With her curiosity piqued, a Collingwood councillor has asked for a staff report on the use of controversial Minister’s Zoning Orders for affordable housing.
On Monday night (Dec. 20) during their regular council meeting, Coun. Kathy Jeffery put forward a motion for council to direct staff to investigate and report back on the ability of the municipality to use a Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) to expedite bringing more affordable housing to Collingwood. Notice of the motion was provided during the Dec. 13 meeting.
“There was some reaction this past week not understanding that this is just an educational piece to have an understanding as to how communities in Ontario were able to use MZOs to generate 3,700 long-term care beds,” said Jeffery.
“The curious side of me wanted to know if there’s any benefit to municipalities using MZOs for affordable housing.”
A Minister’s Zoning Order is a tool under the provincial Planning Act that can be used by developers or municipalities to apply for an override to change zoning in order for specific development to proceed. The orders are typically reserved to fast-track key infrastructure, which has included seniors housing and long-term care development in some cases.
MZOs are approved by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and applications must be accompanied by a supporting council resolution in order to be considered for approval. They cannot be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal, formerly the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).
The provincial government has dealt with widespread criticism that the use of MZOs is a method to bypass critical planning measures such as environmental studies and public consultation.
“They always say we have lots of tools in the toolbox but I don’t want to leave any stone unturned in terms of understanding the tools and when we can use them,” said Jeffery. “I would like council to have a better understanding of how to use them in addition to the other tools we have at our disposal because the Official Plan policies seem to be too slow.”
“If they can do it for long-term care, why can’t we do it for affordable housing?” said Jeffery.
Coun. Deb Doherty spoke against the motion, calling it a “slippery slope.”
“I don’t see how this order could, in any way, improve on the tools we have in our toolbox and expedite any development in a way that is going to be any quicker than what we can do with our own resources,” said Doherty.
“In December, the Auditor General called out MZOs as undermining the land-use process,” she said. “I believe that, given all the downsides, and given all the requests for staff reports and other work from our staff, I don’t understand why we would even be asking for this additional work.”
Coun. Yvonne Hamlin said that in hearing from developers, it can take upwards to 10 years to get a development site rezoned, which could put the town in a bad situation on the affordable housing front.
“We don’t have to undermine the public process,” said Hamlin. “I would like to know more.”
Council voted in favour of requesting staff to report back on the use of Minister’s Zoning Orders by a vote of 5-1, with Coun. Deb Doherty opposed. Coun. Tina Comi and Coun. Bob Madigan were absent from the meeting.
