Dear Mr. Helfinger: The…

Dear Mr. Helfinger:

The Municipality of North Perth appreciates the opportunity to provide comment and contribute to the discussions regarding the ‘Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act’.

Staff has reviewed the legislation and it is our understanding that the tool would allow municipalities to reduce planning approvals for specific areas of land already allocated/identified by the municipality for new, major employment opportunities (e.g. 50 jobs for municipalities with a population of less than 250,000 people).

The “Open for Business By-law” would eliminate the need for the employer to strictly adhere to existing local requirements (e.g., official plan and zoning), and remove the application of a separate approval process for site plan control.

This By-law is targeted to municipalities that have designated industrial/employment lands that have remained vacant/undeveloped, and if a large employer was interested in establishing operation there; a municipality that has activated the By-law may streamline the process and remove the ‘red tape’.
The Municipality has concern regarding the fairness of adopting the “Open for Business By-law” as it may give one municipality an advantage over another who has not adopted the By-law at the expense of health and safety (i.e. ensuring fire requirements, SWM, etc. are secured through site plan) and environmental regulations.

Municipalities are challenged with the task to decide whether to opt in and potentially remain competitive with a neighbouring municipality or maintain the current regulatory system that essentially has checks and balances.

The Province should maintain a uniform system for all 144 Ontario municipalities and not provide an opportunity for some to opt in, while other municipalities opt out. This will undoubtedly put municipalities in a tough situation when making a decision to adopt the Open for Business By-law.

The Province has not provided enough detail for municipalities to see any clear benefits to this legislation and have not allowed enough time for suitable feedback. Various stakeholder groups will undoubtedly pressure councils in different directions and this can have the effect of taking-up administrative time to research implications/benefits to municipalities, prepare reports, etc. The Province should implement additional review, outside of the commenting period.

Finally, we are concerned that if we decided to ‘opt out’, industries/employers may start short-listing municipalities based on whether or not they have Open for Business By-laws when seeking lands in municipalities.

If Bill 66 is enacted, the Province should initiate a rigorous monitoring and evaluation plan to determine the success and failures of the legislation.

We do appreciate the opportunity to comment.

Sincerely,

Pat Berfelz, Clerk

Sean Yilmaz, Planner