A new set of town rules that would see inactive development applications closed may have had a hiccup, but are now back on-track.
In June, during a committee of the whole meeting, the town’s planning staff first pitched a new process for closing developer application files that have been inactive for four months as a way for the town to mitigate risk over new provincial planning rules that require the town to refund application fees for applications that take too long.
However at a council meeting two weeks following to finalize the decision, a deputation by Brittany Robertson, president of the Georgian Triangle Development Institute (GTDI) called the proposed changes “extremely problematic,” asking council to reconsider. At that time, councillors passed a motion to refer the matter back to staff to consult with the development community.
The town’s CAO Sonya Skinner and Mayor Yvonne Hamlin met with representatives from GTDI and the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) this past summer to iron out concerns from those groups.
Amendments made to the bylaw and policy based on that input include applying the dormant file closure policy to site plans only, looking into a file reactivation fee and bringing forward old files for a decision point. Also, dormant files will now be defined as ones that have been inactive for six months, rather than four months as was first proposed.
“While GTDI and BILD have questions around the legality of file closure, the town solicitor’s advice remains unchanged and staff provided approximately a dozen examples of other municipalities that have similar processes in place, many of which are in the GTA,” the town's planning director Summer Valentine noted in her report to councillors.
“From our conversations, I gathered that these changes would make a difference,” said Skinner on Monday. “It was a very positive conversation with the local development community.”
Currently, the town has no formal process to close files that have been dormant, nor does it have a definition for what constitutes a dormant file.
Based on the staff proposal that was presented to council’s committee of the whole on June 5, a dormant file would be defined as one with four consecutive months of inactivity on the applicant’s end. Staff would also send a warning to the applicant after three months of inactivity warning them of the closure policy and their application status. A file would not be considered inactive if an applicant was waiting on information or comments from the town.
Being able to close dormant files and require reapplication from the developer also helps make sure applications are reviewed against current planning policies and standards. A development application that takes a long time may also come with reviews that are no longer appropriate based on the community values and priorities, as well as municipal planning bylaws, of the day.
According to Ontario legislation that took effect Jul 1, 2023, municipalities have 60 days to make a decision on a plan of subdivision application, 90 days for a zoning bylaw amendment, and 120 days for an official plan amendment. After those deadlines, the applicant is eligible for a refund of the application fees ranging from 50 to 100 per cent depending on how many days pass without a decision.
Back in June, town staff estimated there were between five and 10 planning application files that would be considered dormant under the proposed system.
During discussion on Monday, Deputy Mayor Tim Fryer said he was happy to hear conversations with the development community were positive and ongoing.
“This is something that is going to be a work-in-progress – we knew that all along,” he said.
The committee voted unanimously in favour of the new process as amended. Coun. Kathy Jeffery and Coun. Deb Doherty were absent. The decision will need to be ratified at the next regular meeting of council.
If approved, the new bylaws would go into effect March 4, 2024 to provide the development community time to take action on dormant files or to request voluntarily closure.
Town staff have said they will also notify the proponents with existing dormant site plan control files of the changes.
