Housing shortfall, costs and affordability

[ZEBuilder]

Has anyone analyzed what are the main reasons for going the OLT? 

I thought that at least a certain number were because Cities ran out of time on the limits to review projects.  I have not seen anything that talks about whether municipal staff levels have increased to account for the increased requests for development approvals.  If municipal staffing levels have not increased because Cities are not able to pay for the additional staff to handle more complicated applications, then that's a problem. Are the fees that applicants pay for reviews intended to cover the cost of staff time to process the review?  If they are, have they been updated to reflect true staff costs?

There's generally been 3 main reasons for appeals to the OLT in Waterloo Region and while they do typically relate to the timing of applications the same appeals can happen even if the city refuses the application since the Planning Act allows developers to appeal refusals. Some cities have issues with passing anything (Waterloo/Cambridge) however that does not mean there is a staffing issue, it more so allows for the exploitation of a loop hole. When you appeal to the OLT you'll say failure to make a decision but hearings generally take a year or more to happen, typically two. This time between appeal and a hearing allows the developer and city to still work with each other to find common ground without having to go to a hearing which results in settlements (93-99 Benton, one of the Bridgeport projects in Waterloo). In some cases cities may very well have staffing issues but in more than one case it's to allow for that extra time beyond the provincially mandated 90 or 120 days for a decision. I know Kitchener has increased staffing levels to accommodate for the influx of applications they were seeing, there has also been internal changes with the Region losing planning power with staff movements there as well. From my understanding fees are collected solely for the purpose of paying for review however I'm not involved in that side of applications so I don't know that answer.

When you analyze any application you send it to varying internal bodies (Transportation, Engineering, Parks, Enova Power, Utilities, WCDSB, WRDSB, MTO, etc), you have to at least in a municipality like Kitchener cross reference not only Kitchener's OP but ROPA 6 as well which means you're really doing twice the work, then your zoning, do your own analysis, meetings with the applicant/public, public comments etc. It does unfortunately take some time and when applications are asking for numerous changes you tend to look at them individually and as a whole which does add complexity. If anyone has read ROPA 6, Kitchener's OP, or even Kitchener's zoning bylaws (2019-051, 85-1, 2024-065) it's not a very long read, so simply put it takes time to look wholistically at an application and if you don't have enough staff it would simply be impossible.

I'll mention some of the common appeals in Waterloo Region to the OLT below and provide some projects for reference, a lot of the time projects appeal via 34 (11) and 22 (7) at the same time.

Section 34 (11) Planning Act, this applies only to Zoning Amendments, anything with a joint Official Plan Amendment falls under 22 (7).
"where an application to the council for an amendment to a by-law passed under this section or a predecessor of this section is refused or the council fails to make a decision on it within 90 days after the receipt by the clerk of the application"

Project: 4611 King St E (Refusal), 475-485 King St N (Failure of decision), 435 King St N and 450-460 Weber St N (Failure of decision), Hespeler/Langs development(Failure of decision)

Section 22 (7) Planning Act (This is when a municipality fails to grant approval, so Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge not allowing approval)
"When a person or public body requests an amendment to the official plan of a municipality or planning board, any of the following may appeal to the Tribunal in respect of all or any part of the requested amendment, by filing a notice of appeal with the clerk of the municipality or the secretary-treasurer of the planning board, if one of the conditions set out in subsection (7.0.2) is met

1.  The council or the planning board fails to adopt the requested amendment within 120 days after the day the request is received.

2.  A planning board recommends a requested amendment for adoption and the council or the majority of the councils fails to adopt the requested amendment within 120 days after the day the request is received.

3.  A council, a majority of the councils or a planning board refuses to adopt the requested amendment.

4.  A planning board refuses to approve a requested amendment under subsection 18 (1)

Projects: 4611 King St E, 475-485 King St N, 435 King St N and 450-460 Weber St N, Hespeler/Langs development

Section 17 (40) Planning Act (This is when an approval authority fails to grant approval, before the Region was stripped of planning powers this was them, for example the city may have approved something but then the Region also has to give approval and then this could be used)

"If the approval authority fails to give notice of a decision in respect of all or part of a plan within 120 days after the day the plan is received by the approval authority, any of the following may appeal to the Tribunal with respect to all or any part of the plan in respect of which no notice of a decision was given by filing a notice of appeal with the approval authority"

Projects: 22 Weber St W

If you look more broadly at Ontario you tend to find some cases with the following:

Section 29 (11) Heritage Act
"Any person who objects to the by-law may appeal to the Tribunal by giving the Tribunal and the clerk of the municipality, within 30 days after the date of publication under paragraph 4 of subsection (8), a notice of appeal setting out the objection to the by-law and the reasons in support of the objection, accompanied by the fee charged by the Tribunal"

Projects: hasn't yet happened in KW from my recollection

Section 41 (12) Planning Act
"If the municipality fails to approve the plans or drawings referred to in subsection (4) within 60 days after they are received by the municipality, the owner may appeal the failure to approve the plans or drawings to the Tribunal by filing with the clerk of the local municipality a notice of appeal accompanied by the fee charged by the Tribunal"

Projects:10 Duke St W (fail to approve)

Section 34 (19) Planning Act
"Not later than 20 days after the day that the giving of notice as required by subsection (18) is completed, any of the following may appeal to the Tribunal by filing with the clerk of the municipality a notice of appeal setting out the objection to the by-law and the reasons in support of the objection, accompanied by the fee charged by the Tribunal:

1.  The applicant.

2.  A specified person who, before the by-law was passed, made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to the council.

2.1  A public body that, before the by-law was passed, made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to the council.

2.2  The registered owner of any land to which the by-law would apply, if, before the by-law was passed, the owner made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to the council."

Projects: Growing Together West (courtesy of Vive)