Town of Whitby staff are…

Town of Whitby staff are pleased to provide the following comments in response to ERO Posting # 026-0312 – Proposed Changes to Support Standardizing of Parkland Requirements Under the Planning Act. Town staff thank the Province for the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed changes and look forward to further engagement opportunities on this topic.

Municipalities should retain the ability to require that parkland conveyed is free and clear of encumbrances, environmental risks, and use restrictions that may limit public access or functionality. Parkland should be genuinely accessible to the public and not function as private or quasi-private space, including Privately Owned Publicly Accessible Spaces (POPS). Any private interests associated with encumbered lands should be responsible for all costs related to construction, maintenance, and lifecycle replacement.

Requiring municipalities to accept developer-identified parkland may reduce the Town’s ability to secure appropriately sized, configured, and located parks that support active recreation and align with Official Plan policies and Parks and Recreation Master Plan objectives. This approach increases the likelihood of acquiring fragmented, constrained, or unusable parcels and limits the ability to secure cash-in-lieu for more strategic acquisitions, ultimately reducing the supply of functional, programmable parkland.

The proposed changes may undermine long-term parks planning by shifting decision-making from a coordinated, system-wide approach to a site-by-site framework driven by development patterns and adjudication. This limits the Town’s ability to proactively plan and deliver a cohesive parks system that meets community needs.

There are also implications for capital planning and municipal finances. The conveyance of parkland that does not align with planned priorities may create unanticipated funding pressures, reduce cash-in-lieu contributions, and require the Town to spread limited resources across a greater number of lower-value park sites, impacting the delivery of priority park projects.

Over time, the acceptance of smaller or encumbered parkland is expected to increase maintenance and lifecycle costs and place additional pressure on the property tax base. These types of parks are more complex and costly to maintain and are not easily integrated into long-term asset management programs.

The proposed framework may also increase demands on municipal staff resources and introduce equity concerns, as high-growth areas may receive parkland that does not adequately meet recreational needs.

Town staff request further consultation with municipalities prior to finalization of any implementing regulations and/or transition provisions.