Ontario’s Bill 60, the Fighting Delays and Building Faster Act has received Royal Assent and is now law. Perth’s planning staff reported on one section that raises concerns. The Act intends to streamline Municipal Official Plans as Queen’s Park believes they are cumbersome, complicated and vary widely between municipalities.
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is proposing to produce a simplified and standardized Official Plan to speed up the development of homes and infrastructure.
At their recent committee meeting, Perth’s Planner Joanna Bowes voiced her concerns to council.
The government has started consultations around simplifying and standardizing official plans across Ontario: this could include prescribing a uniform structure/format, limiting the length (e.g., a max page or word-count limit), standardizing land-use designations (residential, mixed-use, employment, etc.), and reducing or eliminating site-specific or secondary plans.
If implemented, this would significantly reduce local variation and policy detail; essentially trading locality-specific planning for province-wide consistency. Joanna says it could substantially effect future development.
Analysts warn that the MMAH’s minister will gain significant discretion and can override or bypass some of the policy alignment that municipalities normally must follow.
Story by Brian Turner