Will Smart legislation result in smarter decisions? Burlington has a number of opportunities to make smarter decisions.

News 100 redBy Pepper Parr

December 7, 2015

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The province passed legislation last week giving residents a greater say in how their communities grow and to provide municipalities with more opportunities to fund community services like transit and recycling.

The Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, 2015, which reforms the Development Charges Act and the Planning Act, will:

Help municipalities recover more money to pay for transit services and waste diversion.
It will be interesting to see just what the Legislation has to say and what gets produced in terms of regulations.
Give residents a meaningful say in how their communities grow by requiring municipalities to look at opportunities to better involve residents in the planning process for new developments and enhancing a planning tool that will be developed with resident and stakeholder input

Adi fence marth lking south

Is putting a 26 storey structure on this piddling little piece of land a “smart” decision? The city may find that it is powerless to stop it from happening – how did that happen?

How will meaningful be defined and how will it be enforced? Burlington doesn’t have much in the way of a solid track record when it comes to listening to its citizens.  The city’s treasurer announced at a Standing committee meeting recently that the public would be “informed” about the budget but that they would not be “engaged”. Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward was the only Council member to pick up on that comment. Informing instead of engaging is not likely to go down all that well with people who pay attention to what happens at city hall.

Being concerned about how opinions are heard on the Smart Growth initiative is then a concern.

The provincial report adds that the legislation will:

Promote and protect green spaces by encouraging more municipalities to develop plans that help determine the need for parkland in the municipality.

Escarpment - outcropping of rock

Half the city is rural – can we keep it that way – and for how long?

Close to 50% of the city’s land mass is above Dundas and Hwy 407 – a no go area for significant development. We have plenty of parkland and our system of trails is to be envied.

It goes further: It will

Help municipalities resolve potential planning disputes earlier at the local level, such as through alternative dispute resolution, to reduce the involvement of the Ontario Municipal Board in local disputes .

Where was this when we needed it? Could it be made retroactive and apply to the current dispute with the ADI development Group who are currently tearing the heart of out the Official Plan and putting the zoning bylaws through a ringer – and we seem powerless to stop them.

The Act will:

Make the planning and appeals process more predictable by extending the review of new municipal official plans – plans that lay out how municipalities will grow and develop – to 10 years, instead of five.

It is probably going to take Burlington more than five years to complete the plan currently being reviewed.

The Act will:

Make the development charges system – a system for municipalities to help cover the costs necessary for growth from developers – more predictable, transparent and accountable by creating clearer reporting requirements for capital projects that municipalities are financing through development charges

Make the collection and use of money paid by developers for higher and denser developments, as well as for parkland, more transparent and accountable

Ted McMeekin, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and one of the best friends Burlington has at Queen’s Park said: “We want to grow Ontario’s communities in a way that creates vibrant towns, cities and regions. The Smart Growth for Our Communities Act provides the people of Ontario with a transparent and predictable system for planning and managing growth within their communities.”

Mary Lou Tanner

Newly appointed city planner Mary Lou Tanner – has a thick file to work from – moving things forward is going to keep her busy, busy.

Municipalities use official plans and zoning bylaws to plan for and control development. The new act is based on input from across Ontario including more than 20 public workshops and stakeholder meetings as well as more than 1,200 submissions on the land use planning and appeal system and the development charges system.

There will be a lot more to say about this piece of legislation once we have had an opportunity and hear what MPP Eleanor McMahon and newly minted city planner Mary Lou Tanner have to say.

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