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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPSD-008-18Clarington Planning Services Report If this information is required in an alternate accessible format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131. Report To: Planning and Development Committee Date of Meeting: January 8, 2018 Report Number: File Number: Report Subject: L2020-11 & PLN 1.1.23 Resolution: #PD -013-18 By-law Number: Bill 139 - Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017 Recommendation: 1. That Report PSD -008-17 be received for information. Municipality of Clarington Resort PSD -008-178 Paae 2 Report Overview x Bill 139 received royal assent on December 12, 2017. x The Ontario Municipal Board will be renamed the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. x It is anticipated that there will be changes to the rules of practice and procedure of the renamed tribunal. x There will be new limitations on appeals for certain land use planning matters. x Bill 139 also enacts certain amendments to the Conservation Authorities Act. x The new legislation has not yet come into force and effect. x Draft regulations have been published that would clarify the transition rules pertaining to Bill 139. 1. Background 1.1 Enactment of Bill 139 On December 22, 2017, the Ontario Legislative Assembly enacted Bill 139, entitled the Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017. The new legislation embodies a number of legislative reforms pertaining to the land use planning decisions of all Ontario municipalities. Those legislative changes are summarized in this report. 1.2 Changes to the Ontario Municipal Board The Ontario Municipal Board ("OMB") was one of the very first administrative tribunals established in the Province of Ontario. It has been in continuous existence since its creation in 1906 under the name of the Ontario Railway and Municipal Board. A part of this lengthy history is that the duties and jurisdiction of the OMB have been subject to almost continuous modification and reform. Bill 139 represents the latest of these changes. Under Bill 139, the OMB will be renamed the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal ("LPAT"). It is expected that the new name will be followed by new rules of practice and procedure, the details of which will not be known until they are published. One feature of the operation of the LPAT that will be different from the current rules is that certain appeals of decisions regarding official plans, zoning by-laws, or plans of subdivision made under the Planning Act will be subject to a mandatory case management conference. The case management conference is intended to mediate and settle disagreements among the parties. Municipality of Clarington Resort PSD -008-178 Paae 3 1.3 Creation of the Local Planning Appeal Support Centre Pursuant to Bill 139, the Province will create a Local Planning Appeal Support Centre (the "Support Centre"). The purpose of the Support Centre will be to establish and administer a cost-effective and efficient system for providing assistance to persons having involvement in appeals of decisions under the Planning Act. Specific details regarding the services to be offered by the Support Centre have not yet been released, however there is an indication that eligibility for these services could be linked to financial need. 1.4 Amendments to the Planning Act Bill 139 makes extensive amendments to the Planning Act, particularly in relation to the right of persons to appeal the land use planning decisions of a municipal council. Under current legislation, land use decisions of the municipal council that are appealed are subject to reversal or modification pursuant to the broad jurisdiction of the OMB. Under the new legislative scheme, the permitted grounds for an appeal of the adoption of an official plan (or an amendment to an official plan) or of the enactment of a zoning by-law (or an amendment to a zoning by-law) will be much more limited. Specifically, the grounds for such appeals will be restricted to issues of consistency or conformity with provincial plans and policy statements and, as applicable, conformity with official plan policies of a local or upper -tier municipality. Similar restrictions are placed on appeals of refusals and non -decisions of requests to amend an official plan or a zoning by-law. These changes represent a significant reduction of the grounds of appeal available to an aggrieved party and notionally will reduce the number of appeals and provide much greater deference to the land use planning decisions of the municipality. In the instance that an appeal is allowed on the limited grounds outlined above, there will also be a requirement that a municipality be given a second opportunity to consider a matter before the LPAT would substitute its own decision for that of the municipality. This will be a significant process change, as municipal council will have a report from the LPAT to consider before the matter goes to a full hearing. The timelines for a municipal council to make a decision related to an application for an official plan or zoning by-law amendment have been extended by 30 days to 210 and 150 days, respectively. Currently under subsection 38(4) of the Planning Act, anyone who is given notice of the passing of an interim control by-law may appeal the by-law within 60 days of the date of enactment. Bill 139 amends this section so that only the Minister may appeal an interim control by-law when it is first passed. However, if an interim control by-law is extended beyond the one year initial time frame, any person or public body who is given notice of the extension can still appeal the extension. Bill 139 provides eliminates all appeals of official plan updates, including conformity amendments, if the approval authority is the Minister. This new provision will not impact appeal rights in respect of the Clarington Official Plan. Municipality of Clarington Resort PSD -008-178 Paae 4 Other noteworthy amendments to the Planning Act include a provision that during the two year period following the adoption of a new secondary plan, applications for a secondary plan amendment are permitted only with council approval; a requirement that official plans contain policies relating to affordable housing and climate change; as well as a new provision to enable municipalities to adopt official plan policies relating to development in the vicinity of higher order transit stations and stops (e.g. Metrolinx/GO Train). 1.5 Amendments to the Conservation Authorities Act Though perhaps overshadowed by the changes to the Planning Act, Bill 139 also makes several amendments to the Conservation Authorities Act. These changes include amendments in relation to the membership and governance of a conservation authority and a requirement that meetings of the Board of a conservation authority be open to the public (subject to certain exemptions). As well, the maximum term of office for a director is increased from three to four years. There are new rules for when a conservation authority may charge a fee for its programs and services as well as new rules for determining the amount of the fees charged. Under existing legislation, the recovery of costs and expenses by a conservation authority from its participating municipalities derives from the apportionment of the benefit to each participating municipality. The Bill 139 changes provide that the apportionment will be determined in accordance with regulation, the details of which have not yet been released. 1.6 Date of Proclamation Although Bill 139 was enacted and received royal assent on December 12, 2017, there is currently no date identified for its provisions to come into force. The effective date of the legislation is to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor. Although the exact date is not known at this time, some commentary suggests it could be as early as the first half of 2018. 1.7 Proposed Transitional Regulations The Province has addressed the need for clarification surrounding how matters will be transitioned from the OMB to the new LPAT. Draft regulations have been published to the online Ontario Regulatory Registry that provide for such transition. The proposed transitional measures are complicated, and staff should be consulted on any questions of whether the new rules apply to any particular appeal. Generally speaking, however, the new rules will apply only to matters that have been appealed after the Bill 139 amendments come into force. Most or all present appeals of Clarington's decisions under the Planning Act will continue to be governed under the rules and provisions in place prior to Bill 139. The Province will be accepting input on the proposed regulations until January 21, 2018. Municipality of Clarington Report PSD -008-178 Page 5 2. Strategic Plan Application Not applicable. Submitted by: David Crome, MCIP, RPP, Director of Planning Services Submitted by: Robert Maciver, LL.B., MBA Municipal Solicitor Reviewed by: Andrew C. Allison, B. Comm, LL.B Staff Contact: David Crome, Director of Planning Services, 905-623-3379 ext 2401 or dcrome@clarington.net There are no interested parties to be notified of Council's decision.