Item - 2015.PG4.3
Tracking Status
- City Council adopted this item on June 10, 2015 without amendments.
- This item was considered by Planning and Growth Management Committee on May 14, 2015 and was adopted with amendments. It will be considered by City Council on June 10, 2015.
PG4.3 - Planning Act - Proposed Amendments Introduced Through Bill 73, Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, 2015
- Decision Type:
- ACTION
- Status:
- Adopted
- Wards:
- All
City Council Decision
City Council on June 10, 11 and 12, 2015, adopted the following:
1. City Council support in principle the provisions in Bill 73 to prohibit global appeals of Council’s entire decision to adopt all of a new official plan but advise the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing that as drafted this has no immediate relevance for the City.
2. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to broaden the no global appeal provisions in Bill 73 to capture those instances where a new Official Plan is being prepared through thematic policy reviews or where Council has adopted a Secondary Plan.
3. City Council express its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the Bill 73 proposed amendment requiring an appellant to include in their notice of appeal, an explanation of how Council’s decision to adopt an official plan is inconsistent with a policy statement, or fails to conform with or conflicts with a provincial plan.
4. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to broaden the removal provisions in Bill 73 of the right to appeal not just population targets and boundaries but any official plan amendments specifically intended to bring municipal official plans into conformity with provincial policy and plans, for which the Province has issued a decision of approval.
5. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to amend the official plan review period in Bill 73 for all official plans (existing and new) to 10 years, commencing from the date that the official plan policies identified and adopted by Council as forming part of the statutory review, come into effect.
6. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to amend Bill 73 to include a freeze on all privately initiated amendments to newly approved official plan policies stemming from comprehensive statutory and non-statutory municipal reviews of existing official plans and any concurrent implementing zoning by-laws, for a 2-year period.
7. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to amend Bill 73 to remove the right of appeal to the OMB of Council decisions that refuse a privately initiated official plan amendment application and its concurrent implementing zoning by-law for a 3-year period after the end of the 2-year freeze requested in Part 6 above.
8. City Council express its strong support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for removing the mandatory five-year review period of employment lands in Bill 73.
9. City Council express its support of Bill 73's proposed change to the Planning Act for the limitation on minor variances from the provisions of any zoning by-law amendment prior to the second anniversary of the day on which the by-law was amended, unless Council has declared by resolution that the application for the minor variance is permitted and with a request to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to further amend Bill 73 to expand the freeze period from the second to the third anniversary date on which the by-law was amended.
10. City Council express its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with regard to Bill 73 amendments to provide more public accountability and transparency with regard to Section 37 community benefit contributions and expenditures.
11. City Council affirm its December 16, 2013 recommendation to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to introduce new language under Section 37 of the Planning Act that enables municipalities to establish a value-based formula, or quantum approach for the use of Section 37.
12. City Council express its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with regard to Bill 73 amendments which require a municipality in adopting official plan policies allowing it to pass by-laws under subsection 42(3) of the Planning Act to establish alternative requirements for parkland dedications and payment-in-lieu of parkland, to have a parks plan in place that examines the need for parkland in the municipality and is made available to the public.
13. City Council express its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with regard to Bill 73 proposing to prohibit amendments to development permit system initiated official plan policies and related development permit by-laws for 5 years.
14. City Council express its support for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing's initiative to introduce a provincial regulation that provides prescribed criteria to which a minor variance must conform.
15. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to exempt the City of Toronto from proposed section 8(4) of Bill 73, dealing with the establishment of mandatory planning advisory committees and instead allow the City to establish its planning advisory committee(s) through section 136 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006.
16. City Council express its support with regard to Bill 73 making it mandatory for all municipalities to provide policies, appropriate for the given municipality, regarding procedures for informing and obtaining the views of the public in the Official Plan.
17. City Council express its support with regard to Bill 73 providing legislative authority to make official plan policies regarding procedures for permitting alternative notice measures for informing the public, for a wider number of planning application types.
18. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to further amend Bill 73 to permit the introduction of alternative notice official plan policies for the notice of decision (regarding both adoptions and refusals) of official plans, official plan amendments, zoning by-laws, plans of subdivision, consents and minor variances.
19. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to further amend Bill 73 and Ontario Regulation 608/06 (Development Permits) to provide the legislative authority to make official plan policies regarding procedures for permitting alternative notice measures for informing the public of development permit system by-laws, permit applications, and notice of decisions.
20. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to meet with appropriate City representatives in order to continue a dialogue on options the City has vis-a-vis Bill 73 proposed amendments requiring Council to explain the effect of written and oral submissions on their decisions, in light of the City's governance and decision-making process with regard to planning applications and with regard to the number and volume of planning applications subject to this proposed amendment.
21. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to exempt the City from amendments proposed for subsections 17(23.1) and (35.1), 22 (6.7), 34 (10.10) and (18.10), 45 (8.1), 51 (38), 53 (18) of the Planning Act to explain the effect of written and oral submissions on Council's decisions and undertake a consultation process with the City for a made-in-Toronto alternative, which embodies the intent of Bill 73 around this matter but better responds from an implementation standpoint, to the City's planning decision-making structure.
22. City Council express its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing of the 90-day voluntary time-out period before official plan, official plan amendment, and zoning by-law appeals proceed to the Ontario Municipal Board, and request the Minister to also consider applying this 90-day time-out period within the context of extended timelines for "failure to proceed" appeals as per Parts 23 and 24 below.
23. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to extend planning application processing timeframes in the Planning Act before municipal “failure to proceed” appeals can be made for official plans and all official plan amendment applications (municipally and privately initiated) from 180 to 240 days.
24. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to extend planning application processing timeframes in the Planning Act before municipal “failure to proceed” appeals can be made for zoning by-laws that run concurrently with official plan amendments from 180 days to 240 days and zoning by-laws from 120 to 180 days.
.
25. City Council support the proposed revision to the Planning Act for a time-out period before the 15-day appeal period kicks in, but requests the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to further amend Bill 73 to extend the period required for alternative dispute resolution after an appeal has been made from 60 to 90 days.
26. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to confirm that the costs of mediation and alternative dispute resolution borne by municipalities in the event of this proposed amendment to the Planning Act being enacted, can be incorporated into the City's planning application fees structure as per Section 69 (1) of the Planning Act.
27. City Council bring to the attention of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing that a number of recommendations relating to Planning Act reform, as summarized in Attachment 1 to the report (April 30, 2015) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and as adopted by Council on Dec 16, 2013, have not been addressed in Bill 73, but continue to be important for the City as part of any legislative efforts currently being taken to improve the land use planning and appeals process in Ontario and that an opportunity still exists to incorporate these recommendations into the current review of the Planning Act.
28. City Council state its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the upcoming Provincial review of the operations, practices, procedures and reporting requirements of the Ontario Municipal Board, including but not limited to the range of matters that can be appealed to the Board, as per the Ontario Premier's letter dated September 25, 2014 to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
29. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to amend Bill 73 to make appropriate reforms to the Planning Act to include permissions for municipalities to enact inclusionary zoning for affordable housing of all types.
30. City Council forward its decision and the report (April 30, 2015) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the Ministry's June 3, 2015 commenting deadline and submit the report for posting on the Provincial Environmental Bill of Registry.
Background Information (Committee)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pg/bgrd/backgroundfile-79744.pdf
(May 14, 2015) Staff Presentation on Bill 73 - Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, 2015
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pg/bgrd/backgroundfile-80123.pdf
Communications (Committee)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pg/comm/communicationfile-52693.pdf
(May 13, 2015) Letter from Eileen Denny, on behalf of Confederation of Resident and Ratepayer Associations in Toronto Executive (PG.New.PG4.3.2)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pg/comm/communicationfile-52697.pdf
(May 13, 2015) Letter from Councillor Mike Layton (PG.New.PG4.3.3)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pg/comm/communicationfile-52699.pdf
Communications (City Council)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/cc/comm/communicationfile-53010.pdf
Motions (City Council)
Vote (Adopt Item) Jun-11-2015 9:59 AM
| Result: Carried | Majority Required - PG4.3 - Adopt the item |
|---|---|
| Total members that voted Yes: 40 | Members that voted Yes are Paul Ainslie, Ana Bailão, Michelle Berardinetti, Jon Burnside, John Campbell, Christin Carmichael Greb, Shelley Carroll, Raymond Cho, Josh Colle, Gary Crawford, Joe Cressy, Vincent Crisanti, Janet Davis, Glenn De Baeremaeker, Justin J. Di Ciano, Frank Di Giorgio, Sarah Doucette, Rob Ford, Mary Fragedakis, Mark Grimes, Stephen Holyday, Jim Karygiannis, Norman Kelly, Mike Layton, Chin Lee, Giorgio Mammoliti, Josh Matlow, Pam McConnell, Mary-Margaret McMahon, Joe Mihevc, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Ron Moeser, Frances Nunziata (Chair), Cesar Palacio, James Pasternak, Gord Perks, Jaye Robinson, David Shiner, John Tory, Kristyn Wong-Tam |
| Total members that voted No: 0 | Members that voted No are |
| Total members that were Absent: 5 | Members that were absent are Maria Augimeri, John Filion, Paula Fletcher, Anthony Perruzza, Michael Thompson |
PG4.3 - Planning Act - Proposed Amendments Introduced Through Bill 73, Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, 2015
- Decision Type:
- ACTION
- Status:
- Amended
- Wards:
- All
Committee Recommendations
The Planning and Growth Management Committee recommends that:
1. City Council support in principle the provisions in Bill 73 to prohibit global appeals of Council’s entire decision to adopt all of a new official plan but advise the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing that as drafted this has no immediate relevance for the City.
2. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to broaden the no global appeal provisions in Bill 73 to capture those instances where a new Official Plan is being prepared through thematic policy reviews or where Council has adopted a Secondary Plan.
3. City Council express its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the Bill 73 proposed amendment requiring an appellant to include in their notice of appeal, an explanation of how Council’s decision to adopt an official plan is inconsistent with a policy statement, or fails to conform with or conflicts with a provincial plan.
4. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to broaden the removal provisions in Bill 73 of the right to appeal not just population targets and boundaries but any official plan amendments specifically intended to bring municipal official plans into conformity with provincial policy and plans, for which the Province has issued a decision of approval.
5. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to amend the official plan review period in Bill 73 for all official plans (existing and new) to 10 years, commencing from the date that the official plan policies identified and adopted by Council as forming part of the statutory review, come into effect.
6. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to amend Bill 73 to include a freeze on all privately initiated amendments to newly approved official plan policies stemming from comprehensive statutory and non-statutory municipal reviews of existing official plans and any concurrent implementing zoning by-laws, for a 2-year period.
7. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to amend Bill 73 to remove the right of appeal to the OMB of Council decisions that refuse a privately initiated official plan amendment application and its concurrent implementing zoning by-law for a 3-year period after the end of the 2-year freeze requested in Recommendation 6 above.
8. City Council express its strong support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for removing the mandatory five-year review period of employment lands in Bill 73.
9. City Council express its support of Bill 73's proposed change to the Planning Act for the limitation on minor variances from the provisions of any zoning by-law amendment prior to the second anniversary of the day on which the by-law was amended, unless Council has declared by resolution that the application for the minor variance is permitted and with a request to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to further amend Bill 73 to expand the freeze period from the second to the third anniversary date on which the by-law was amended.
10. City Council express its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with regard to Bill 73 amendments to provide more public accountability and transparency with regard to Section 37 community benefit contributions and expenditures.
11. City Council affirm its December 16, 2013 recommendation to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to introduce new language under Section 37 of the Planning Act that enables municipalities to establish a value-based formula, or quantum approach for the use of Section 37.
12. City Council express its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with regard to Bill 73 amendments which require a municipality in adopting official plan policies allowing it to pass by-laws under subsection 42(3) of the Planning Act to establish alternative requirements for parkland dedications and payment-in-lieu of parkland, to have a parks plan in place that examines the need for parkland in the municipality and is made available to the public.
13. City Council express its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with regard to Bill 73 proposing to prohibit amendments to development permit system initiated official plan policies and related development permit by-laws for 5 years.
14. City Council express its support for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing's initiative to introduce a provincial regulation that provides prescribed criteria to which a minor variance must conform.
15. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to exempt the City of Toronto from proposed section 8(4) of Bill 73, dealing with the establishment of mandatory planning advisory committees and instead allow the City to establish its planning advisory committee(s) through section 136 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006.
16. City Council express its support with regard to Bill 73 making it mandatory for all municipalities to provide policies, appropriate for the given municipality, regarding procedures for informing and obtaining the views of the public in the Official Plan.
17. City Council express its support with regard to Bill 73 providing legislative authority to make official plan policies regarding procedures for permitting alternative notice measures for informing the public, for a wider number of planning application types.
18. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to further amend Bill 73 to permit the introduction of alternative notice official plan policies for the notice of decision (regarding both adoptions and refusals) of official plans, official plan amendments, zoning by-laws, plans of subdivision, consents and minor variances.
19. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to further amend Bill 73 and Ontario Regulation 608/06 (Development Permits) to provide the legislative authority to make official plan policies regarding procedures for permitting alternative notice measures for informing the public of development permit system by-laws, permit applications, and notice of decisions.
20. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to meet with appropriate City representatives in order to continue a dialogue on options the City has vis-a-vis Bill 73 proposed amendments requiring Council to explain the effect of written and oral submissions on their decisions, in light of the City's governance and decision-making process with regard to planning applications and with regard to the number and volume of planning applications subject to this proposed amendment.
21. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to exempt the City from amendments proposed for subsections 17(23.1) and (35.1), 22 (6.7), 34 (10.10) and (18.10), 45 (8.1), 51 (38), 53 (18) of the Planning Act to explain the effect of written and oral submissions on Council's decisions and undertake a consultation process with the City for a made-in-Toronto alternative, which embodies the intent of Bill 73 around this matter but better responds from an implementation standpoint, to the City's planning decision-making structure.
22. City Council express its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing of the 90-day voluntary time-out period before official plan, official plan amendment, and zoning by-law appeals proceed to the OMB, and request the Minister to also consider applying this 90-day time-out period within the context of extended timelines for "failure to proceed" appeals as per Recommendations 23 and 24 below.
23. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to extend planning application processing timeframes in the Planning Act before municipal “failure to proceed” appeals can be made for official plans and all official plan amendment applications (municipally and privately initiated) from 180 to 240 days.
24. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to extend planning application processing timeframes in the Planning Act before municipal “failure to proceed” appeals can be made for zoning by-laws that run concurrently with official plan amendments from 180 days to 240 days and zoning by-laws from 120 to 180 days
.
25. City Council support the proposed revision to the Planning Act for a time-out period before the 15-day appeal period kicks in, but requests the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to further amend Bill 73 to extend the period required for alternative dispute resolution after an appeal has been made from 60 to 90 days.
26. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to confirm that the costs of mediation and alternative dispute resolution borne by municipalities in the event of this proposed amendment to the Planning Act being enacted, can be incorporated into the City's planning application fees structure as per Section 69 (1) of the Planning Act.
27. City Council bring to the attention of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing that a number of recommendations relating to Planning Act reform, as summarized in Attachment 1 of the report (April 30, 2015) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and as adopted by Council on Dec 16, 2013, have not been addressed in Bill 73, but continue to be important for the City as part of any legislative efforts currently being taken to improve the land use planning and appeals process in Ontario and that an opportunity still exists to incorporate these recommendations into the current review of the Planning Act.
28. City Council state its support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the upcoming Provincial review of the operations, practices, procedures and reporting requirements of the Ontario Municipal Board, including but not limited to the range of matters that can be appealed to the Board, as per the Ontario Premier's letter dated September 25, 2014 to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
29. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to amend Bill 73 to make appropriate reforms to the Planning Act to include permissions for municipalities to enact inclusionary zoning for affordable housing of all types.
30. City Council forward the report (April 30, 2015) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the Ministry's June 3, 2015 commenting deadline and submit the report for posting on the Provincial Environmental Bill of Registry (EBR).
Decision Advice and Other Information
The Project Manager, Strategic Initiatives, Policy and Analysis, City Planning, gave a presentation to the Planning and Growth Management Committee on Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, 2015.
Origin
Summary
This report provides a summary of the proposed amendments to the Planning Act, introduced through Bill 73, Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, 2015. The report also comments on the impact of these amendments on the City's planning approvals process and provides recommendations for Council's consideration with respect to these amendments.
Bill 73 highlights include:
- extending the review of new municipal official plans to ten years;
- preventing appeals to new official plans and comprehensive zoning-bylaws for two years by not permitting amendments to be filed unless initiated by the municipality;
- barring global appeals of Council’s entire decision to adopt all of a new official plan and appeals of any part of an official plan that identifies forecasted population and employment growth as set out in a growth plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, approved under the Places to Grow Act, 2005;
- where an appellant argues that Council’s decision to adopt an official plan is inconsistent with a policy statement, or fails to conform with or conflicts with a provincial plan, requiring the notice of appeal to explain how the decision is inconsistent or lacks conformity, as the case may be;
- making the development charges, section 37 density bonusing and parkland dedication systems more predictable, transparent and accountable;
- codifying citizen involvement in the land use planning approvals process;
- providing an option to municipalities to have an additional 90 days to resolve issues involving official plans and official plan amendments;
- providing municipalities with an additional 60 days to engage in alternative dispute resolution to resolve appeals prior to forwarding matters to the Ontario Municipal Board;
- preventing applications for a minor variance for a two year period following the passing of any zoning by-law that has been amended in response to an application, unless Council passes a resolution permitting the minor variance to proceed; and
- allowing the Lieutenant Governor in Council to issue regulations prohibiting applications to amend official plan policies regarding a development permit system, for a period of five years and applications to amend a development permit by-law for a period of five years.
In addition to the proposed amendments noted above, the Province is establishing a stakeholder working group to provide further advice on what constitutes a minor variance and regulation standards for notices and may also be asking this group to provide recommendations on additional areas of interest identified during these consultations.
Bill 73 embodies some positive changes to the Planning Act. A number of the proposed amendments are intended to ensure that Council approved policies are better protected and citizen engagement in planning matters is better recognized as part of the statutory decision making process. In the end however, many of these well-intentioned amendments will have limited applicability for the City. Accordingly, Staff are of the opinion that the Province should also consider, where appropriate, "made-for-Toronto" versions of the amendments that recognize the complexity and maturity of the City and its unique development pressures.
It is also important to note that Bill 73 does not address matters related to Ontario Municipal Board reform. It is Staff's understanding that the Province will be addressing this matter through a separate review to be undertaken later in the year. Once initiated, Staff will provide input into this review and report to Council on review outcomes accordingly.
On a separate but related note, amendments to the Development Charges Act, which were also included in Bill 73, formed the subject of a separate report by the City Manager and the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer, and were considered by the Executive Committee on April 22, 2015.
Background Information
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pg/bgrd/backgroundfile-79744.pdf
(May 14, 2015) Staff Presentation on Bill 73 - Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, 2015
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pg/bgrd/backgroundfile-80123.pdf
Communications
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pg/comm/communicationfile-52693.pdf
(May 13, 2015) Letter from Eileen Denny, on behalf of Confederation of Resident and Ratepayer Associations in Toronto Executive (PG.New.PG4.3.2)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pg/comm/communicationfile-52697.pdf
(May 13, 2015) Letter from Councillor Mike Layton (PG.New.PG4.3.3)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pg/comm/communicationfile-52699.pdf
Motions
That:
City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to amend Bill 73 to make appropriate reforms to the Planning Act to include permissions for municipalities to enact inclusionary zoning for affordable housing of all types.