The changes to the Planning…

The changes to the Planning Act in Bill 60 aim to streamline construction of homes and infrastructure. The changes to Community Improvement Plans and changing Minister's Zoning Orders (MZOs) to non-regulatory orders will help with streamlining and supporting development.

However, some of the changes are not good land use planning. First, the change to the Planning Act, where the provincial policy statements are inapplicable with respect to all Minister’s decisions, contradicts the very reason that the Province has these policies in the first place. If the Minister can overrule provincial policy statements, these policies are clearly not important to the Minister. If the policies are not important, then municipalities should not have to ensure their decisions are consistent with the provincial planning statements. If the provincial planning statements are valuable and important, why can the Minister overlook these policies? This change should be removed from Bill 60 as it is not good land use planning.

Second, the change to the Planning Act to permit as-of-right variations will likely not result in more construction. This appears to be an attempt to circumvent a Minor Variance Application for minor adjustments from the zoning bylaws. Minor Variance Application is granted if the Committee of Adjustment agrees that the proposal meets the four tests of a Minor Variance. However, at the time of a zoning bylaw review by a Municipality, the Municipality will account for the as-of-right variation when determining the requirements. The Municipality will likely decide to adjust the zoning bylaw so that the as-of-right variation will be the same as the desired setback. For example, if the as-of-right variation for building height is 10% and the Municipality desires a 18 metre building height, the Municipality will put the zoning bylaw to 20 metres.

Instead, Bill 60 should be revised to amend Section 45 of the Planning Act so that authority can be delegated to staff for minor variances within a prescribed variation. These staff-delegated minor variances are reviewed in accordance with the four tests in Section 45 without the need for public consultation.