A Penetanguishene staff memo regarding Bill 109 was brought forward at a recent committee of the whole meeting, addressing the unexpected royal ascent for the provincial housing initiative that was granted prior to completion of the consultation period last month.
Under the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO), consultation on Bill 109, More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022 was to occur until April 29, seeking feedback in response to the housing supply and affordability issues of the province.
However, the Bill received royal assent on April 14, two weeks before the full range of comments and concerns were scheduled to be received; also, some changes went into effect immediately with other changes pending on regulation and guidance.
A prepared response letter from the planning and directing department heads of several Simcoe County municipalities was sent to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing on April 29 as a joint comment submission, regarding Bill 109 legislation and three additional ERO postings.
Planning and community development director Andrea Betty was asked by Penetanguishene council to explain the importance of the staff memo, which identified “widespread concerns with the changes, the timing and unintended consequences” of the royal ascent.
Betty stated that a “substantial” change to the Planning Act would require applications involving site plan and zoning bylaw amendment not having received a decision before certain deadlines be refunded those application fees.
“This absolutely has an impact on the planning and community development budget,” stated Betty. “I did a quick calculation (of) the past three years and it would appear that about 85 per cent of the time, for those types of applications, we would be refunding all or most of the application fee.”
As calculated in the Penetanguishene memo, of $45,500 collected in zoning and site plan application fees during 2019 to 2021, nearly $39,000 would have been returned under the new Planning Act change.
“So this is concerning. Obviously, it’s going to be something we’ll have to figure out for our budget for 2023,” said Betty who added that discussions with the larger county planners group would hopefully bring back ways to address revenue and planning fee changes.
Another concern involved the automatically delegated authority of staff regarding site plan control through applications made after July 1, in a process which would also extend review timelines from 30 to 60 days.
“Anything that comes into the town will be brought through the regular staff process, and we will be reporting back to council as an update on what’s occurred in terms of site plans. We’re still turning our mind to how that looks for us,” Betty admitted.
As recommended in the county joint submission, delegation of site plan control would continue to be a local decision for each municipality based on staffing resources and other variables.
“Some other changes in there that might be of interest to council would be the community infrastructure and housing accelerator; this is very similar to the Minister’s Zoning Order,” said Betty. “It is for very specific projects around housing, and it would only be at the request of a (lower- or single-tier) municipal council to request that council does a type of zoning order on it.”
Additionally, plans of subdivision which have lapsed for less than five years, but not changed ownership or previously lapsed, would be extended as a change to the Planning Act.
The summary of the county joint submission remained hopeful for future change at all government levels, understanding that engagement with all partners in the housing system would enable meaningful impact, and affirming readiness to work alongside the province for ideas and solutions.
The committee of the whole thanked Betty for the “valuable update” and received the items for information.
The staff memo regarding the impacts of Bill 109 on the town, as well as the Simcoe County joint comment submission with regional explanations, can be located on the agenda page of the Town of Penetanguishene website.
Meetings of Penetanguishene council are held on the second Wednesday of each month, and can be watched live on Rogers TV cable 53, or on the Rogers TV website.
Archives of council meetings are located on the Town of Penetanguishene YouTube channel.
