Re: ERO 019-0181: Proposed…

Re: ERO 019-0181: Proposed new regulation and regulation changes under the Planning Act, including transition matters, related to Schedule 12 of Bill 108 - the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019

August 6th, 2019

The regulations proposed under Bill 108 shorten planning review timelines, encourage sprawl and will result in more municipal council decisions being appealed by deep-pocketed developers. Because Bill 108 includes a return to the Ontario Municipal Board’s undemocratic rules (but under the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) name), sprawl developers will be allowed to gobble up more farmland and forests, without having to follow municipal decisions or engage the public.
One of the biggest dangers in these proposed regulations under Bill 108 is that developers will be allowed to build on lands not designated for development. Developers can now apply for boundary expansions in 40 hectare (100 acre) bites. The proposals used to have to show a need for boundary expansions as part of the comprehensive Official Plan review process where municipalities are required to consider the need for growth passed on an assessment of the lands needed to meet future growth. Considering expansion outside of a process that evaluates need will unleash sprawl. It is also worth noting that these regulations will work in tandem with the recently release draft changes to the Provincial Policy Statement which creates a new emphasis on allocating more farm land to boundary expansion and determining the type of future housing to be built based on what was sold in the past, not what is needed today or in the future to achieve overall benefit to communities.
Under the new rules, developers will be able to circumvent the current Municipal Comprehensive Review process as follows:
1. Flood municipalities with applications to expand city/town boundaries
2. The regulation proposed under Bill 108 require municipalities to respond to all applications within 120 days, a timeframe that is almost half (90 days less) than what municipalities are currently allowed. This will strain on limited staff resources
3. It will be therefore difficult for municipal staff reports to be completed in enough time for Council to make an informed decision and Council is not allowed to make a decision that is not informed by a staff report.
4. If a developers’ application does not receive a Municipal Council decision within 120 days, the proposed rules will declare that the applicant can go directly to the LPAT, an unelected, unaccountable body to make the decision and that citizens will be prevented from having standing in these hearings. This shuts out community members who wish to ensure the Official Plan for their town or city is being followed
In short, the changes proposed in Bill 108 take important decision-making out of evidence-based planning reviews and elected municipal hands, allowing sprawl developers to game the system.
As proposed, these Bill 108 regulations won’t help the Ontario government’s stated objective of building more housing where it is needed. If the province wants to build more homes while protecting farmland and natural areas, they need to defer to the public Official Plan review process, restore the 2017 LPAT and its capacity to support community engagement in planning, maintain a lands needs assessment process that is forward looking and not based on past sales and stop pandering to sprawl developers.
Sincerely,

Tim Gray
Executive Director
Environmental Defence (for the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance)
116 Spadina Avenue, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 2K6