From Town of Halton Hills…

From Town of Halton Hills Planning Staff:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the Proposed Planning Act and City of Toronto Act changes. Below please find the Town of Halton Hills’ comments on the main changes being proposed

Addressing the Missing Middle

The Town commends efforts to incentivize gentle intensification and address the missing middle through as of right permissions to allow accessory residential units in urban areas with full municipal services. The Town has previously introduced as right permissions for accessory dwelling units within existing singles, semis and townhouses subject to appropriate parking provisions. Bill 23 would mandate that no more than one parking space per unit on a lot is required. In practice, municipalities without a fully integrated public transit system are likely to face challenges with this mandated parking standard. Additionally, new as-of-right permissions for these units should not override existing municipal zoning standards for lot setbacks, driveway widths, and soft landscaping requirements. These standards are in place to ensure the built form on one property does not negatively impact those which surround it. Municipalities should also be able to establish appropriate minimum yard and height provisions for ancillary units.

Higher Density around Transit

Changes are proposed to require municipalities to implement “as-of-right” zoning for transit supportive densities in specified areas around transit stations, known as “major transit station areas” (MTSAs), and “protected major transit station areas” (PMTSAs) that have been approved by the Minister.

Staff do not have significant concerns with this proposal. In the case of Halton Hills, the densities for the Georgetown and Acton MTSA remain to be determined as set out in Halton ROPA 49 which was recently approved by the Province. The Town is currently undertaking the Georgetown GO Station Secondary Plan Update which is expected to be completed by 2024. Once the densities for the MTSA have been confirmed and the Secondary Plan has been approved, the Town does not have any objections to implementing the required zoning by-law amendment.

Similarly, the Acton GO Station Secondary Plan, which will be undertaken in the near future, also requires staff to assign appropriate densities for the MTSA and complete the Secondary Plan process. Once that Plan is approved, it will provide the opportunity to implement as of right zoning within a one -year period.

Streamlining Municipal Planning Responsibilities

Changes are proposed to remove the planning policy and approval responsibilities from certain upper-tier municipalities (regions of Durham, Halton, Niagara, Peel, Simcoe, Waterloo, York). These proposed changes would come into effect upon proclamation at a future date.

We anticipate that the Province will share additional information regarding transitional policies. Once those transitional policies are released, Town staff will assess potential impacts.

Site specific amendments tied to development applications that are currently exempt from Regional approval should continue to be exempt from requiring Ministry approval. This will ensure the streamlined approval process for development applications is not impacted. Similarly, staff understands that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing will become the approval authority for local/municipally initiated Official Plan Amendments (OPAs). It is recommended that the Ministry ensure appropriate staffing levels are available to handle the additional review and that protocols be put in place to ensure that housekeeping OPAs, OPAS that implement development applications, and Secondary Plan updates be exempt from MMAH approval. As these processes are inherently locally specific, it is unnecessary for Ministry staff to take on the additional workload and potentially impact what could be an expedited approval process.

Third Party Appeals

Changes are proposed to limit third party appeals for all planning matters (official plans, official plan amendments, zoning by-laws, zoning by-law amendments, consents and minor variances). Third party appeals are generally appeals made by someone other than the person who made the planning application.

The Town does not experience many third-party appeals from the public as a result of our robust community engagement practices. In this regard, the Town works with landowners and the public to resolve issues and implement good planning principles prior to the finalization of a staff recommendation for Council’s consideration.

Town Council has previously recommended that the OLT be abolished, ensuring that municipal decisions are final. Our preferred approach would see the appeal process used sparingly. Our understanding is that the proposed limitation on third party appeals would limit the opportunity for the public to appeal Council decisions on development applications and limit the public and landowners from appealing municipally initiated amendments, including Secondary Plans and Comprehensive Zoning By-laws. We do see some advantages to the limitation on third party appeals. For example, the Town’s Vision Georgetown Secondary Plan, which was developed with community input over a number of years has been appealed to the OLT. A lengthy and expensive hearing is scheduled to occur in 2023. Appeals of this nature preclude the Town from advancing the development review process in a timely manner and delivering planned growth and housing units.

Public Meetings – Plans of Subdivision

Changes are proposed to remove the public meeting requirement for draft plans of subdivision.

Public meetings for plans of subdivision that create new development lots should be maintained. In our experience, plans of subdivision are submitted in conjunction with zoning by-law amendments and in some cases official plan amendments both of which require public meetings. There is little if any efficiency to be gained by not including the plan of subdivision in the statutory public meeting. Indeed, the public will be most interested in the road layout, the lotting pattern and the location of blocks for schools, parks, recreational amenities and natural heritage all of which will be shown on the draft plan of subdivision. The Town would support removing the requirement for public meetings for “administrative” plans of subdivision e.g., one lot plan of subdivision.

Site Plan – Exemption for Development up to 10 units, Architectural Details and Landscape Design

Changes are proposed to exempt all aspects of site plan control for residential development up to 10 units (except for the development of land lease communities).

The Town does not support this proposal. Health and safety standards are important to consider for all new development. There are significant technical concerns with this proposed legislative change. Appropriate urban design, grading, site access, on-site traffic/pedestrian circulation, and landscaping will not be subject to municipal oversight without Site Plan Control for developments fewer than 10 units. It is possible to efficiently process a site plan for such developments within the sixty-day timeframes set out in The Planning Act. Site plan control by laws should continue to be created, modified, and monitored at the local level to reflect the local context.

Changes are proposed to limit the scope of site plan control by removing the ability for municipalities to regulate architectural details and landscape design.

The Town has significant concerns with this proposal which were previously shared through Council Resolution # No. 2022-0170. The proposed change seems to limit the ability of municipalities to implement design standards under the Planning Act which would appear to limit the application of Green Development Standards to improve energy efficiency and the climate change impact of new buildings. Introduction of Green Development Standards has reduced greenhouse gas emissions and lowered operating costs of hundreds of buildings in Halton Hills with no apparent impact on the speed at which homes have been built while clearly reducing the long-term cost of home ownership.

In addition, locally appropriate urban design elements are a key factor in creating livable communities. The Town of Halton Hills has always applied contextually appropriate urban design requirements and has worked with the development community to achieve buildings that fit within the context of existing neighbourhoods and contribute to a sense of place. Removing the opportunity for municipalities to work with the developers to create good design is counter-intuitive to creating communities that people want to call home.

Facilitating Aggregate Applications

Changes are proposed to remove the “2-year timeout” period for applications to amend new official plans, secondary plans and zoning by-laws in respect of mineral aggregate operations.

Town staff does not see the need for this change. The current provincial policy framework is quite favourable relative to mineral aggregate extraction. Town Council has previously suggested that the need for additional aggregate extraction operations should be assessed as part of a complete application.