The following comments are…

The following comments are provided on behalf of the Town of Innisfil:

- The Town has concerns over the
proposed changes to the LPAT,
as they will likely result in more
appeals and contested planning
decisions, which may actually
slow down the development
approvals process. The proposed
change to return to a 'de novo' hearing
will favour developers.

- The Town is generally supportive of
the proposed change to accessory residential units
as it will help provide more affordable rental
housing opportunities within
Innisfil, with appropriate local
planning controls. However, there are
concerns of the implications for by-law
enforcement of illegal residential units
and provincial funding should be provided
to assist with enforcement to ensure all
new and existing accessory residential units
are safe.

- The Town has concerns that the proposed
'community benefit' change will result
in the Town potentially receiving less
funding, particularly for ‘soft’
services such as parkland.
In preparing a future regulation
should the Bill 108 changes be
passed, the Province should
consider the work that Innisfil
(adopted in 2018) and other
municipalities have undertaken
to prepare Section 37
Implementation Guidelines.
Particularly, these guidelines
have established a value for the
provision of community benefits
(generally ranging from 20-30%
of the projected increase in
property value as a result of the
increase in height or density)
that should also be considered
by the Province as a minimum
value for community benefits.
Municipalities that already have
Section 37 guidelines in place,
should also be able to use them
as the basis for a future
‘community benefits charge bylaw’.

- The Town has concerns that the
timeframes for processing
development applications are
proposed to be reduced significantly,
since the Town may not have
sufficient Staff resources and
capacity in order to meet the
proposed timeframes. Without
additional Staff, this could result
in more LPAT appeals if the
Town is unable to process
applications within the required
timeframes. Furthermore, compressed
timeframes will also make it a challenge
to receive thorough comments from
external agencies and this may result in
development that negatively impacts
communities.

- The Town already has an MOU
in place with both the LSRCA
and NVCA that attempts to
avoid duplication. Staff will work with each
CA to modify each MOU to find additional
efficiencies in the co-ordination
and delivery of services.

- The Town has concerns the proposed changes
to the Heritage Act will result in a more contested
process to protect heritage properties within communities.