I would like to state my…

I would like to state my opposition to the proposed changes to the Planning Act and the City of Toronto Act in Bill 23.

The right of the public and conservation authorities to provide input into planning decisions and to appeal planning decisions should be restored. The current proposal makes a mockery of community planning.

According to Ontario’s own website, community planning is intended to identify common community goals and balance competing interests. Municipal councils, landowners, developers, planners and the public supposedly play an important role in shaping a community. With the proposed changes to the Acts, it seems that these people are no longer important. Developers will instead determine the shape of our communities. It is unfortunate that their main goal is to make money.

The role of upper-tier municipalities in the planning process should also be restored. Upper tier municipalities provide a key role in cross boundary service delivery and decision making respecting roads, transit, water and sewage treatment and waste management. If they are left out of the process, there will be a lack of coordination leading to unintended consequences and increased costs to everyone including the developer.

As of right zoning in transit corridors and the removal of exterior design control powers is also cause for concern. High-density development with inadequate green space, too much hard surfacing and failure to consider climate change is bad for us all. Again, there will be long term consequences such as increased flooding, increased carbon emissions, damage to wildlife and plant life and negative impacts on our physical and mental health. The consequences and their accompanying costs will be borne by future governments and taxpayers while developers will have made their money and walked away.

Similarly, I am opposed to the changes to parkland and cash-in-lieu requirements. The proposed changes will not reduce the costs of municipalities or the need for parks; they will simply move the developers’ costs over to municipalities and ultimately to the taxpayer. In the longer term the changes will likely reduce the quality and quantity of parks and green space and negatively affect the physical and mental health of the community.

I am not in a position to comment on the remainder of the changes that are proposed in Bill 23 given the short time frame for submitting comments. This posting is accompanied by numerous other postings on the Environmental Registry that affect Ontario’s planning system and environmental protections. It is almost impossible to comment on them all. If the Ontario government is serious about receiving public comments on its environmental proposals I would urge it to extend the timeframes for comment on these proposals.