Rework OMB’s powers: critics

Appeal to OMB ‘waste of time’
By Laurie Watt Barrie Advance Septmebrer 3 2013
Ontario needs to review the mandate of the Ontario Municipal Board, local ratepayers and politicians say.
The quasi-judicial planning appeal body ­— made up of appointees who can approve developments large and small — is expensive and unnecessary, long-time Coun. Barry Ward said. “Municipal councils should be able to make their own final decisions,” said Ward, who chairs the city’s development services committee.
“Even if matters aren’t appealed to the OMB, there is always that threat. Municipal councils should be able to make decisions on whether something is right or wrong without compromising themselves because ‘it might be appealed to the OMB and we’ll get something worse.’
“There’s already an appeal mechanism if local residents don’t like a decision; it’s called an election.”
Mayor Jeff Lehman was a bit more tempered, as the government works to improve the planning appeal board.
“Fundamentally, decisions that affect a community belong to the members of that community and their elected representatives,” he said. “While appeal bodies can be effective, reform of the OMB is needed.”
At this month’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference, Municipal Affairs Minister Linda Jeffrey said the public and politicians agree the OMB rules can be complex and delays can be frustrating.
“This frequently contributes to conflicts between municipalities, developers and community groups. Our government wants to address those concerns,” she added.
Midhurst Ratepayers’ Association president David Strachan said the OMB isn’t a place for concerned citizens.
On Aug. 6, the OMB dismissed the 400-member association’s appeal of Simcoe County’s official plan, which approved the Midhurst Secondary Plan that adds 10,000 homes to community.
“I would recommend any public pressure (groups) not bother with the OMB, because it’s a waste of time,” Strachan said, adding it has a history of siding with developers.
In 2006, the OMB approved Park Place, against the wishes of Barrie council and a coalition of south-end manufacturers. Centre Corp. argued retail belonged on the industrially-zoned Molson Park site because retail had taken over the other three corners of the interchange.
Ward said the province has tried to make the OMB more respectful of local decisions, but the Park Place appeal predated those reforms.
“Municipal denials of employment land rezonings can no longer be appealed to the OMB. Had that change been made a year earlier, Barrie council’s decision not to allow the rezoning of the former Molson Park from industrial would have stood,” he explained.
In December 2007, the OMB approved the Big Bay Point Resort, after a series of prehearing conferences between July 2005 and a lengthy hearing with almost 50 witnesses in the fall of 2007.
“Costs can run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps in the millions, and it is unlikely your average citizen is going to be any more comfortable about going to the OMB as he or she is about going to court,” said Ward.