At our March 2 Council meeting, I made a Notice of Motion (NOM) regarding the Ontario Land Tribunal. A NOM is notice that a member of council wants to discuss an issue at the next scheduled council meeting. For Stouffville, that is March 23.
The Ontario Land Tribunal, formerly the OMB and LPAT, is the appeal board that the Province of Ontario has to hear appeals regarding local planning issues. Specific details are included in my motion, but it basically states that our local official plans that are approved by the Region and the Province should be held up and if changes are to be made, they should be made by Council, not an appointed, unaccountable board that more times than not, side with the developer.
I believe that there should be some mechanism of appeal for developers and the community regarding development applications but they should remain with local councils or a Committee of adjustment like board made up of residents.
The NOM I made was also approved at the March 3 York Regional Council 20-1, so it is clear, many local politicians are sending the same message to the Province. Something has to change because what we have had for too long isn’t working.
Onward.
WHEREAS Municipalities across this province collectively spend millions of dollars of
taxpayer money and municipal resources developing Official Plans that meet
current Provincial Planning Policy; and
WHEREAS an Official Plan is developed through months of public consultation to
ensure, “that future planning and development will meet the specific needs of (our)
community”; and
WHEREAS our Official Plan includes provisions that encourage development of the
“missing middle” or “gentle density” to meet the need for attainable housing in our
community; and
WHEREAS our Official Plan is ultimately approved by the province; and
WHEREAS it is within the legislative purview of Municipal Council to approve Official
Plan amendments or Zoning By-law changes that better the community or fit within
the vision of the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville Official Plan; and
WHEREAS it is also within the legislative purview of Municipal Council to deny Official
Plan amendments or Zoning By-law changes that do not better the community or do
not fit within the vision of the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville Official Plan; and
WHEREAS municipal planning decisions may be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal
(OLT; formerly the Ontario Municipal Board or “OMB”), an unelected, appointed body
that is unaccountable to the residents of Whitchurch-Stouffville; and
WHEREAS the OLT has the authority to make a final decision on planning matters
based on a “best planning outcome” and not whether the proposed development is
in compliance with municipal Official Plans; and
WHEREAS all decisions—save planning decisions—made by Municipal Council are
only subject to appeal by judicial review and such appeals are limited to questions of
law and or process; and
WHEREAS Ontario is the only province in Canada that empowers a separate
adjudicative tribunal to review and overrule local decisions applying provincially
approved plans; and
WHEREAS towns and cities across this Province are repeatedly forced to spend
millions of dollars defending Official Plans that have already been approved by the
province in expensive, time consuming and ultimately futile OLT hearings; and
Whereas lengthy, costly OLT hearings add years to the development approval
process and acts as a barrier to the development of attainable housing;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Government of Ontario be requested
to immediately engage municipalities to determine an alternative land use planning appeals process in order to dissolve the OLT and eliminate one of the most significant sources of red tape delaying the development of more attainable housing in Ontario; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED That a copy of this Motion be sent to the Honourable
Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing,
the Leader of the Opposition, the Leaders of the Liberal and Green Party, all
MPPs in the Province of Ontario; the Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus of Ontario, the
Small Urban GTHA Mayors and Regional Chairs of Ontario; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED That a copy of this Motion be sent to the Association of
Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and all Ontario municipalities for consideration.
