HomeMy WebLinkAboutPD-234-92 THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF NEWCASTLE
DN: OPR.GPA REPORT
Meeting General Purpose and Administration Committee I ile#
Date Monday, November 16, 1992 Res
L3y-Law 9
Report# --P11--Z'14-92 Fileg
Subject DISCUSSION PERTAINING TO TIME TABLE FOR COMPLETION OF THE
TOWN OF NEWCASTLE OFFICIAL PLAN REVIEW PROCESS
Recommendations:
It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and
Administration Committee recommend to Council the following:
1. THAT Report PD-234-92 be received for information.
1. BACKGROUND:
At its meeting held on November 2, 1992, members of Council
expressed a concern that the Official Plan Review process may not
be completed before the term of this Council. Staff share the
same concern and therefore, it is prudent to present a report to
Council explaining the difficulty with the current workload and
suggest possible solutions to speed up the process.
2. CURRENT PLANNING DEPARTMENT WORKLOAD:
2 . 1 The Manager of Strategic Planning Branch is the project manager
for the Town of Newcastle Official Plan Review. There is one (1)
Senior Planner and two (2) Planners working full time on this
project. In addition, Cindy Strike devotes about half of her
time in the Official Plan works and the balance of her time spent
on economic development. Due to the magnitude of the Official
Plan works, all three (3) Planners and two (2) Planning
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REPORT NO. : PD-234-92 PAGE 2
Technicians in the Development Review Branch have also assisted
in various aspects of the project. In summary, all the resources
in the Planning Department have been mobilized to work on the
Official Plan.
2 . 2 However, inasmuch as staff is giving top priority to the Official
Plan works, reality is such that the regular works still require
attention. To assist a better understanding of the situation,
these regular workloads are summarized as follows:
2 . 2 . 1 Strategic Planning Branch
(a) The Strategic Planning Branch has the statutory
responsibility of processing and reviewing of all
Official Plan amendment applications. These
applications are often complex and require significant
time in the review of technical documents and sometimes
ongoing discussion and dialogue with the applicants and
other government agencies. Major outstanding amendment
applications including Laidlaw landfill proposal,
Markborough's shopping centre proposal, B.F. I. medical
waste incineration proposal, Valiant Property shopping
centre proposal, Tyrone hamlet expansion proposal,
Highway 2 Courtice Corridor Amendment, as well as
other miscellaneous amendments. If any of these
proposed amendments end up before the Ontario Municipal
Board, it would mean many working hours need to be
committed by the planners in preparing for and
attending hearings.
(b) In recent months, there have been several Provincial
Planning Initiatives that require staff to spend
significant time in the understanding and digesting
these planning initiatives. Often follow-up works such
as reporting to Committee and Council, participating in
the consultation process etc. are required. These
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REPORT NO. : PD-234-92 PAGE 3
recent initiatives include the Sewell Commission on
Planning Reform, Wetland Policies, Oak Ridges Moraine
Study, Land use and Settlement Policy, Accessory
Apartment proposed legislation, G.T.A. initiatives
etc. , and the list most likely will grow as the
Provincial Government appears to be getting more
involved in planning matters. Sometimes, it is almost
impossible to keep up, particularly when the Province
did not give the municipality sufficient time to
respond.
(c) There are also many other planning tasks performed by
the Strategic Planning Branch including ongoing
planning data collection and updating, assistance to
L.A.C.A.C. , prepare neighbourhood plans for Courtice,
liaise with Regional Planning Department and Ministry
of Municipal Affairs, monitor the progress of the 1991
Durham Regional Official Plan plus other miscellaneous
planning works as directed by Council from time to
time.
(d) Because of the Official Plan Review works and all the
other works noted above, there are several projects
which are currently not being attended to:
• implement CAUSE Study recommendation;
• prepare gateway beautification program;
• report on feasibility of an Environmental Advisory
Committee; and
• deal with Skip Ambrose's proposed composting
facilities.
2.2.2 Development Review Branch
(a) This Branch consists of 1 Manager, 1 Senior Planner, 3
Planners, and 2 Planning Technicians, and they are
primarily responsible for the implementation of the
various statutory provisions of the Planning Act.
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REPORT NO. : PD-234-92 PAGE 4
(b) Primary functions include the review and process of
plan of subdivision, plan of condominium, neighbourhood
plan amendment, rezoning and site plan approval, land
severance applications, and applications to the
Committee of Adjustment. The review process of these
applications often involve negotiation, discussion,
review technical reports, handling public inquiries,
report writing, preparation of agreements etc. Top
priority is given to industrial and commercial
applications that do not require changes to the
Official Plan.
The following table illustrates the volume of various
types of applications that were evaluated and processed
by the Development Review Branch.
DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION ACTIVITY
Applications Carried-over Total Active
Received in 1992 Active Applications
(to end of Oct. ) Applications (as of Oct. 92)
Plans of Subdivision 5 82 85
Plans of Condominium 1 4 5
Official Plan Amendments 13 90 103
Site Plan Applications 27 30 57
Rezoning Applications 22 141 163
Committee of Adjustment 58 N/A N/A
Land Div. Applications 44 N/A N/A
Zoning Clearance Letters 1,842 N/A N/A
Building Permit Clear. 821 N/A N/A
Part Lot Control Applic. 9 N/A N/A
Subdivisions Registered 4 N/A N/A
(c) The Development Review Branch also prepares and
administers subdivision and site plan agreements.
These legal documents require a lot of attention to
detail and is extremely time consuming.
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REPORT NO. : PD-234-92 PAGE 5
(d) Another time consuming aspect of the Development Review
Branch's work is the handling of enquiries. These
include zoning enquiries, pre-development proposal
consultation, citizen enquiries, lawyer's requests for
zoning and subdivision compliance etc. These tasks are
not complex but the volume has taken up a lot of staff
time.
(e) There are other miscellaneous works performed by the
Staff in the Development Review Branch. These include:
• process street name change;
• enforce site plan agreement;
• administer subdivision agreement including
collection of development charges;
• conduct crossing guard need study;
• building permit clearance; and
• attend O.M.B. hearings on development
applications.
(f) Due to the current workload, several tasks have not
been attended to including:
• review Sign By-law;
• prepare development charge pamphlet;
• review architectural control policy; and
• prepare development application procedure manual.
3. TENTATIVE TIMETABLE FOR THE OFFICIAL PLAN REVIEW PROCESS
3 . 1 Based on the current workloads discussed above and given the
existing staff resources, Staff estimate the timeframe for the
various stages of the Official Plan work as follows:
STAGES COMPLETION DATE
1. Background Research November, 1992
2 . Issues and Options June, 1993
3 . Goals and Policy Framework December, 1993
4. Draft Official Plan June, 1994
5. Recommended Official Plan November, 1994
3 . 2 The above timetable is a best estimate at this time and assuming
the outstanding works indicated previously, will be placed on
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REPORT NO. : PD-234-92 PAGE 6
hold. Notwithstanding, unforeseen circumstances could prolong
this timetable by consuming staff time at the expense of
completing the Official Plan works on a timely basis. For
example, major Ontario Municipal Board hearings or a surge in
development application activities will have an impact on the
timing of completion of the Official Plan.
4. EXAMINATION OF ALTERNATIVES TO SPEED UP THE PROCESS:
There are several options that can be implemented to speed up the
process. The pros and cons of each option are discussed below.
4 . 1 Hiring Additional Staff
This involves hiring a new Senior Planner at a cost of $50, 000.
annually including fringe benefits. There are several
disadvantages with this option. Firstly, the Department has no
physical space to accommodate another person. Secondly, to bring
a new personnel in the middle of the process may prove
ineffective in that the new personnel has not been involved in
the first stage of the work and will need a fair amount of time
to learn and understand the many planning problems peculiar to
Newcastle. Thirdly, it does not appear prudent to hire an
additional Planner in view of the current economic condition and
Council's desire for tight budget control.
4. 2 Hiring Consultant to Complete the Work
This option is very cost prohibitive and could cost anywhere
between $300, 000. to $500, 000. to complete the work. Although
it's an option, Staff would not recommend it at all. However,
there may be specific tasks at the latter stages of the process
that would require consultants e.g. developing and mapping land
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REPORT NO. : PD-234-92 PAGE 7
use plans, peer review of draft policies etc. Staff would prefer
to have this latter option opened where need arises.
4 . 3 Shifting Department Priorities
In order to speed up the process, planners in the Development
Review Branch have spent a fair amount of their time to do
Official Plan work. This has been done at the expense of
delaying the processing of development applications. Currently,
Council directed staff not to deal with development applications
in the new urban expansion area. This directive certainly helps.
However, there are still many development applications within the
existing designated urban areas. Staff cannot refuse to deal
with these development applications as the review and process of
development applications is a statutory responsibility vested
with the municipality through the Planning Act. On top of this
difficulty, developers are, by and large, very demanding and they
often place pressure on staff as well as on elected officials to
speed up the review process. Currently, the average time to
process a straight-forward rezoning application is between 6 to 9
months, not considered to be too long when taking into account of
the circulation process, public notice requirement, review and
report writing, plus lead time to place report on agenda.
Possible solution lies with further delaying the review and
processing of development proposals thereby freeing up more staff
time to do the Official Plan work. This is a workable solution
but Council's support and understanding is paramount.
The delay in processing development applications would not affect
subdivision agreement preparation and plan registration so as to
ensure there is no interruption in the delivery of lots for the
housing market. It also would not affect processing of
industrial or commercial applications which do not require
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REPORT NO. : PD-234-92 PAGE 8
amendment to the Official Plan. In addition, since the Town
currently has 4, 000 residential units in the draft approval
stage, any delay in processing development applications should
not cause concern that the Town may run short of residential lots
in the short-term.
4 .4 Overtime Work
This alternative has certain appeal and would help to speed up
the Official Plan review process particularly at critical
stages. However, provincial employment regulations on overtime
must be adhered to and effort should be made to avoid staff burn-
out. Nevertheless, this is a feasible solution and can be
implemented after approval of the 1993 Budget.
5. CONCLUSION:
In summary, there is no simple solution to expedite the Official
Plan review process. In an attempt to deliver the last stage of
the Official Plan Review process before the summer of 1994, Staff
will take the approach of using a combination of delaying
development applications and overtime work discussed previously.
Unless otherwise directed by Council, staff will proceed
accordingly and treat the Official Plan Review process as Number
One work priority of the Department.
Respectfully submitted, Recommended for presentation
to the Committee
Franklin Wu, M.C.I.P. Lawrence E. Ko stiff
Director of Planning Chief Administ ative
and Development Officer
FW*j ip
7 November 1992
549