I am highly opposed to…

I am highly opposed to Schedule 10 of Bill 66 for the following reasons:

1. It removes the requirement for public consultation if the open for business zoning by-law (OFB-ZBL) is passed by a Municipality. The community deserves a right to provide comments on a potential zoning change that may affect them, and may even put their health and environment at risk. This bill should be revised to require public meetings if a municipality proposes to enact an OFB-ZBL.

2. An OFB-ZBL should be able to be appealed to the LPAT.

3. An OFB-ZBL should conform to the provincial policy statements. These policies protect people and property from natural hazards, and preserve important natural heritage features. If you see this as "red tape" to creating new jobs, then give certain exclusions based on a case-by-case basis (e.g. demonstrating the impacts and addressing them to the greatest extent feasible and allow exemptions where appropriate measures, mitigation, or compensation can occur) but do not give a blanket approval to development to avoid conformity with the provincial policy statements.

4. Significant threat policies are extremely important to prevent things like spills that could enter into drinking water and kill people. The OFB-ZBL must not allow industrial or other uses with the potential to threaten drinking water within the well head protection areas or intake protection zones. This is literally a terrible idea, puts humans at risk, and no doubt low income or marginalized persons will be the ones put at risk most because these potential future developments wont be going in rich peoples' backyards.

5. The OFB-ZBL puts the Oak Ridges Moraine at risk. The Oak Ridges Moraine is a source of drinking water to many communities and also is a source of coldwater for the coldwater fisheries. Allowing development within this area may severely impact water resources. Any OFB-ZBL should have to comply with the Oak Ridges Moraine Act. There is absolutely no reason to allow any type of large development within the Oak Ridges Moraine when there are many other suitable locations around the Province.

6. The OFB-ZBL should not be permitted within the Greenbelt. This is contrary to what the Premier promised during his election.

My greatest fear is that this OFB-ZBL will be used by sneaky developers to re-zone a bunch of land and build something on it, and then later come back and re-zone it to residential as all the features on it that would have required protection (wetlands, watercourses, woodlands, fish habitat, etc.) have already been removed. Please make sure there are restrictions in place so that this OFB-ZBL is not manipulated in the future to allow for residential development and sprawl in these rural areas, particularly in the Greenbelt and Oak Ridges Moraine.

My other fear is that this gives municipalities too much power to put in development in areas where it should not go. Many Mayors and Councillors are linked to the development industry now in some way, either through investments, real estate, etc. or they are under tremendous pressure to accept development to balance their budgets. It appears as though there is no way to stop them from allowing this OFB-ZBL to go forward. The public should have the right to stop an OFB-ZBL from being approved, or a method to appeal this based on health and safety concerns or impacts to the environment. Development should occur in a manner that benefits everyone but does not put public health and safety at risk or the environment.

Instead of enacting Schedule 10 of Bill 66, please review other Municipalities methods for encouraging development, such as Mississauga's pre-zoning lands to attract business. No one is opposed to bringing jobs to Ontario, but it should be done in a fair, transparent, and balanced way that still affords protection to people's health and welfare and the environment.