Three appeals have been filed by developers or their agents to the town’s zoning bylaw amendment over the past 30 days, which now makes it unlikely the town will lift its development moratorium by April 26.
In a news release put out to media on Thursday afternoon, the town announced it had received three appeals to the amendment, which, town staff said, must pass before the interim control bylaw is lifted.
The interim control bylaw puts a moratorium on new development in Collingwood, but some exemptions have been granted through council approval and an application process.
“Staff will be providing legal and technical advice to council on next steps once the scope and nature of the appeals is better understood. Next steps may include consideration of additional exemptions to the interim control bylaw,” noted the release from the town.
When contacted for further comment, town officials said this means it is unlikely the interim control bylaw would be lifted on-schedule.
“It is unlikely that the three appeals will be withdrawn or resolved by April 26,” said Christa Carter, manager of public relations and communications.
The three appeals received by the town are:
- Amber Stewart Law on behalf of John Welton (John Welton Custom Homebuilding Ltd., operating as Sunvale Homes)
- Aird & Berlis on behalf of 2554281 Ontario Ltd (Address: 121 Hume Street) *was granted an exemption from the interim control bylaw
- Aird & Berlis on behalf of Crestpoint Real Estate (Blue Mountain) Inc – Blue Mountain Centre (Address: 2 and 6 Old Mountain Road and 5, 7 and 15 Balsam Street) *was granted an exemption from the interim control bylaw.
Town council passed an interim control bylaw in April 2021 after staff announced the current water treatment plant could not produce enough water to meet the expected demand caused by growth over the next five years leading up to the planned expansion of the water treatment plant.
At the time of the vote, the town indicated it was a one-year moratorium with the possibility of another year's extension while the town worked on new policies for allocating water to development.
Among those new policies is a three-part framework for allocating town services to new development as part of the application process.
One of those parts, the zoning bylaw amendment, will provide the town with an ultimate safeguard where building permits cannot be issued unless adequate availability of water and wastewater capacity is confirmed by the municipality.
The three appeals to the zoning bylaw amendment at the Ontario Land Tribunal now put a halt on lifting the development freeze. The Planning Act dictates that the control bylaw (and therefore the development freeze) will continue to be in effect until the appeal is handled.
SEE MORE: Council, staff work through last stages of policy before lifting development freeze
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