectare is identified as a barrier to development, particularly for mixed-use projects and major corridors.

Updated growth projections to 2051

Belleville is expected to grow significantly faster than previously anticipated.

The City is now planning for a “reference scenario” of 75,200 residents by 2051. To meet this growth, development must average 350 units annually, a significant increase from the 200 units per year seen between 2006 and 2021. Projections suggest a need for approximately 41,000 jobs by 2051, primarily in the commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors.

Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) 2024

The report highlights the need to conform with the PPS 2024, which replaced previous provincial planning documents in October 2024.

• Settlement boundaries: Expansions can now be considered at any time rather than only during a Municipal Comprehensive Review.
• Employment lands: The definition of employment areas has been narrowed to exclude most office and institutional uses unless they are associated with primary employment.
• Water/sewer reallocation: New policies allow the City to reallocate unused municipal servicing capacity to support increased housing supply.

The review specifically focuses on integrating ongoing studies for key geographic areas:

• Bell Blvd & North Front St – Transforming commercial corridors into vibrant, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly districts with residential options.
• Loyalist West – Updating the 2010 Secondary Plan to accommodate over 6,000 new residential units and integrated transportation.
• City Centre – Strengthening intensification policies and removing “red tape” like the 45-degree angular plane requirement for mid-rise buildings.