City of Pickering Official Plan- Edition 6

Potential Airport Site
In the early 1970s, the federal government expropriated
approximately 7500 hectares of land in Pickering, Markham
and Uxbridge to build a new international airport for
Toronto. In Pickering, these lands are located generally
north of Highway 7, and west of Brock Road.
For various reasons, including prolonged local opposition,
plans to construct the airport were abandoned. The federal
government nevertheless maintained ownership of the lands,
to protect the option for a possible international airport in
the future.
In late 1995, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority
(GTAA) was established to take over the management of
Toronto’s Pearson Airport from the federal government.
The GTAA has also expressed an interest in taking over
responsibility for other airports and airport sites in the
GTA, including the Pickering site.
In 1996, in response to requests by the GTAA, the Regional
Municipality of Durham and the Regional Municipality of
York, to protect the Pickering site for use as a possible
future airport, the federal Minister of Transport undertook a
number of initiatives including:
the preparation of an “Order-in-Council” to
declare the federal lands in Pickering as an airport
site;
the preparation of an “Airport Zoning
Regulation” to protect the site and surrounding
lands from being developed or used in a manner
that would be incompatible with the safe
operation of an airport;
the preparation of new N.E.F. (noise exposure
forecast) contours;
a re-examination of the current Provincial Zoning
Order that covers the lands and surrounding area;
and
the completion of a Ground Access (Pre-Feasibility)
Study.
PICKERING OFFICIAL PLAN EDITION 6: Chapter Two -- Planning Framework 32