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Bill 73: Smart Growth
for Our Communities Act, 2015
Leo F. Longo
OSUM Conference and Trade Show
“Building Better Communities”
May 1, 2015
Bill 73
• Title of Legislation: Smart Growth for Our Communities
Act, 2015.
• First Reading: March 5, 2015.
• The Bill amends the Development Charges Act, 1997
and the Planning Act.
• Certain provisions proposed to take effect as of Royal
Assent; others only later on a date to be proclaimed.
• Bill permits transitional matters to be addressed by
way of regulation.
Government Backgrounder
The proposed Planning Act changes, if passed, would:
• Ensure residents are better consulted at the beginning of
the planning process for new developments.
• Encourage residents to provide feedback on the future of
their communities.
• Help municipalities resolve potential planning disputes
earlier, reducing involvement of the Ontario Municipal
Board in local disputes.
• Extend the review of new municipal official plans to 10
years, instead of the current five-year cycle.
Government Backgrounder
Changes to the Development Charges Act, 1997 if
passed, would:
• Help municipalities recover costs for transit services
and waste diversion.
• Create clear reporting requirements for capital
projects municipalities financed though development
charges, as well as section 37 of the Planning Act
related to density bonusing and parkland dedication.
Planning Act Revisions
Give residents a greater, more meaningful say in how their
communities grow by:
• Giving municipalities and community groups an enhanced
tool, called the community planning permit system, to
encourage an innovative way to plan and address local
needs. The development of the community permit planning
system would include residents and other stakeholders.
• Making sure residents are involved at the beginning of the
planning process and have a say in the future of their
communities. Municipalities would need to set out in their
official plans how and when the public would be consulted,
and would also need to explain how public input affected
their planning decisions.
• Including citizen representatives in municipal planning
advisory committees so council can benefit from their views.
Planning Act Revisions
Make the planning and appeals process more predictable by:
• Requiring reviews of new, comprehensive municipal official
plans every 10 years, instead of the current five-year cycle.
• Providing municipalities with more control and stability over
their planning documents. Once a municipality establishes a
new official plan, it would be frozen and therefore not subject
to new appeals for two years unless changes are initiated by
the municipality. A community planning permit system once
established by a municipality would not be subject to any
appeals of private applications for five years.
• Clearly defining what constitutes a minor variance (a small
change from a zoning by-law).
Planning Act Revisions
Give municipalities more independence and make it
easier to resolve disputes by:
• Providing an option for an additional 90 days to
resolve issues involving official plans and
amendments.
• Allowing more opportunities to resolve disputes
locally to make it easier and more efficient to resolve
disputes without going before the Ontario Municipal
Board. For example, municipalities would be allowed
time to engage in alternative dispute resolution and
the ability to appeal some items would be removed.
DCA, 1997 Revisions
Help municipalities fund growth:
• The amount of capital costs that municipalities
can recover for transit services would be
increased.
• Municipalities would be allowed to recover
capital costs for waste diversion.
DCA, 1997 Revisions
Make the development charges system more
predictable, transparent and accountable:
• Municipalities would be required to follow reporting
requirements that reflect best practices and detail to the
community how money from development charges is
spent.
• The government would create better reporting
requirements for municipalities collecting money under
section 37 of the Planning Act related to density
bonusing, and related to parkland dedications, which
details how the funds are spent.
• Development charges would be payable at the time the
first building permit was issued for a building so that
developers could be certain of the cost.
DCA, 1997 Revisions
Predictability, transparency and accountability:
• Municipalities would be required to better integrate
how development charges fit with long-term planning,
including local asset management plans.
• The government will help municipalities identify and
share their best practices on using development
charges to address local planning and financial
objectives.
• There would be more stringent reporting and greater
oversight of any funds or municipal charges on new
developments that fall outside what is allowed in
current legislation.
DCA, 1997 Revisions
Protecting and Promoting Greenspaces:
• The proposed changes promote the development of
compact communities that make the best use of
resources. To encourage parkland and greenspace,
more municipalities would need to put in place a parks
plan to direct some of these resources. The plan would
involve input from school boards and community
members.
• Municipalities would need to consider strategic
development charges in different areas within their
communities.
“Gold Mine” for Municipalities
1) 10 year OP review
2) 5 year / 2 year appeal freeze
3) Mediation pause re: OMB record transmittal
4) Restricted appeals to OMB
5) Transit services added to DCA – no capital cost
reduction
“Bear Traps” for Municipalities
1) Mandated explanation of submissions on municipal
decisions
2) Definition of minor variance – new “tests”?
3) “Parks plan” requirement re: use of alternative
parkland standard
4) New s. 59.1 MMAH DCA investigation power
5) Stringent reporting of DC, s. 37 and parkland reserves
Thank You.
Leo F. Longo
Partner
T
E
416.865.7778
llongo@airdberlis.com
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