MZO for 900-unit development in Beeton gains New Tecumseth Council’s approval

By Sam Odrowski New Tecumseth Times

Council approved a Minister Zoning Order (MZO) application from Flato Developments for a project in Beeton last Monday, with conditions attached to meet the Town’s planning goals.

The conditions include the provision of affordable or attainable housing for seniors, as the development includes 400 units of seniors’ rental apartments, in addition to 173 street townhouses, 40 semi-detached units and 297 single detached homes.

The motion to support the MZO was approved 7-3 at last Monday’s Council meeting and will now be reviewed by the County of Simcoe before reaching the Province.

However, some Councillors had concerns around the municipality’s authority over Flato’s MZO application, as the Province does not issue conditional approvals.

“You can market this stuff and you can sell it with whatever jargon you want to call it, you can call it affordable, attainable, achievable,” said Ward 2 Councillor Michael Beattie.

“I think we have much better bang for our buck building 100 seniors housing units ourselves versus signing onto 1,000 units with only 100 as affordable. Instead we endorsed the developers plan, whatever that may be, and when asked for conditions the only condition we seem to be offering is asking them to make a commitment [for affordable seniors housing],” he said.

Beattie added that his comment isn’t a slight towards developers.

“I believe Flato and many of the people we do business with and have done business with over the years are reputable people who build fine products and they do great philanthropic work in the communities that they build in,” he noted.

“Where I really have to dissent on is the process by which this issue has come before us.”

Beattie called the MZO process an “end run on municipal councils like ourselves and their ability to be autonomous and accountable to the public.”

“This process eliminates [public input] all together and I don’t know how anyone can be okay with that. We try so hard to get people engaged in their community and engaged in the issues they face, with often lacklustre results because people lead busy lives,” he explained.

Executive Director for the Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition, Margaret Prophet, said in addition to eliminating proper public consultations, MZOs don’t allow for in-depth studies regarding agricultural impact, environmental impact and archeology.

Instead, there’s two- to three-page reports on the issues, lacking the level of detail and community concern reflected in the regular studies, she noted.

“It virtually eliminates any kind of appeal process as well, so it really truncates the process, but at a great extent,” Prophet noted.

She told The Times the County of Simcoe has seen a significant increase in developers filing for MZOs across its municipalities.

MZOs replace municipalities’ official plan amendment, so they’re left with site planning, site maintenance, bylaws, and permits to control what’s built.

Prophet noted MZOs circumvent a lot of the Town’s planning processes.

“Why would developers wait to go through the proper process? What benefit is it to them to prove to the community [the development should be built], and to work with the municipal government in the way that the process is currently set up when they can just jump to the front of the line,” she said.

Prophet said the Province has made very clear that the municipality’s job is to properly consult with constituents to make sure their planning goals align with the best interest of the community, which isn’t happening with MZOs.

“What we’re seeing in New Tecumseth and more broadly is that staff reports aren’t being done and the consultation is a joke,” she noted. “Sometimes the MZO application is approved the same night it’s on the agenda, so we’re asking the Province to not permit anymore MZO applications in Simcoe County until they can really figure out how to make sure the projects that get jumped to the front of the queue, actually get the proper investigation.”

Town denies three MZO applications at Council meeting

New Tecumseth Times November 12, 2020

Following the Town’s approval of a Minister Zoning Order (MZO) from Flato Developments in principal last month, three more popped up on Council’s agenda at a regular meeting last Monday.

Lawyer for San Marco and Lamis Limited, Ron Kanter, requested Council’s support for a MZO on 35 hectares of lands for affordable seniors housing in Alliston, just outside of its existing urban settlement boundary.

Kanter noted that the site in question has a long planning history within the Town spanning back to 2004 and that it has always been planned as a seniors’ community, offering a continuum of care.

“A new long-term care facility will offer opportunity for new designs and new measures to prevent or at least limit or mitigate pandemics such as COVID-19,” he said.

The MZO application for the property has already been filed with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, so the developer then requested the Town’s support, but was denied.

Ward 4 Councillor Fran Sainsbury made a motion to refer Kanter’s deputation to the Town solicitor and staff, so they can meet and discuss the development further; however it was shot down 7-3.

Ward 5 Councillor Donna Jebb noted that the cost to get water to the development area in question would be too high for the long-term care facility.

Ward 8 Councillor Alan Lacey said that a public meeting is coming up shortly regarding the property and it is best to just continue with the existing process for the proposed development instead of opting for an MZO.

Meanwhile Paul Demelo, lawyer for Rock Gardens Estate Inc, which owns 70 hectares of land between the 5th and 6th Line, west of Tottenham Road, on the edge of its existing settlement boundary, requested Council to permit a meeting with staff in regards to its MZO application.

The developer of the property has been in discussions with two manufacturing companies looking to expand their operations to New Tecumseth, which would create close to 2,000 jobs.

“In my respectful submission, this is an ideal time for the municipality to advance economic development and jobs development within the municipality,” said Demelo.

Council voted 8-2 against a motion in regards to the development, since its outside of the 1,000 acres of land up in New Tecumseth’s Industrial Park, which is zoned as industrial lands and has the water allocations needed to operate.

Demelo also brought forward a request for support regarding an MZO for its Coventry Park project, which is an addition of a facility for 200 long-term care beds, and it was denied as well.

“This is not a welcomed addition or expansion to the Tottenham community, it’s actually expanding down into the rural area of New Tecumseth and it’s very clear to anybody who lives in the country that this is not what they moved to the country for,” said Ward 7 Councillor Shira Harrison McIntyre.

“This is again too much, too big and I will let it go through the process it’s currently under, however as with all the other MZOs, I’m not in support of this.”