Jordan StevensonFor Port Hope Mayor
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Platform pillar 02

Growth Without Losing Port Hope

Grow deliberately and keep Port Hope distinct

Small-town character is an asset, not a veto. Renters, younger families, new residents, affordable housing and supportive housing belong here. Development should be judged on servicing, design, safety and fit, not fear of who may live there.

The short version

At a glance

What changes first

  1. Focus new housing and investment on serviced or previously developed land wherever practical.
  2. Create clearer paths for Additional Residential Units, thoughtful infill and viable heritage reuse.
  3. Publish objective design, servicing, drainage, access and approval standards.

Who pays

Growth should pay its fair share through development charges, project agreements and infrastructure contributions. Existing taxpayers should not absorb avoidable costs created by new development.

What success looks like

  • More housing choices are created.
  • Approval timelines improve.
  • Vacant buildings return to useful occupancy.
  • More development occurs on serviced or previously developed land.

What Jordan supports

  • Additional Residential Units, thoughtful infill, duplexes and triplexes where conditions support them
  • Upper-floor downtown homes, adaptive reuse, smaller and accessible homes, mixed-income development and workforce housing
  • Community-integrated and scattered-site supportive housing with portable services
  • A preserve, reuse, adapt, salvage and publicly document sequence for significant heritage

What Jordan will not support

  • Unrestricted as-of-right density everywhere
  • Undefined neighbourhood character used as a veto
  • Generic subdivisions that shift infrastructure costs to existing residents
  • Leaving heritage buildings in indefinite limbo until they deteriorate

Concrete commitments

What changes

  • Publish objective rules for height, drainage, trees, parking, fire access, streetscape, infrastructure and neighbouring properties
  • Track approval times and remove avoidable barriers on already serviced land
  • Require council to identify a viable path when it rejects a serious heritage proposal
  • Prevent demolition by neglect and establish clear decision timelines
  • Require developer-funded, publicly accessible digital preservation when major alteration or demolition of a significant property is approved

How it works

The mechanisms behind the position

Community-integrated housing

Make ordinary homes and portable support the default where the resident's needs allow it.

  • Rent supplements, ordinary apartments, Additional Residential Units and small mixed developments
  • Portable case management and mobile addiction and mental-health support
  • Landlord support, damage and vacancy protection
  • Conflict mediation and tenancy stabilization

Public digital heritage

When major alteration or demolition is approved, developer-funded preservation should create a public experience rather than a forgotten archive.

  • LiDAR or laser scanning, photogrammetry and detailed 3D models
  • Browser tours, VR-compatible experiences and on-site augmented-reality overlays
  • Historical photographs, plans and oral histories
  • Library, archives and municipal web access
  • Open durable formats and funded long-term hosting and maintenance

Measure the shape of growth

Report the amount of agricultural land protected and the share of development occurring on serviced or previously developed land, alongside unit and approval measures.

Responsibility

Who controls what

Jurisdiction sets the route to action. It does not end the conversation.

Port Hope controls

  • Local zoning, planning processes, building approvals and servicing decisions
  • Additional Residential Unit rules and municipal heritage decisions
  • Municipal infrastructure sequencing and local public access to heritage records

Cooperation required

  • Northumberland County housing and social services
  • Provincial planning law and housing programs
  • Developers, landlords, support providers, conservation authorities, library and archives

Measure progress

Residents should be able to check the result

  • Units enabled by type, including Additional Residential Units
  • Approval timelines and servicing barriers removed
  • Vacant buildings returned to use
  • Heritage properties stabilized, reused or given a clear decision
  • Public digital-preservation projects delivered and maintained

Keep reading

The same governing standards apply across the platform

Authority must be assigned clearly. Responsibility for the resident's experience must not disappear between institutions.

No wrong door. Show the work. Fair rules and meaningful recourse. One Port Hope. Change course when the facts change.

How I'll GovernStraight Answers

Help improve the platform

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