MY PLAN
Port Hope is facing a tough financial reality. The cost of maintaining our infrastructure and public facilities is rising, and residents can’t keep carrying more of the burden alone.
We need to get our house in order by fixing the fundamentals: taxes and housing. Residents can’t be taxed out of their homes or kept from living here because there are no affordable options for young families, hourly workers, retirees, and seniors wanting to age in place.
Below is my plan. Each idea works with the others to create a clear and self-sustaining plan to bring financial relief to our residents by expanding our industrial tax base, provide flexible housing options, and create sound business cases before tax dollars are spent.
Farm to Market Economy
Grow it here. Process it here. Keep the money here.
Agriculture is a $60 million industry in Port Hope but, the value created on our farms leaves the community. Farmers grow the product here, then send it somewhere else to be processed, packaged, stored or prepared for market.
I want to change that.
As Mayor, I will work with Council, farmers and the agricultural industry to build a stronger agricultural economy from the farm gate to the consumer.
That means:
Modernize the rules so farmers can more easily expand, diversify and establish agriculture-related businesses, and make permitted agricultural severances clearer and easier to navigate where provincial rules allow them.
Build the missing links by identifying the right locations and recruiting processing, packaging, storage, distribution and other agricultural businesses.
Keep more agricultural value in Port Hope by connecting farms, processors, restaurants, retailers and tourism into a stronger local supply chain.
The benefit extends beyond farmers. More processing here means more local jobs. More businesses mean a broader business tax base helping to pay for roads, infrastructure and municipal services. More products produced and sold locally strengthen our restaurants, tourism businesses and local food economy.
Bottom line: Port Hope shouldn't just grow agricultural products. We should keep more of the jobs, investment and economic value they create right here.
Lakeshore Agri-Tourism
Protect the landscape by putting it to work.
Lakeshore Road is one of Port Hope’s most beautiful rural landscapes. Its farms, historic properties, Lake Ontario views and Wesleyville Village tell an important part of our story.
I don't want to see that landscape slowly consumed by conventional development. I want to give it another economic future.
Building on our Farm to Market Economy, I want Port Hope to protect Lakeshore Road as a cultural landscape while creating new opportunities for farming and agri-tourism—a place where farming, food, heritage, nature and tourism reinforce one another.
That means:
Grow a new generation of farms. Support specialty, small-scale and regenerative agriculture, market gardens, orchards, vineyards and other viable agricultural businesses that keep land actively farmed.
Make farm experiences easier to create. Modernize municipal rules for appropriate farm-gate retail, tastings, workshops, seasonal events, farm stays and other agri-tourism experiences while keeping farming the primary use of agricultural land.
Create a Lakeshore experience. Work toward a safe, low-impact walking and cycling network connecting farms, heritage sites, Wesleyville and other destinations, with wayfinding and routes that protect rather than suburbanize the character of Lakeshore Road.
Teach the next generation to farm. Pursue partnerships with farmers, agricultural organizations, educational institutions and senior governments to create hands-on training in regenerative agriculture, farm entrepreneurship and land stewardship—with the potential for a demonstration or farm-incubator program.
The result would not be another subdivision or commercial strip. It would be a working landscape—one that protects, respects, and celebrates agricultural land and rural character because farming it has economic value.
Visitors would cycle the road, visit a farm, stay overnight at a farm stay or small rural accommodation, learn how food is grown, buy local products and finish their day eating that food in a Port Hope restaurant.
And farmers would have more ways to make a living from their land without having to sell it for development.
Bottom line: protect Lakeshore Road by making its agricultural, natural and heritage character part of Port Hope's economic future.
Next Gen Farmers
Learn it. Lease it. Build it. Own it.
For many new farmers, the biggest barrier isn't ambition or ability. It's getting access to enough land and capital to get started. Ontario organizations working on farmland access identify rising land costs and insecure short-term leases as major barriers for new farmers, while Farm Credit Canada specifically offers financing aimed at helping young farmers establish businesses and build credit histories.
I want Port Hope to create a pathway to help new farmers get started.
As Mayor, I would work with Council, local farmers, agricultural organizations, educational partners and lenders to create an incubator program with agricultural and land-access partners where aspiring farmers can learn, gain secure access to land, build a real agricultural business and prepare themselves to eventually operate a farm of their own.
That means:
Learn it. Partner with experienced farmers and agricultural organizations to provide hands-on training in regenerative agriculture, farm management, marketing and agricultural entrepreneurship.
Lease it. Partner with farmers, land trusts and agricultural organizations to secure long-term access to farmland and make appropriately sized plots available to new farmers. Where a partnership cannot meet the need, consider municipal land acquisition only where a business case demonstrates clear public value and the program can be legally structured.
Build it. Give participants enough time and stability to develop customers, equipment, production experience, business equity and a credit history instead of forcing them to make a massive land purchase before their business is proven.
Own it. Partner with farm organizations, retiring farmers and agricultural lenders to help successful participants move from the incubator into a larger farm operation of their own.
The public benefit is bigger than helping individual farmers. It keeps agricultural land productive, develops the next generation of Port Hope's agricultural workforce, creates new local businesses and feeds directly into the Farm to Market Economy and Lakeshore Agri-Tourism.
Bottom line: don't wait for the next generation of Port Hope farmers to appear. Help them get started.
Manufacturing Growth
Start with those that chose Port Hope.
Port Hope already has manufacturers that employ local people, invest in our community and contribute to our tax base.
Before we go looking around the world for the next employer, we should make sure the businesses already here can make their next investment in Port Hope.
The Municipality has started a Business Retention and Expansion program to sit down directly with manufacturers and understand what is holding them back—whether that is land, infrastructure, workforce, approvals, supply chains or something outside municipal control.
As Mayor, I will make sure we act on what we learn.
That means:
Turn listening into action. Complete the manufacturing BR&E and Supply Chain Readiness work and develop a clear action plan around the barriers businesses identify.
Help companies expand here. Where the barrier is municipal—land, infrastructure, zoning or approvals—we will look for practical ways to remove it. Where another government or agency controls the issue, Port Hope will help businesses navigate it and advocate for solutions.
Connect local companies to new opportunities. Work with industry, colleges, workforce partners and senior governments to help Port Hope manufacturers compete for opportunities in advanced manufacturing, energy, agri-food and other sectors that build on our existing strengths.
When an existing business wants to invest millions of dollars and create jobs here, the Municipality should understand what it will take to keep that investment in Port Hope.
Bottom line: before we recruit the next manufacturer, let's make sure the manufacturers we already have can grow here.
Investment-Ready Lands
Identify industrial land. Make it ready for growth.
Port Hope needs more businesses helping to pay for the roads, infrastructure and municipal services our community relies on. But manufacturers cannot invest here if we don't have places where they can actually build.
Port Hope has already begun the work of identifying its future employment lands. The next step is turning the best opportunities into investment-ready sites.
As Mayor, I will work with Council, landowners, the County, Province and private sector to move Port Hope from identifying employment land to making it ready for investment.
That means:
Choose the best opportunities first. Use the Employment Lands Strategy to identify the sites with the strongest combination of location, infrastructure feasibility, environmental suitability and potential taxpayer return.
Make priority sites investment-ready. Establish the zoning, servicing plans, transportation access, environmental work, utilities and other information manufacturers need before making a major investment decision. Where eligible, work with property owners to pursue Ontario's Site Readiness and Investment Ready: Certified Site programs. Ontario's programs are specifically designed to reduce uncertainty for companies selecting industrial sites.
Target industries that fit Port Hope. Use the BR&E and Supply Chain Readiness work to pursue manufacturers that strengthen industries already important to our economy—including advanced manufacturing, agri-food and energy-related supply chains—rather than chasing every possible development.
Protect taxpayers while unlocking investment. Major servicing can be expensive. We will pursue provincial and federal funding, development contributions and private partnerships rather than expecting existing homeowners to carry the cost alone. Any significant municipal investment should demonstrate the private investment, jobs and new tax assessment it is expected to unlock. We will not spend millions servicing land simply hoping someone comes. Public investment will follow a business case showing a reasonable return for Port Hope taxpayers.
Bottom line: Port Hope can't attract serious industrial investment with a map and a vacant field. We need land that businesses can actually build on.
Grow the Town First
Put new homes where the roads, pipes and services already are.
Port Hope needs more housing. But where we build matters just as much as what we build.
Spreading growth outward can mean more roads, more pipes and more infrastructure for taxpayers to maintain. At the same time, we already have a serviced urban area where more people can live closer to businesses, recreation, transit connections and municipal services.
I want to grow Port Hope in a way that adds homes while strengthening our finances and protecting our countryside.
As Mayor, I will work with Council to prioritize most new housing growth in the serviced urban area before pushing significant residential growth into the hamlets and countryside.
That means:
Build more housing in Town. Prioritize purpose-built rental apartments, starter homes, condos, townhomes and neighbourhood-compatible housing where roads, water, wastewater and municipal services can support it.
Create more choices for every stage of life. Encourage smaller and accessible homes for seniors who want to downsize, rental housing for workers and young people, family housing, and partnerships that create affordable and non-profit housing the private market will not deliver on its own.
Make growth pay its way. Coordinate housing decisions with infrastructure capacity and compare the new tax and utility revenue growth will generate against the infrastructure and long-term municipal costs it creates. Pursue provincial, federal and developer funding before asking existing homeowners to carry those costs.
This doesn’t mean no growth in the hamlets or countryside. It means significant growth should go first where Port Hope can accommodate it most efficiently, while our rural areas remain focused on agriculture and rural economic development.
Bottom line: grow Port Hope where we can afford to serve it; more homes, more taxpayers and utility users, without needlessly building kilometres of new infrastructure.
Flexible Living
Clearer rules. Faster decisions. More housing choices.
Not every new home needs another subdivision.
Sometimes it is an apartment in a basement. Sometimes it is a large house converted into two smaller homes. Sometimes it is a rental building or a smaller condo development that gives a senior somewhere to downsize.
Port Hope has already changed its zoning rules to allow more Additional Residential Units and innovative housing. The next step is making those rules easier to actually use.
As Mayor, I will work with Council and staff to make the kinds of housing Port Hope needs easier and faster to build without lowering safety, environmental or heritage standards.
That means:
Make rental housing easier to build. Create clear rules, predictable requirements and faster municipal processes for appropriately located purpose-built rental apartments and other housing that already fits Port Hope's planning objectives.
Make downsizing possible. Remove unnecessary barriers to smaller houses, condos, townhomes and accessible apartments so seniors can find a home that suits the next stage of their life without having to leave Port Hope.
Turn existing properties into more homes. Make ARUs easier to navigate and create a clear pathway for converting suitable larger homes into legal duplexes, triplexes and small multiplexes—with distinct municipal addresses such as 10A, 10B and 10C where appropriate.
Grow without making parking worse. More housing has to work with the neighbourhood around it. Parking capacity, street width, snow clearing and emergency access will be considered when housing rules are modernized rather than pretending one parking standard works everywhere. Port Hope is already dealing with real winter-maintenance and emergency-access problems caused by on-street parking.
We don't need to choose between growth and good planning. We need rules that distinguish between a real community impact and an unnecessary barrier.
Bottom line: sometimes the fastest and most affordable way to create more housing is to make better use of the homes, lots and infrastructure we already have.
Vibrant Downtown
Homes upstairs. Stronger businesses downstairs.
Some of Port Hope's best opportunities for new housing are already standing on Walton Street.
Many of our downtown buildings have upper floors that could become apartments or have apartments in need of renovation but, renovating heritage buildings can be expensive and complicated. At the same time, small businesses downstairs are dealing with their own affordability pressures.
I want to use one investment to tackle both problems.
Port Hope already offers incentives for upper-storey conversions, renovations, and building improvements through its Downtown Community Improvement Plan. As Mayor, I will work with Council to strengthen those tools, so we get more housing, healthier heritage buildings and a stronger downtown from the money we invest.
That means:
Bring empty upper floors back to life. Expand the existing downtown incentive program with tools such as grants, low-interest or revolving loans and coordinated municipal approvals that make difficult upper-storey apartment conversions and renovations more financially achievable.
Use partnerships to build downtown housing. Identify appropriate underused municipal and private properties and invite competitive private, non-profit and public-private partnerships to create mixed-use housing while protecting heritage, public interests and taxpayer value.
Plan parking as a downtown system. More downtown residents cannot come at the expense of snow clearing, emergency access or functioning streets. Instead of requiring every heritage building to solve parking alone, look at municipal lots, shared parking, walking connections and actual overnight demand as part of a coordinated downtown parking strategy.
Protect the heritage streetscape. Strengthen downtown heritage and design guidelines so new buildings and major additions fit the character of Walton Street at street level—respecting the scale, rhythm, storefront proportions, window patterns and architectural details of neighbouring heritage buildings. Where additional height is appropriate, step upper floors back so the historic streetscape remains the dominant experience from the sidewalk.
The goal isn't to change what makes downtown Port Hope special. It is to protect that character by keeping heritage buildings occupied, maintained and economically viable, while ensuring new development fits respectfully into the streetscape.
We can add housing without sacrificing heritage. Preserve and reuse the buildings that define downtown Port Hope and require new development to contribute positively to the heritage streetscape rather than overpower it.
Bottom line: one investment can create a home upstairs, support a business downstairs, restore a heritage building and put another customer on Walton Street.
Remove the Friction
Clear rules. Fewer special permissions. Make reasonable things easier to do.
Too often, residents, farmers and businesses have to ask Town Hall for a variance, exemption or special approval to do something that could be permitted through clear rules instead.
That costs people time and money. It also creates uncertainty because the answer depends on another application and another decision.
I want Port Hope to move away from unnecessary case-by-case permission and toward clear rules that tell people what they can do from the beginning.
As Mayor, I will work with Council and staff to modernize our by-laws so common, appropriate and low-risk activities can happen as-of-right wherever municipal and provincial law allows.
That means:
More as-of-right permissions: if an activity can be safely managed through clear standards, permit it directly instead of forcing an applicant to ask for an exception.
Place-based regulation: where Town, Hamlet and Countryside conditions are genuinely different, write rules that fit those conditions instead of making people seek relief from a one-size-fits-all rule.
3. Keep important protections: environmental, safety, heritage, groundwater and other legitimate protections remain; the target is unnecessary discretion and repetitive approval, not standards themselves.
The goal is not deregulation for its own sake. It is to replace unnecessary discretion with clear expectations and predictable rules, while preserving the protections residents expect from their municipality.
Bottom line: If something is reasonable, appropriate and can be governed by clear standards, people shouldn't have to keep asking for special permission to do it.
Clear Accountability
Make the case. Show your work. Prove the result.
Big decisions can affect taxes, services and Port Hope’s finances for years.
Residents should be able to understand why a major decision is being recommended, what it is expected to cost, what other options were considered and what result it is supposed to achieve.
And accountability should not end when Council votes.
As Mayor, I will work with Council to strengthen Port Hope’s existing accountability and transparency rules so major decisions are clearly explained before they are approved and reviewed afterward to see if they delivered.
That means:
Make the case before we commit. For major new spending, programs, staffing, service changes and capital projects, the public report will explain Port Hope’s role, the problem being solved, the best available estimate of the capital, operating and long-term costs where they matter, the reasonable alternatives, the expected result and how success will be measured. Major public decisions will also be brought forward with enough information and notice for residents to understand what is proposed and provide input where public consultation is required or appropriate.
Approve a clear commitment — not a blank cheque. The approval will clearly state what is being approved, how much it is expected to cost, where the money will come from, what result is expected and what authority is being given. A general funding amount will not, by itself, approve an unidentified net-new permanent position or a materially different project, program or service.
Be open by default. The information Council relies on to make a public decision should, wherever lawful and practical, be available with that decision. Major reports will include a plain-language summary explaining what is being proposed, why it matters, what it is expected to cost and how residents may be affected. If residents repeatedly have to file Freedom of Information requests for the same type of information that can legally be released, Port Hope will review whether that information should become routinely available.
Get new approval when something major changes. Staff will remain free to manage within approved budgets, contingencies, project plans and delegated authority. But if the cost, scope, staffing, service level or long-term obligation changes beyond established limits, the change must go back to the person or body that has the legal authority to approve it before Port Hope commits to something materially different.
Come back and answer: Did it work? When a major new program, investment or service change is approved, the decision will identify how and when the results will be reported back. That review will compare what was promised with what actually happened — what it cost, what result was achieved and whether it should continue, change or stop.
This standard will apply to major municipal commitments, not routine purchases or day-to-day work. Council will set clear financial and policy limits so accountability does not become unnecessary delay or paperwork. Emergencies, lawful confidentiality and situations where early disclosure could harm Port Hope’s interests will remain exceptions.
Nothing in this standard will change the powers or duties that provincial law gives to the Mayor, Council or municipal officers.
Bottom line: before Port Hope makes a major commitment, explain the problem, the cost, the options and the expected result. Be clear about what is being approved. And afterward, show residents whether it actually delivered.