Why aren’t Official Plans worth the paper they’re printed on?

Working group of Golden Horseshoe councillors wants to deal proactively with development industry, Ontario Municipal Board

By Tim Kelly Aurora Banner

A number of local elected officials want a straight answer to a simple question: why aren’t their Official Plans worth the paper they’re printed on?

That issue kept coming back time and again during a working session Saturday organized by Aurora councillors Michael Thompson and Tom Mrakas that included municipal councillors from Newmarket, Georgina, Markham, Kitchener, Brantford, Cambridge and Welland.

The nine councillors bemoaned the constant rulings that, as Kitchener’s Yvonne Fernandes said, mean a decision by council is “smacked down in short order by the OMB (Ontario Municipal Board).

Mary Ann Grimaldi of Welland said, “We (municipalities) ultimately lose (at the OMB) because the developers are so wealthy.”

And Richard Carpenter of Brantford took it one step further when he said: “The development industry is running the province and we need to change that so it is being run by the people who are elected.”

Mrakas, who with Thompson, pushed for the working group and ultimately wants to hold a municipal summit in May with many more councillors in attendance, summed up everyone’s feelings.

“We want a say in where we want growth.”

The Town of Aurora has recently had its own issues with golf-course development after it was asked to pay $98 million to buy the Highland Gate lands to save the former golf course from development. That offer was rejected out of hand. The town and the developer are now headed for a showdown at the OMB.

While that formed part of the subtext for Saturday’s meeting, co-host councillor Thompson said there is much more at stake.

“We want to have a stronger adherence to the official plans that we create. Municipalities create official plans, the Province approves that plan, but at the end of the day, the OMB overturns decisions that adhere to the official plan,” he said.

The group is seeking strength in numbers with municipal colleagues in an appeal to the province to try to deal with the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) and the development industry in a proactive way.

It has yet to crystallize its goals but is hoping, with meetings scheduled over the next few months and a summit in May, to come up with a formal plan. The long-term goal is to make a presentation to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which includes all of Ontario’s municipal governments and to lobby the province.

Aurora councillor calls for OMB reform and development policy summit

By Teresa Latchford Aurora Banner January 14 2016

Aurora could lead the charge in demanding municipalities have more power on how they plan and enforce the vision for their communities.

Recently, the Ontario government gave the thumbs up to the Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, also known at Bill 73. Once rolled out, the act will allow municipalities to spend more dollars collected through development charges on transit and waste diversion services, which previously wasn’t allowed, protect and promote green spaces and give residents more say in how their communities grow, according to Newmarket-Aurora MPP Chris Ballard.

“What towns can spend development charges on is quite specific, but transit and waste is affected by growth so the expansion of the list makes sense,” Ballard said. “Although Aurora and Newmarket have done a good job when it comes to public consultation, the province wants to see public input more formalized.”

Most municipalities, with the exception of a few who have adopted a different system, receive a planning design or concept and then seek public input. However, these changes would flip the process and call for public consultation before a formal plan or design is submitted.

While the passing of the act is a good first step, municipalities should be looking for more, according to Aurora Councillor Tom Mrakas.

“We (municipalities) need to have the authority to enforce our official plans that we have spent a great deal of money on creating,” he said. “Our communities are beginning to lose what makes us unique because every development proposed seems to be asking us to change the vision we have for the community.”

In the planning process, a developer or landowner can request a change of zoning, for example from commercial to residential, as part of the development proposal. However, if the proposal does not fit with what the town has expected in that area, such as putting a residential neighbourhood in an industrial zone, the proposal can be rejected.

The developer does have the right to appeal the decision to the Ontario Municipal Board and if a solution is not met, a costly hearing could proceed.

“Municipalities should have the final say on how the town should be built,” Mrakas continued. “People shouldn’t be able to appeal just because they don’t like the decision town council has made.”

On Jan. 26, he will be calling on his fellow councillors to support him in requesting the provincial government review and reform the OMB, limiting its jurisdiction to questions of law or process.

His motion will also push for the OMB to uphold any planning decisions made by municipal councils unless they are contrary to the processes and rules set out in the legislation.

“It’s time to stand up and not request but demand change,” he said. “It is very frustrating to make a decision as a council only to have it overturned by the OMB whose members don’t know the municipality.”

Ballard said the issue of OMB reform is high on the municipal affairs and housing ministry’s to-do list and could be discussed as early as spring session.

“We want to make the process more predictable,” Ballard said. “Right now you just don’t know how the OMB will rule on any appeal. We want to give municipalities more power to solve these issues at the local level rather than going through an expensive hearing.”

To the north, the Town of Newmarket stood their ground in refusing the proposed development of the former Glenway Golf Course lands arguing the density and use of the lands didn’t fit the town’s official plan, but in a costly appeal, that decision was overturned by the OMB and the residential development was approved.

While Aurora has yet to make a decision on the Highland Gate development proposal, the developer has filed with the OMB because the town is past the decision-making deadline.

York Region municipalities aren’t alone as Oakville and Scugog Township will soon be dealing with golf course redevelopment issues.

As part of the push for more control over how municipalities are developed, Aurora Councillor Michael Thompson and Mrakas will also be asking town council to support their proposal to host a municipal summit on golf course redevelopment.

“Right now all of the municipalities are dealing with this issue individually, but there is strength in numbers,” Mrakas said. “I understand every situation is unique, but there have to be some overall policies we could apply.”

For the past two months the two councillors have been contacting other municipalities in the province and there is interest in attending a summit. The logistics won’t be worked out until council discusses and approves hosting the summit.

Council is set to discuss this motion at the Jan. 26 council meeting at town hall at 7 p.m.