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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPD-143-95 t/ DN BILUOGPA THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON REPORT Meeting: eneral Purpose and Administration Committee 9� P File # Date: Monday, December 4, 1995 Res. # �'I (_L) `r Report #: Pr)-143-Q5 File #: By-law # Subject: BILL 20 - LAND USE PLANNING AND PROTECTION ACT Recommendations: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following- 1, THAT Report PD-143-95 be received for information. 1. BACKGROUND: 1.1 On November 16, 1995, the Provincial Government introduced before the Legislature, Bill 20 - Land Use Planning and Protection Act 12 According to the News Release from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, "major changes to Ontario planning system will promote economic recovery by cutting red tape and getting rid of obstacles to growth". The announced changes to Bill 163 include* • streamlining the process by cutting approval times in half; • scrapping a recent requirement that planning decisions"be consistent with" provincial policies, and going back to the old requirement that decisions "have regard to" provincial policies; • reviewing provincial policies to ensure that, while environmental rules continue to be tough, the policies will be clear, concise, and deal only with issues that should be under the jurisdiction of the Province; .. 2 573 REPORT NO.: PD-143-95 PAGE 2 • allowing municipalities once again to decide where apartments can be added to houses, • reviewing the Development Charges Act with a view to returning to the original purpose of development charges -- to pay for hard services. 1.3 According to Ministry staff, they expect Third Reading of Bill 20 in the Spring Session of the Legislature with proclamation sometimes in early summer of 1996. 2. SUMMARY OF BILL 20 21 Bill 20 is entitled "The Land Use Planning and Protection Act". Said Bill contains numerous changes to several legislations. The majority of changes will be made to the Planning Act with primary emphasis to repeal some of the provisions added by Bill 163 by the previous government. Other Changes will be made to the Assessment Act, Development Charges Act, Municipal Act, Ontario Heritage Act as well as some consequential amendments to the Environmental Protection Act and the Regional Municipalities Act. 3. HIGHLIGHT OF CHANGES TO THE PLANNING ACT • The definition of "public body" has been limited in scope for the purpose of filing appeals and may be further limited by regulation. (Section 1 of the Bill) • The power to prescribe 'other matters" to be of provincial interest for the purpose of Section 2 has been removed. (Section 2 of the Bill) • The criteria for exercising any authority that affects planning matters has been changed to "have regard" to policy statements from the previous "be consistent with" standard (Section 3 of the Bill) • The Planning Act provisions which disallow any provision in an official plan that would prohibit the erection or use of two-unit residential houses have been repealed. (Section 8 of the Bill). The repealed provisions continue to apply to houses that contained two residential units on the date of introduction of the Bill. (Section 45 of the Bill) 3 574 REPORT NO.: PD-143-95 PAGE 3 • The power to prescribe the contents of official plans, in addition to those set out in Section 16 of the Act, has been removed. (Section 8 of the Bill) • The time frames for appeal rights to be established at different steps in the processing of requests for amendments to official plans have been reduced. There is a right to appeal to the Municipal Board if the council or planning board does not make a decision on a request for an amendment within 90 days after the day the request is received. (Section 13 of the Bill) • The authority of a council to prohibit all uses of land or the construction of all classes of buildings is removed. (Section 20 of the Bill) • A municipality may pass a by-law to require that applicants for amendments to zoning by-laws submit all the information or material that is prescribed. • If the prescribed material or information is not provided, the council may refuse to accept or further consider an application and the time period before a right of appeal to the Municipal Board will arise does not begin. (Section 20 of the Bill) • The Municipal Board is given the power to dismiss an appeal if the appellant has not provided the council with oral or written submissions before the by-law is passed. (Section 20 of the Bill) • Local municipalities may require the conveyance of land for a public transit right of way as a condition of the approval of a site plan if this is provided for in the official plan. (Section 24 of the Bill) • The provisions dealing with minor variance applications and other applications under Section 45 of the Act have been changed. Council may act as the Committee of Adjustment or delegate to the committee. Decisions of council (or committee of council) are final. • There is no longer an automatic right to appeal a decision of the committee of adjustment. The council has the option of reviewing the decision and confirming, varying or rescinding the committee's decision or sending the matter to the Ontario Municipal Board for it to be heard as an appeal. The Board can recover the costs of conducting the hearing from the municipality. (Section 26 of the Bill) • The authority to require that a public meeting in respect of a proposed plan of subdivision be held is removed. Notice of an application will only be required to be given if this is prescribed. (Section 29 of the Bill) 4 REPORT NO.: PD-143-95 PAGE 4 4. CHANGES TO THE MUNICIPAL ACT • The new Section 207.3 of the Municipal Act authorizes municipalities to pass by-laws providing for the registration of houses which contain two residential units. The by-law may prohibit the use or occupancy of more than one residential unit in a two-unit house unless the house is registered As a condition of registration, the by-law may require that two-unit houses meet specified standards. Inspectors are authorized to enter two-unit houses, before registration, to ensure they meet these standards. 5. CHANGES TO DEVELOPMENT CHARGES ACT • The Act is amended to provide that a development charge by-law or amendment thereto, except an amendment which reduces the amount of a charge or eliminates a term of a by-law, does not come into force until it is approved by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The Minister has absolute discretion to approve a by-law or amendment in whole or in part. (Sections 48, 49 and 52 of the Bill) • The right to appeal a by-law to the Ontario Municipal Board and the maximum term of a by-law have been eliminated. (Sections 49 and 51 of the Bill) • These provisions are made retroactive to the date of introduction of this Bill. (Section 74 of the Bill) 6. STAFF COMMENTS 6.1 Staff have very limited time to digest the proposed changes contained in Bill 20 but will continue to do so in order to better understand the impact of the changes. At this time, it appears there are several areas of municipal planning functions that could be affected significantly. 6.2 CLARINGTON OFFICIAL PLAN The Recommended Clarington Official Plan was prepared in accordance to the rules and prescribed regulations under the current Planning Act as amended by . .5 576 REPORT NO.: PD-143-95 PAGE 5 Bill 163. Any changes to be brought on by Bill 20 will necessitate certain changes to the Recommended Official Plan, most likely in those areas touching on Provincial policies. It's premature at this time to speculate what changes are required to be made to our Official Plan as details are not available. However, we are relatively certain that Bill 20 will cause some delay getting our Official Plan approved by the Region as our Plan is now caught in a transitional period of legislation changes. 6.3 APARTMENT IN HOUSES Bill 20 effectively transfers back to local municipalities, the power to decide whether or not to allow apartment-in-houses, and if so, the power to determine I where and how. Upon proclamation of Bill 20, this change is retro-active to November 16, 1995 the date the Minister introduced Bill 20. Once Bill 20 is proclaimed, the Municipality's zoning by-law which prohibits apartment-in-houses I will be operative again. Bill 20 also allows the municipality to require registration of houses that contain two units if such are to be considered legal If this is implemented, it requires setting up a municipal registry and mandatory inspections. The issue of apartment-in-houses and the changes brought on by Bill 20 requires a thorough understanding In this regard, staff will bring forward a separate I report for Council's consideration at a later date. 6.4 DEVELOPMENT CHARGES I The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing indicated that he will be introducing a new Development Charges Act in 1996 with a view to returning to the original purpose of development changes to pay for hard services. In the interim, Bill 20 introduces a provision to prohibit a municipality to increase the amount of development charges unless it is approved by the Minister. ...6 I 977 REPORT NO.: PD-143-95 PAGE 6 Changes to the Development Charges will have major implications to the Municipality. At this time, it is difficult to speculate on the changes. When the new Development Charges Act is introduced, we will be in a better position to assess the impact and will report to Council accordingly. In the meantime, it is prudent that our current development charges review exercise be suspended 6.5 COMMITTEE OF ADJUSTMENT: Bill 20 provides two choices to the local municipality to either deal with minor variance applications directly or appoint a Committee of Adjustment. It also gives the power to local Council to rescind or vary the decisions of the Committee of Adjustment. Appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board will not be allowed except at the request of local Council and the Board can levy the municipality for all administrative costs. The above changes may necessitate Council to review the pros and cons of a Committee of Adjustment. If so desired by Council, staff will examine this issue and prepare a separate report for Council's consideration. 7. CONCLUSION: The information provided in this Report is a "snap shot" of those changes of Bill 20 that affect the Municipality in terms of the delivery of local planning services. A lot of works is required between now and the proclamation of the Bill to ensure the Municipality is ready to implement the changes. Staff will report to Council at the appropriate time to address any procedural and policy changes that may be required of us. Respectfully submitted, Reviewed by, Franklin Wu, M.C.I.P., R.P.P., W. H. Stockwell Director of Planning Chief Administrative and Development Officer FW*jip November 22, 1995