Loyalist Township is very…

Loyalist Township is very supportive of the proposed amendments and commends the Province on improving the land use planning appeal system in Ontario. The proposed amendments to the Planning Act will greatly assist in providing more weight to local decision making, increase consistency and predictability, as well as reduce the amount of appeals heard.

The following comments are provided for consideration:  

1. New subsections 17(36.5) and 21(3) of the Planning Act provide that there is no appeal in respect of an official plan or an official plan amendment adopted in accordance with Section 26 if the approval authority is the Minister.

Consideration should be given to removing the ability to appeal an Official Plan or Official Plan amendment adopted in accordance with Section 26, when the upper-tier municipality is the approval authority, particularly when initiated to conform to Provincial or Upper-tier plans/policies. The upper-tier municipality’s Official Plan would have been approved by the Province, and the lower tier’s conformity exercise will ensure consistency with the upper-tier Plan.

2. The extension of timelines for making decisions related to Official Plans and Zoning By-laws are supported, but it is encouraged that one standard timeline for applications to Official Plans, Zoning By-laws and Plans of Subdivision be developed for consistency.

3. The 90 day timeline for Council to reconsider their decision may be difficult to achieve when considering consultation and the requirement to prepare a staff report prior to Council reconsidering the decision.

4. Authorizing additional policy statements would break the commitment of the Provincial Policy Statement being on a 10 year cycle. Individually adopted statements may result in conflicts with other policy statements as the policies are not being reviewed as a whole. In addition, the degree of consultation awarded to the review of the PPS would likely not occur for individual policy statements.

5. It is recommended that the Province provide guidance material to assist in the implementation of the amendments once in effect.

[Original Comment ID: 210750]