By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
As the Province of Ontario has already passed Bill 109 – the More Homes for Everyone Act – Northumberland County council’s Economic Development, Tourism, Land Use Planning Standing Committee saw no point in any motion beyond accepting Cramahe Township’s letter of objection for information purposes.
But at their June meeting, council members and county staff expressed opinions that were clearly not in support of a piece of legislation that will inevitably increase costs to municipalities due to dictated timelines – as opposed to letting planning processes run their course.
Objections listed in the letter from Cramahe Township include the requirement to refund application fees when planning approvals are not completed within prescribed time frames, regulating what supporting materials are required for a completed site plan application, and imposing limitations on what conditions a municipality can impose on development applications.
The township’s response pointed out that delays are sometimes not the fault of staff but a result of unforeseen circumstances. And limiting what conditions might be imposed impacts the municipality’s ability to respond appropriately to the unique and complex nature of development applications in the best interests of the municipality.
“Obviously we have concerns about the time lines and also the financial obligations,” Cramahe Mayor Mandy Martin said, adding that the act does not provide enough time for a responsible review of applications.
Manager of Land Use Planning and Inspection Services Dwayne Campbell said he has been working in this area for 15 years and has never seen legislation passed so quickly, especially given the approach of an election.
“Within 15 days, the bill had had third reading and received Royal Assent and is now in effect in Ontario,” Campbell said.
“The issues Cramahe Township raised in the report have been echoed by all other municipalities across the province that I have spoken with.
“The refund piece, which I think is one of the biggest challenges, comes into effect in January of 2023. The idea there, I think, is to allow municipalities the opportunity to figure out how they will administer the refund and the accounting.”
Campbell noted that certain site plan approval decisions have been delegated to staff, bypassing council review completely.
“That change comes into effect July 1 of this year so, again, municipalities are scrambling to ensure bylaws are updated so site plan control can continue.”
Committee member (and Alnwick-Haldimand Township Mayor) Gail Latchford spoke up for the concerns of smaller municipalities.
“We have limited staff, and they have jobs to do anyway which keep them fairly busy,” Latchford pointed out.
“But to speed things up to the point of too much happening – some other issues may fall behind in the planning department and the building department. I think that’s a concern as well.”
County Chief Administrative Officer Jennifer Moore agreed that some municipalities may see their costs rise, through hiring extra staff or absorbing development charges that have to be refunded.
Committee chair Bob Sanderson agreed that curtailing opportunities for input and speeding up the process does increase the risk of errors.
Warden Bob Crate (also a committee member) said these were all valid points, but saw no point in challenging the legislation until the provincial election is completed.
“The bill is passed and it’s in effect but, as we all know, those things can be changed. And we should start to get our ducks in order to discuss it with the party in power,” Crate said.
