August 14, 2017
Provincial Planning Policy Branch
Ministry of Municipal Affairs
777 Bay Street, 13th floor
Toronto, Ontario MSG 2E5
RE: Bill 139 (Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017)
Dear Ministers:
At a recent meeting of our executive board we unanimously endorsed the then draft submission of the brief from the Federation of North Toronto Residents Associations (FONTRA) dated August 4, 2017.
Our organization was founded 17 years ago, in part, over the frustration felt by community and neighbourhood associations from across Ontario over the use of the OMB tribunals by the development industry to overturn local official plans and even provincial policies. This was accomplished by developers taking advantage of procedural changes over the years at the OMB: changes which favoured “expert” evidence that less well-funded respondents (and even some local authorities) lacked the money and resources to challenge; challenges to official plans where some commissioners gave the developer backed appellants carte blanche to rewrite parts of an OP without any community consultation or input from local councils; and the lack of consistency in OMB decisions due to the Board’s overall disregard of precedent and therefore the lack of any context or judicial restraint in some of the Board’s decisions.
While the FONTRA submission does not agree with all of the proposed changes in the Bill and suggests various changes, the Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods believes that the proposed Local Planning Appeal Tribunal will, in the words of the FONTRA writers, “… [introduce} hearing procedures that will put residents and property owners on more of an equal footing with developers in making their concerns heard.”
Our organization remains hopeful that this vision of “equal footing” among everyone involved in planning controversies in this province will remain intact following your considerations of submissions like this one from neighbourhood groups from across Ontario.
Thank you for your attention and consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Archie Campbell
President
4 August 2017
VIA E-MAIL: OM*******@*****io.ca
Hon. Bill Mauro, Minister of Municipal Affairs
Hon. Yasir Naqvi, Attorney General
Provincial Planning Policy Branch
Ministry of Municipal Affairs
777 Bay Street, 13th floor Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2E5
Re: Bill 139 (Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017)
Dear Ministers:
The Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations (“FoNTRA”) is an umbrella organization representing over 30 residents’ associations in central Toronto concerned with planning and development issues that affect our member organizations.
FoNTRA commends the Government for introducing Bill 139. We strongly support the creation of a new tribunal (the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal) to hear appeals of municipal planning decisions. We strongly support the abolition of de novo hearings and applaud the introduction of hearing procedures that will put residents and property owners on more of an equal footing with developers in being able to make their concerns heard. We also support proposed changes that will have the effect of limiting the torrent of site-specific applications for official plan amendments that have overcome the municipal planning process in Toronto.
While supporting the thrust of the proposed legislation, we have substantial concerns about some of the proposed changes. We attach a brief that summarizes our general support for the bill and specifies our concerns.
Of particular concern is the different proposed tribunal powers and hearing procedures set out for ‘second round’ appeals of municipal decisions that have been successfully appealed to the tribunal. We believe as a fundamental principle that municipal planning decisions must be made by elected representatives. If a municipal council’s response to a successful appeal does not, in the tribunal’s judgment, respond adequately to the tribunal’s first-round rejection of the council’s initial decision, then at a minimum the municipality should have the right to appeal the tribunal’s second-round decision to the Minister so that elected representatives at the provincial level have the final say.
Beyond this, we also have concerns about the limitations on appeal rights set out in the proposed legislation. While we strongly favor the elimination of rights to make site-specific applications for official plan amendments that are not supported by the municipality, we do not support restrictions on the rights of citizens and developers to appeal municipal decisions.
These and other concerns are set out in detail in the attached brief. Recommendations for legislative changes to Bill 139 are set out in an appendix.
Once again, we support the general thrust of the reforms that would be introduced by Bill 139. The reforms are long overdue and can only be applauded.
Sincerely yours,
Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations
Cathie Macdonald
Co-Chair FoNTRA
57 Duggan Avenue
Toronto Ontario M4V 1Y1
Geoff Kettel
Co-Chair FoNTRA
129 Hanna Road
Toronto Ontario M4G 3N6
Copies:
Hon. Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario and MPP, Don Valley West
Mr. Patrick Brown, Leader of the Official Opposition, Leader, Progressive Conservative Party
Ms. Andrea Horwath, Leader, New Democratic Party
Toronto MPPs
Dr. Bruce Krushelnicki, Executive Chair, Environment and Land Tribunals Ontario
Mayor John Tory
Members, Toronto City Council
Ms. Jennifer Keesmaat, Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division
FoNTRA Members and Others
19 December 2017
VIA E-MAIL: ke**********@*****io.ca
Mr. Ken Petersen, Manager
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Local Government and Planning Policy Division
777 Bay Street, Floor 13
Toronto Ontario, M5G 2E5
Regulations to Prescribe Transition Provisions for Bill 139 – (EBR Registry Number 013-1788)
Dear Mr. Petersen:
The Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations (“FoNTRA”) has reviewed the proposed new regulation under the Planning Act to prescribe transitional provisions for Bill 139 with great interest and agrees with all of them with one notable exception: The proposed ability to file an appeal to be still consid- ered by the Ontario Municipal Board even after Royal Assent and before the Proclamation Date (which remains unknown at this time), in FoNTRA’s view, would be unfair and only create confusion.
All appeals filed after Royal Assent on 12 December 2017 should be considered under the new rules by the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal regardless of the date of complete application.
A further delayed transition date denies due process to residents who already struggle with limited re- sources to appropriately consider the avalanche of new applications within the stipulated 180 days. Fur- thermore, the time period of more than six (6) months, between the introduction of Bill 139 on 30 May 2017 and Royal Assent on 12 December 2017, provided more than sufficient lead time for any develop- ments in the approval pipe line for an informed choice on the preferred appeals venue.
Sincerely Yours,
Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations
Cathie Macdonald
Co-Chair FoNTRA
57 Duggan Avenue
Toronto Ontario M4V 1Y1
Geoff Kettel
Co-Chair FoNTRA
129 Hanna Road
Toronto Ontario M4G 3N6
Copies:
Hon. Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario and MPP, Don Valley West
Hon. Bill Mauro, Minister of Municipal Affairs
Hon. Yasir Naqvi, Attorney General
Hon. Michael Coteau, MPP, Don Valley East
Hon. Eric Hoskins, MPP, St. Paul’s
Hon. David Zimmer, MPP, Willowdale
Mr. Mike Colle, MPP, Eglinton-Lawrence
Mayor John Tory and Toronto City Council