Although I do not disagree…

Although I do not disagree with the Bill and the intent to open much needed development land from the greenbelt; Ontario made an error in their approach. The government should have publicly circulated a request to all Ontario landowners who hold greenbelt land as well as the Neighbour’s to those properties to state their case on why their lands should or should not be provided relief from greenbelt designation. This would have improved optics on what has occurred — ie. The biggest — deep pocketed developers receive relief from greenbelt designation; and the farmers and landowners who hold greenbelt lands who are not seasoned developers sit and stir with lands that remain undervalued for the purchasing cycle to once again begin. As a development industry professional I commend the government on realizing the impact of generations of bureaucratic waste on the cost of housing. In over 30 years of development applications I have seen the impact of unreasonable design standards; time wasted on submitting ecological backup to only achieve the identical development proposal to the initial application —- but millions spent to close the vicious circle. The government can do more to reduce approval times and wasted approval resources so housing costs and timelines to putting a shovel in the ground are shortened. It makes no sense that approvals take 3-4 years and a builder can construct a subdivision in 10 months and build a house in 4-6 months. It’s a municipal and provincial authority mindset that needs to be reset. Only after that happens, development timelines will be shortened; the cost of housing will be reduced; and the number of homes will meet the needs of the growing population.