County committee nixes Marshall call for OP public consultation

By Kate Harries AWARE News Network September 13 2012

In a narrow vote, members of Simcoe County’s corporate services committee voted 6-5 against public consultation on the county’s draft modified Official Plan. 

Sandy Agnew, chair of AWARE Simcoe’s subcommittee on growth, said he hopes the matter will be raised at county council on September 25 and the vote will be reversed.

“At least we have five county councillors so far who understand the importance of meaningful public involvement,” Agnew said, adding that he doesn’t believe that the general public is aware of what is in the Official Plan, or the impact it will have on residents and communities across the county.

A total of 295 people asked for public consultation in a petition set up by Environmental Defence, Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition and AWARE Simcoe.

But the majority of councillors expressed satisfaction that the county had received 100 written submissions from the public during a two-month comment period that ended August 22.  An anticipated report from Planning Director David Parks was not available because, he told committee, of the time being taken to analyze and chart the comments.

A motion to hold two public meetings in October was put forward by Penetanguishene Mayor Gerry Marshall and seconded by Midland Deputy Mayor Stephan Kramp.

Marshall said the public was consulted on 70 different projects in his community – from a dog park to sewage treatment and he’s found that “at the end of public consultation I left there smarter than when I arrived.”

He argued forcefully in favour of getting “charts and graphs” in front of the public, with planning staff and county councillors in attendance to handle questions.

There is no statutory requirement for public consultation which is deemed to have taken place prior to November, 2008 when the OP was approved by county council. 

 “I’m not opposed to public consultation,” said Springwater Mayor Linda Collins, who then questioned how further comments would be handled by planning staff.

Parks said holding public meetings could delay council approval of the Official Plan by four or five months because that’s how long it would take for staff to organize the meeting, process the information and have recommendations move through committee to county council. 

The plan then has to go to the Ontario Municipal Board, and councillors have already heard a hearing won’t be held until mid-2013 because Simcoe County is in line behind GTA regions that are also seeking OP approval. 

Parks stressed that the plan is essentially the same as the one approved by County Council in 2008, that the province refused to approve. He said changes are rooted in Infrastructure Minister Bob Chiarelli’s January 2012 legislation (Amendment 1).

Since then, the county and municipalities have worked with provincial officials to “insert” the legislation into the document, Parks said. “It was a made-in-Simcoe plan but they would provide guidance.”

Parks added that they have been “very careful not to put additional policy in.” He added that the public will have a chance to participate in the OMB process.

Commenting on the debate, Agnew noted local municipal councils and staff have worked hard over the summer to identify changes that they want to see in the Official Plan. “Mr. Park tries to give the impression that all changes are required by legislation. If that’s the case, what’s the point of getting any comment at all?”

AWARE Simcoe also worked hard to get feedback from its members, experts and other groups, but the mid-summer timing and the absence of any public debate or outreach by the county made it very difficult to properly analyze the draft Official Plan, Agnew commented.

Collingwood Deputy Mayor Rick Lloyd told the committee that he believes the OP approval process has been fair and transparent and argued against Marshall’s motion. 

Deputy Warden Harry Hughes said the county has been involved in the process for five years and public consultation was extensive prior to the 2008 county approval. He expressed concern the effect of the delay in getting an OP in place. In Oro-Medonte, the population increase was 1,800 between 2001 and 2006. In the last five years, a total of 47 new people moved there, he said. 

Collins said a public meeting would likely attract only the same people who have made written comments to make verbal comments, she said. “I don’t want to be known as a county council that is afraid to move forward and make a decision,” she added, referring to the county’s position on garbage.

Oro-Medonte Deputy Mayor Ralph Hough agreed.  “I don’t think we need those same people coming back and making those same comments,” he said. In any case, many may be satisfied when staff reports to next month’s committee meeting and provides answers to the comments. 

Warden Cal Patterson also said he thought any one who has concerns has made comments and a meeting would only hear from “the same people all over again.”

But Kramp said Midland council learned the hard way that agreeing to a staff recommendation against wide consultation because it’s not needed under statutory requirements can be costly. In an apparent reference to the controversy over a proposed recycling operation near the Martyrs’ Shrine, he noted that some extra public consultation could have saved a lot of money. 

He said that the estimate of an extra four months to allow for public meetings is “unbelievable.”

In concluding remarks, Marshall stressed that interaction with the public is an important aspect of county councillors’ role. 

The question was called.

In favour of public consultation: Penetanguishene Mayor Gerry Marshall, Midland DM Stephan Kramp, Severn Mayor Mike Burkett, Essa Mayor Terry Dowdall, Tiny DM George Lawrence.

Against public consultation: Warden Cal Patterson, Clearview Mayor Ken Ferguson, Springwater Mayor Linda Collins, O-M DM Ralph Hough, Collingwood DM Rick Lloyd, Adjala-Tosorontio Mayor Tom Walsh. (DW Hughes only has a vote on committees in the absence of the warden.)