Simcoe County official plan process comes under fire
By Andrew Philips Orillia Packet & Times
Some Simcoe County municipal leaders are upset by what they see as a less-than-transparent process regarding work on the county’s official plan.
Springwater Township Mayor Bill French said he’s worried the general public isn’t fully engaged in the process.
“It’s supposed to be transparent,” French said. “Is there any way we can engage the public and bring everybody up to speed without interfering with the process? We should bring the public up to date in where we’re at in terms of the official plan for the county.”
County staff plan to seek a legal opinion to find out what they can share with the public at this time since parts of the plan are under appeal.
“I know it’s painful and confusing for the public,” said Debbie Korolnek, the county’s general manager of engineering, planning and environment.
“But this is the process we are in. We will go to legal and find out what council can and can’t do.”
Although the official plan was adopted by council in 2008, it has been under appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), with the OMB granting partial approval of the plan, including specified texts and schedules, in April 2013.
The formal OMB hearing began a month prior to partial approval with the first pre-hearing conference.
David Park is director of planning, development and tourism for the county.
“Because of the scale and extent of the parties and partners involved, it does take a lot of time,” he said, noting the 135 appellants, who have appealed certain sections of the plan since the process began, have run the gamut from individual landowners to large corporations.
“It all depends on who comes to the table. We’re down to about 80 (appellants) right now.”
Parks said the county always tries to deal with appellant issues through mediation first rather than entering litigation.
To date, there have been about 10 pre-hearing conferences. Three more meeting dates are scheduled so far for this year, with two in March (5 and 6) and another May 8.
“I’d like to think we’ll be done in 2015, but I’m not so sure,” Korolnek said. “It’s a monster process and now this is the third council dealing with this issue.”
Midland Mayor Gord McKay said many are frustrated by how long the process has taken since it affects the official plans of member municipalities that must abide by the overall county plan.
“This has taken the better part of a decade,” he said, noting the county is spending about $300,000 a year on legal fees to deal with the issue.
“I see the cost, I see the distance. There’s no transparency to this.”
Ramara Township Mayor Basil Clarke went further, calling the process a “disgrace.”
“We have to look at informing the people where we’re at,” he said.
Innisfil Deputy Mayor Lynn Dollin said the public could be further disillusioned with a public meeting since they still wouldn’t be involved in the actual process.
“I don’t want to create the expectation that the public will get to comment,” she said.
An official plan describes municipal council policies on how land should be used and helps ensure future planning and development will meet specific needs of each member community. Municipalities are required by the Provincial Municipal Act to review their official plans regularly.
The document deals mainly with where new housing, industry, offices and shops will be located and what services, including roads, water mains, sewers, parks and schools, will be needed.
But the overall Simcoe County plan shows ample signs of nearing fruition, according to staff.
“Some of the larger issues like the growth settlement section of the official plan have been settled,” Korolnek said, noting that section covers areas such as setting the parameters on how to protect wetlands and farmland.
“That’s a significant piece of the puzzle.”
And in the end, Korolnek said, everyone will benefit since the county will have a multi-faceted official plan covering a wide range of developmental issues.
She added: “At the end of the day, we will have a comprehensive document.”
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