Please accept this as…

Please accept this as comments on Amendment 1 to the Growth Plan 2019.

Sunnidale Estates Limited is a residential developer and with extensive land holdings in the outer ring (Town of Wasaga Beach). The Sunnidale Estates Ltd. site in Wasaga Beach went through an extensive OMB proceeding which culminated in a draft plan approval and rezoning as part of a larger development scheme which provides much needed housing product, public parks, school sites as well as additional public amenities. The Sunnidale Estates Ltd. project will contribute to the fully serviced and complete community of Wasaga Beach.

We would like to thank the Minister for reviewing the issues of many of the aspiring home owners through the proposed changes to the Growth Plan. These proposed changes have the opportunity to increase the supply of housing, create jobs, and attract investment. Please accept the following comments which, we believe, will further aid in achieving these goals.

It is requested that policy 2.2.1.6 - “excess lands” be deleted in its entirety

The excess lands policy as written will effectively act to freeze lands for development within Settlement Areas simply because they may not meet the forecasted growth as determined by an upper or single tier municipality. This will constrain both the employment and housing supply and potentially reduce the economies of scale of existing and planned infrastructure by not allowing development to occur in Settlement Areas.

The policies have been added to from the 2017 Growth Plan to identify that municipalities should not extend draft plan approvals or they should use deeming by-laws to deem registered plans of subdivision (that have been in existence for 8 years or more) as “non-registered plans” as per the Planning Act. Many land owners have made large investments in land and undertaken business plans within settlement areas on the understanding that these lands were available for development, subject to all other applicable policies.

The excess land exercise may have some value to municipalities to determine if settlement expansions should occur should there be lands in excess of the forecasted growth but, it is suggested, this should not be used to freeze otherwise viable development land and thus further constrain supply.

Sunnidale Estates Ltd., as well as the Town of Wasaga Beach have made significant expenditure in bringing these development lands to their fruition. The potential that the upper tier municipality (in this case the County of Simcoe) can determine that the planned population for this area could potentially be located elsewhere in the County, it is submitted, constrains supply of land which otherwise meets all of the policy criteria and is not what is intended by the direction or current mandate of the Province.

I thank you for your consideration of this matter and I would be pleased to make my representatives available to discuss this issue further with your office.

Sunnidale Estates Ltd.