Thursday February 26: AWARE SImcoe deputation about OMB
1. The process to develop a new Simcoe County Official Plan (SCOP) has been long and arduous. The Province refused to approve the 2008 SCOP because it failed to meet provincial policies. Therefore it was revised in 2012. AWARE Simcoe agrees with County Councillor Bill French’s assertion that it is actually a new Official Plan.
2. AWARE Simcoe supports some aspects of the SCOP such as directing growth to Primary Settlement Areas and protecting Natural Heritage and Greenlands.
3. Throughout the entire SCOP process AWARE Simcoe has endeavored to participate and bring public concerns to light. Unfortunately we have been thwarted at every stage of the process.
4. NO public meetings have been held since the 2008 Official Plan was created. Since then the County has made, and continues to make, major changes to the OP which AWARE Simcoe contends may well open the County up to developers and aggregate extractors. We further contend that these changes require public meetings. Former Simcoe County Planning Director Ian Bender identified 23 major changes in the 2012 SCOP that require public consultation under the Planning Act.
5. But the County lawyer says the OMB process in itself constitutes appropriate public meetings. “Roger Beaman, counsel for the County, submitted that there have been numerous public sessions related to this matter and there has been ample opportunity for the public to obtain information about the proposed new OP over the past several years.” [MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY MARY-ANNE SILLS AND SYLVIA SUTHERLAND ON APRIL 19, 2013 AND ORDER OF THE BOARD].
6. AWARE Simcoe and some citizens have Participant status before the OMB, and we have had representatives present for the whole hearing process. Our complaints about the miniscule role permitted to participants are addressed by County and developers’ lawyers with the contention that anyone is free to seek Party status at the OMB hearing. This would cost tens of thousands of dollars and expose people to having costs assessed against them.
7. The changes to the SCOP are so extensive that there are 5 Phases to this OMB process. Each Phase consists of a CLOSED EXPERTS meeting (no public allowed, no Participants allowed), followed by a Pre-Hearing Conference (PHC) which is immediately followed by a pseudo hearing on that same day where the changes agreed on in the closed expert meeting are approved.
8. At each phase numerous NEW changes to the SCOP are being proposed. The changes for each phase are not brought forward until the beginning of the phase – participants are allowed only one 15 minute statement (strictly enforced) throughout the 5 phases. So participants must either wait until after some phases are finalized or guess at what the future phases might be.
9. The issues/changes for each phase are negotiated in closed meetings — only “experts” (planners) are allowed — and compromises are made which are then presented to the board and rubber-stamped. The Board’s role is very minimal since the County lawyer guides the Board by preparing the Orders/Decisions. No public comment is allowed.
10. Even one developer’s own expert noted that the public should be consulted. “Mr. Robert Lehman, one of the planning experts in this Phase, requested that it be noted that it is his opinion that some form of public process is needed to ensure that members of the public can determine if any of the recommended changes impact their interests.” Second Expert Meeting report, Oct 17, 2014.
11. The changes being made to the SCOP are extensive and may have far-reaching implications that will affect communities throughout Simcoe County. Staff reports to County Council provide no explanation of the extent and implications of the changes to the SCOP made at this hearing to date. For example, Section 3.5.30 provided the framework for new development to be compatible with the attributes and assets that make a community unique which establishes a sense of place for its residents. The wording in the revised policy is completely different.
12. The documentation currently on the County website is massive and no one other than the lawyers and planners can be expected to sort out its true implications for the future of the municipalities in Simcoe County.
13. The latest Notice of Motion for Phase 3c Transportation making many more changes to the SCOP were proposed and rubber-stamped through a telephone conference call with the OMB on January 29, 2015. Registered Participants were not even allowed to listen in.
14. As noted in report CCW 15-047 there are thirteen Sections still under appeal. Several of these Sections (such as Agriculture, Rural, Greenlands, Healthy Communities, Resource Conservation, etc.) are of particular interest to AWARE Simcoe and other members of the public, yet we are prohibited from making comments to the Board.
Recommended Course of Action by our new County Council
New and even returning members of County Council may be surprised by the lack of political control being exercised over what is happening to your Official Plan under the OMB.
Based on our monitoring of the OMB hearings since March 2013, AWARE Simcoe recommends that County Council exercise due diligence and direct staff and legal counsel to provide:
– a chronology of events and a comprehensive list of all the changes to the SCOP which have resulted from the OMB hearing to date
– an explanation of how these changes will shape the future of the sixteen Simcoe County municipalities
AWARE Simcoe also strongly urges that public information sessions be held for dissemination of this information and to solicit feedback on the impact of changes made in the SEVEN YEARS since the ONLY public consultation for this Official Plan was held, in 2008.
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