After more than two years, the Town of Collingwood has lifted its moratorium on development, and replaced it with a new system for allocating water and wastewater services for building applications.
First put in place because the town was getting close to maximum capacity at the water treatment plant, the development freeze didn't prevent new buildings, but did tack on an extra application process in order to preserve the remaining water plant capacity.
Unallocated water capacity remains limited while work is underway to expand the existing water treatment plant, but staff, consultants and council have created and approved a new servicing allocation policy that will keep better track of the water requirements of buildings that have been granted permits.
On April 26, 2021, Collingwood council voted – not unanimously and after a seven-hour meeting– on a blanket “pause” of all new development, at staff’s urging, to protect a limited remaining supply of unallocated drinking water. At the time, it was supposed to be a one-year freeze to allow the town to come up with a new system for granting building permits that would include more consideration of available water servicing.
Building did continue after the moratorium was in place, but those wishing to build any kind of residential or commercial structure had to get an exemption from the interim control bylaw, which included an application process with town staff and approval by town council vote.
Town staff reported that building permits issued by the town reached a record high in 2021. The town granted 134 exemptions to the control bylaw, which translated to 1,225 building permits issued while the development freeze was in force.
While the control bylaw was supposed to be interim and last about a year, there were appeals filed against the town’s new service allocation policy intended to replace the moratorium.
The last of the three appeals was resolved and the town announced that as of July 19, 2023, the interim control bylaw causing the development pause has been lifted.
“Our servicing capacity allocation policy will continue to provide a clearly defined framework for the town and developers to work within to ensure sustainable and responsible development,” said Mayor Yvonne Hamlin in a news release.
The framework includes three different components governing development and the issuance of building permits in the Town of Collingwood.
Firstly, a zoning bylaw amendment requires adequate availability of water and wastewater be confirmed by the municipality before a building permit is issued.
Secondly, the servicing capacity allocation policy is now in effect, which uses a points system to assist town staff in scoring an application to determine whether it has enough merit to warrant water and wastewater capacity allocation, both of which are finite resources. The policy is a merit-based system that assigns points (out of a possible 95 points) to a development applying for a building permit based on the inclusion of elements in their proposal such as green technology, affordable housing, mixed uses, water conservation measures, employment generation, natural heritage protection, walkability, active transportation and intensification. New developments are expected to hit 50 per cent through the servicing allocation policy points system in order to be eligible for a building permit.
Finally, the town is also working on an update to its Official Plan, which is the overarching document that sets development priorities for the town.
According to the town’s news release, there was a reserve capacity of 1,837 cubic metres/day (also measured as 1,838 single-dwelling units) of drinking water capacity remaining as of January 1, 2023. On the wastewater side, there were 3,923 cubic metres/ day, or 3,865 single-dwelling units available on January 1. The next update for the reserve capacity is due in September.
Any builder with an approved exemption to the interim control bylaw will be contacted by town staff regarding the next steps for the project.
- With files from Jessica Owen
