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InfoSheet: Strong Communities (Planning Amendment) Act, 2004 (Bill 26)December 2004 Adobe Acrobat version (301K) On November 30, 2004 the Strong Communities (Planning Amendment) Act, 2004 (Bill 26) received Royal Assent. This Act amends the Planning Act. The following describes the amendments to the Planning Act: Amendments
that change appeal rights for applications which alter the boundaries of
“areas of settlement” or introduce new “areas of settlements”, effective
December 15, 2003
Previously, the Planning Act allowed appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) for all proposed amendments to official plans and zoning bylaws. Now, certain appeals have been removed. The following provisions are effective as of December 15, 2003. (See transition section of InfoSheet and Ontario Regulation 385/04 to determine which planning applications are affected.) Official Plan Amendments - Subsections 22(7.1), (7.2), (7.3), (7.4) The Planning Act removes the right to appeal an official plan amendment initiated by an applicant that proposes either to alter an “area of settlement” boundary or establish a new “area of settlement”. Specifically, appeals are removed where:
There is one exception where an applicant’s right of appeal is maintained. This exception involves a situation where a lower-tier municipality refuses or fails to adopt an application to alter an “area of settlement” boundary or establish a new “area of settlement”, but the application conforms to the official plan of the upper-tier municipality. Zoning Bylaw Amendments – Subsection 34(11.0.1) The Planning Act also removes the right to appeal an application for a zoning bylaw amendment that proposes to implement either an alteration to an “area of settlement” boundary or the establishment of a new “area of settlement”. The applicant may not appeal the refusal or a non-decision of the amendment. Definition of “area of settlement” – Subsection 1(1) A definition of “area of settlement” is added to subsection 1(1) of the Planning Act. The term “area of settlement” is defined to clarify what appeal rights are affected. Amendments
that remove time periods for giving public notice and holding the public
meeting for an Official Plan Amendment, effective Decembe15, 2003
Clauses 22(1)(b), 22(2)(b), 22(7)(a), 22(7)(b) Previously, the legislation required that council:
from the receipt of the complete application for an official plan amendment. Failure to meet the 45-day time period could have resulted in an appeal. The 45-day notice requirement and the related 65-day time period for holding a public meeting have been deleted. Applicants retain the right of appeal if an approval authority fails to make a decision within the new 180-day time-frame (except where the proposal involves a settlement boundary, as described previously). These provisions are effective as of December 15, 2003. (See transition section of InfoSheet and Ontario Regulation 385/04 to determine how planning applications are affected.) Amendments
regarding declarations that planning matters may affect a provincial
interest, effective November 30, 2004 (Royal Assent)
The Minister has the authority to declare that a matter before the OMB may adversely affect a provincial interest, regardless of when the application was submitted. This authority was previously in the Planning Act, and was removed in 1995. New subsections have been added to reinstate the ability of the Minister to exercise this authority. Matters before the OMB that may be affected may include official plans, official plan amendments, zoning bylaws/zoning bylaw amendments, including “holding” bylaws. The Minister must make the declaration of provincial interest at least 30 days before the hearing date. Once this action is taken, the Lieutenant Governor in Council (LGIC) has the authority to confirm, vary, or rescind the OMB decision on the matters. Where the declaration affects a zoning bylaw, the bylaw will not be deemed to have come into force on the day it was passed until a decision has been issued by the LGIC. Request by Minister to Amend Plan - Subsections 23(5), (6) The Planning Act continues to provide that where the Minister is of the opinion that a matter of provincial interest may be affected by an official plan, the Minister may request council of the municipality to adopt an amendment, or the Minister may make an amendment. The amendment may be referred to the OMB to determine whether the amendment should be made. Previously, a Board decision on such an amendment was final. The legislation now provides for the LGIC to confirm, vary or rescind the OMB decision. Amendments
to increase planning decision timelines, effective November 30, 2004
(Royal Assent)
The time has increased for planning authorities to decide on these types of planning applications before the applicant can appeal to the OMB. The increases in time allowed for planning authorities to decide on planning applications are as follows:
Amendments
to replace the phrase “shall have regard to” with “shall be consistent
with”, effective upon proclamation
Consistency with policy statements - Subsections 3(5), (6) Previously, these subsections provided that all municipal councils, local boards, ministers of the Crown, ministries, boards, commissions or agencies of the government, including the OMB, when exercising any authority or providing advice that affected a planning matter, were required to “have regard to” provincial policy statements issued under the Planning Act. The new subsections require that the decisions and advice of the above-noted land use-planning participants “shall be consistent with” provincial policy statements. These amendments will not come into effect until this section is proclaimed. Proclamation by the Lieutenant Governor is intended to coincide with the approval of a new Provincial Policy Statement. There may be a regulation dealing with the implementation of this new standard. Transition
Provisions effective November 30, 2004 (Ontario Regulation 385/04)
Transition provision – Section 70.4 A new section 70.4 has been added to the Planning Act enabling the Minister to make regulations dealing with transitional matters. A regulation has been made to provide direction on how the Strong Communities (Planning Amendment) Act, 2004 provisions will apply to planning applications. (See Ontario Regulation 385/04.) This regulation is effective as of November 30, 2004. The regulation provides:
This InfoSheet was developed to assist participants in the land-use planning process in understanding the Strong Communities (Planning Amendment) Act, 2004. The information in the InfoSheet should not be relied upon as a substitute for specialized legal or professional advice in connection with any particular matter. It is recommended that independent legal or professional advice be obtained when considering ongoing planning applications and determining the effect of the Strong Communities (Planning Amendment) Act, 2004. For more information contact: Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Municipal Services Offices: Central (Toronto) (416) 585-6226 or
1-800-668-0230
ISBN 0-7794-7460-0 |
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