BUILDING DURHAM

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks is hosting an engagement session on Ontario's proposed Land Use Compatibility Guide on Tuesday, June 1, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  The accompanying ERO posting can be found here outlining the details of the proposed Land Use Compatibility Guidelines changes

Interested members should register for the session and please direct any feedback to Alex Piccini, Manager of Government Relations, OHBA, to assist OHBA in developing an association response.  The deadline to submit comments on the ERO posting is July 3, 2021.

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks have posted proposal details for draft Regulations to support recent amendments to the Conservation Authorities Act.  Posted to the Environmental Registry of Ontario for public consultation until June 27^th, the proposal can be accessed via the following link: https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-2986 with additional detail found in the Consultation Guide accessible here.

On December 8, 2020, Bill 229, the Protect, Support and Recover from COVID-19 Act (Budget Measures), 2020, which made changes to both the Conservation Authorities Act and the Planning Act, received Royal Assent.  Those changes aim to:

• Improve consistency and transparency of the programs and services that CAs deliver;         
• Provide additional oversight for municipalities and the province; and
• Streamline CA permitting and land use planning reviews to increase accountability, consistency and transparency. 

Where We Are Now:

The MECP is now moving forward with the first of two phases of regulatory proposals to implement the changes detailing the requirements for programs and services (bullet one above), and how they should be implemented.  New regulations are being proposed to focus CAs on their code mandate by prescribing mandatory programs and services that they must provide, give municipalities greater control over what CA programs and services they will fund, and to require Community Advisory Boards.
Specifically, the first phase of proposals for the proposed regulations are focused on the following:

• Mandatory programs and services conservation authorities would be required to provide, including core watershed-based resource management strategies.
• A requirement for agreements between conservation authorities and their participating municipalities for the use of municipal levies to fund non-mandatory programs and services an authority determines are advisable in its jurisdiction
• The transition period to establish those agreements including an inventory of the authority’s programs and services, the consultation process with participating municipalities on the inventory, and steps taken to enter into these agreement(s) with participating municipalities for the use of municipal levies for these non-mandatory programs and services
• The consolidation of the current individual conservation authority ‘Conservation Area’ regulations made under Section 29 of the Conservation Authorities Act into one Minister’s regulation.  This would set out, for example, prohibited activities and activities requiring permits on conservation authority owned lands.
• Requirements for each conservation authority to establish a community advisory board to include members of the public, and how they may be governed.

Next Phase:
 
The second phase of proposed regulations under the Conservation Authorities Act, which the MECP will consult on next will include:

• Municipal levies governing the apportionment of conservation authority capital and operating expenses for mandatory programs and services and for non-mandatory programs and services under municipal agreement.
• Provisions pertaining to municipal appeals of conservation authority municipal levy apportionments, including who would hear those appeals.

Your Input: 

We welcome members to review the regulatory proposals and the Consultation Guide and send any comments to OHBA Manager of Government Relations, Alex Piccini apiccini@ohba.ca no later than Friday, June 18^th to assist in forming an association response.  We will also keep you informed as additional material comes forward.

Is Home Ownership Still a Reality?  Register Now!

Ontario’s current housing market is challenging many to reconsider home ownership, but we can’t ignore the elephant in the room, that Ontario continues to be a destination for more people and that means we need to continue to plan new communities and build more homes.

At this time, municipal and regional governments across Ontario are making their plans for the future of housing in their communities, and the RBC polling data gives us some insights into how #homebelievers are feeling about today’s housing market, and what they need in the future.

OHBA welcomes all members, municipal and regional representatives and government and elected officials to join OHBA for this important webinar as we dive into the recent RBC Spring Housing Poll and discuss why almost 40% of Ontarians under 40 have given up on the dream of owning a home. 

Register Here

The Durham Region Home Builders' Association has been working with the Town of Whitby over the last several months to create a Building Industry Liaison Team that will allow members of the building industry and municipal staff to meet and discuss issues, upcoming programs, plans and bylaws.

The first meeting is scheduled to take place this Fall, and attendance will be limited.  If you are interested in being a part of the Building Industry Liaison Team, please contact Stacey as soon as possible to be added to the list.

The Town of Whitby passed their new development charge bylaw at last night's council meeting.

Report FS 28-21 was brought forward and passed unanimously by council. Council also passed the new development charge bylaw.

The new rates are as follows:

The new development charge bylaw comes into effect on June 1, 2021.

Through work done by the stakeholder group organized by DRHBA, the rate increase for a single/semi was reduced by $7,551.  The group also ensured that needed infrastructure projects were included in the DC.

The Ontario Home Builders' Association (OHBA) is looking to connect with builder members warranty service departments to access the current COVID impacts on warranty service, the impact of virtual inspections and the conciliation processes, along with ongoing concerns regarding Tarion application of CPG or other warranty specific issues.

OHBA welcomes both freehold and condominium members to attend and participate.  

The session will be held on Friday, May 28, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Register for the session here.

The City of Oshawa is currently undergoing a parking study.  In September, IBI Group gave a presentation to members, and DRHBA followed up with this letter.

City staff have responded and provided the following answers to DRHBA's questions:

Q1:  Are there any other intensification areas other than those listed that could be considered for reduced parking standards (i.e. transit spines, or regional corridors such as Taunton Road, Harmony Road, Highway 2, Simcoe Street, etc.)?

 A1:  As part of an add-on requested by City of Oshawa staff the Citywide parking study is analyzing regional corridors and local corridors and providing recommendations regarding suggested required parking rates for residential uses in those areas.  As part of the planning exercise to follow the parking study, City staff may also consider whether local central areas and transit spines should also have reduced required parking for residential uses.  Attached is a composite map that indicates the areas looked at as mapped in the City’s Official Plan.

Q2:  With the proposal to increase private garage dimensions from 5.75m to 6.2m, will there be a grandfathering clause or any relief for those developments that are well into the building permit application and approval process with the City?

A2:  If the recommendation from IBI to increase garage dimensions from 2.75m to 3m by and 5.75m to 6.2m was to ultimately get implemented into the Zoning By-law and become a requirement; consideration of “grandfathering” developments that have been approved through the planning process or at the building permit process will have to be considered.   An example where the City did this previously is Article 6.2.2 in Zoning By-law 90-64 “Notwithstanding the regulations set out in Table 6.2 to the contrary, any and all single detached dwellings constructed or to be constructed on lots or parts of lots within a plan of subdivision registered after January 1, 1987 and zoned R1-C may have a minimum front yard depth of 6.0 m.” This is something that can be considered when the City moves forward with a zoning amendment, but would not necessarily be part of the parking study itself.

Q3:  What is considered to be multi-unit residential? Is it just apartments or does this include townhouses?

A3:  In the Zoning By-law permits a range of “multi-unit” residential uses, those uses, and other uses, were listed on slide 17 and 18 of the presentation to DRHBA.  If there are specific questions to specific uses staff would be happy to discuss.  To answer the question posed at this time, the only multi-unit residential use that would take the form of a townhouse would be stacked townhouses, which is considered and apartment building as defined by the Zoning By-law.

In addition to the response above the final parking study report is now available for review and comment here: Parking Study - City of Oshawa (esolutionsgroup.ca)

Please review and provide comments to Morgan Jones via email at mrjones@oshawa.ca.  If you have any questions about the amendments please direct them to Morgan as well via the email address above, or by phone at 905-436-3311 ext 2536. 

Comments are to be provided no later than June 4, 2021.

The Durham Region Home Builders' is saddened to announce that Mario Veltri has passed away.  Mario was a lifetime member of the DRHBA, and served as president of the association in 1970 and 1986. 

A highly respected man, both within the home building industry and by his friends and associates, earned his reputation through hard work, dedication and bravery.

"I've known Mario for over 40 years, and Mario ran his home building business like he ran his life, with the highest of integrity, honesty and always wanting to do the right thing for his purchasers and his community," says Peter Saturno, president of Midhaven Homes and past president of DRHBA and OHBA.  "Mario's passing has left a void, not only in his family, but also in the home building family in Durham Region, as well as all of the communities he has contributed to over his life."

Mario Veltri was born in Calabria, Italy in 1932, and immigrated to Canada in 1953.  Upon his arrival in Canada, he obtained employment with the Canadian National Railroad in Manitoba and Halifax. 

Six months later, he moved to Ontario.  When a potential employer refused to hire him, Mario did not get discouraged.  Instead, he picked up a shovel.  His tenacity paid off, and he was the last man hired for the job.

He moved on to Pigott Construction, building the south plant of General Motors of Canada on Park Road.  From there, he worked as labourer for a builder in Scarborough, where he worked his way up to become the superintendent of a building.

He returned to Italy in 1962, where he met and married his wife Anna, and the two returned to make their home in Canada.

He incorporated Marianna (a combination of his wife’s name and his) Developments in 1964 and quickly earned a respected reputation as a builder of fine homes in several communities throughout Durham Region and the surrounding areas.  His scope was not limited to creating high quality residential homes, and he expanded his portfolio to include several high-rise rental and commercial properties.

In 1977, he built the Veltri Complex, which is nine stories high and is situated in the downtown core of Bowmanville; in1992, he developed the Harmony Creek Golf Centre in Oshawa and in 1998, he was a partner in constructing Boundary Mall.

Mario supported many charitable organizations, including local hospitals and the Durham Region Cancer Centre.

Throughout his career, Mario has received many awards honouring his dedication, including the Durham Region Home Builders’ Association (DRHBA) Community Service Award in 1994, and the Business Person of the Year Award from the Chamber of Commerce in 1993.

Outside of the business world, Mario is known as a dedicated family man.  He was married to his wife, Anna, almost 50 years and had four children, Frank, Nina, Gino and Lisa.  He is also survived by  five grandchildren, Mario Jr., Deanna, Emmalisa, Zachariah and Arianna and one great granddaughter, Eve Francesca.

A private visitation, funeral mass and burial will be held for the immediate family only.  A celebratory mass in Mario's honour will be scheduled at a later date.

The obituary can be found here.

Launch of new online portal will better connect businesses to free testing supplies

TORONTO – To ramp up its fight against COVID-19 in workplaces, and in addition to the recently-announced partnership between the province and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the Ontario government has launched a new rapid testing portal to make it easier for all essential businesses to access free rapid testing to help keep employees and their families safe.

Through the Provincial Antigen Screening Program, Ontario has already delivered more than nine million rapid testing kits to nearly 1,600 workplaces. Test shipments to essential businesses have more than tripled since the beginning of April.

“To help stem the tide of the third wave and prevent workplace outbreaks, we launched the new rapid testing portal. We’re asking every business that’s able to be open, and particularly those in hot spots, to participate in Ontario’s COVID-19 Provincial Antigen Screening Program,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “Join the nearly 300 essential industry sites that include rapid testing in their arsenal of safety measures to keep workers and their families safe.”

Businesses are encouraged to participate in the program by registering at ontario.ca/testingonsite. It provides free rapid antigen screening kits to help screen for asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 that might otherwise be missed. It is one more way that businesses can help workers and their families stay safe and keep the virus out of workplaces. Program eligibility was recently expanded to include any business that is allowed to be open and requires staff to work on-site.

“This program complements our recently launched rapid testing initiative for small- and medium-sized businesses through the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, providing them with a useful tool in the fight against this pandemic," said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction. “If your business is essential and open, ordering free rapid tests through your local chamber of commerce is another way to help keep transmission low and workers safe.”

The recent launch of a rapid testing initiative run jointly by the Ontario government and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce has already proved to be successful. In just two weeks, Ontario has received orders for more than 850,000 rapid tests and is quickly delivering them to small- and medium-sized businesses in more than 40 communities across the province.

As the results of positive PCR tests are already reported to local public health units (PHUs) through the provincial lab network, the Ministry of Health is updating program requirements so organizations providing rapid antigen screening will no longer have to report preliminary positive results to PHUs, nor will they be required to report results of confirmatory lab-based PCR tests to the province. These changes will help encourage greater use of rapid testing by reducing the administrative burden and implementation barriers for all organizations and workplaces, while still maintaining strong public health and safety measures.

“Our government’s top priority is protecting the health and safety of all Ontarians. As we continue to vaccinate more Ontarians, testing remains a key component of Ontario’s pandemic response,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “By supporting the use of rapid antigen tests by more businesses, our government is helping to provide an additional layer of protection for workers and their families.”

Rapid antigen point-of-care testing goes hand in hand with public health measures, such as symptom screening, physical distancing, masking and hand hygiene. Any positive results from a rapid antigen point-of-care test must be confirmed with laboratory-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.

Quick Facts

• A COVID-19 rapid screening test can be performed anywhere (e.g., on-site, at the place of employment) and does not require shipping a specimen to a lab for processing. It takes about 15 minutes to yield a result.
• Rapid antigen point-of-care testing does not replace public health measures, such as symptom screening, physical distancing, masking and hand hygiene. Any positive results from a rapid antigen point-of-care test must be confirmed with laboratory-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.
• Organizations participating in the Provincial Antigen Screening Program can now search for a service provider offering point-of-care rapid testing services through a directory on the Ontario Together website. Service providers offering point-of-care COVID-19 testing services can also apply to be listed.

Businesses with fewer than 150 employees can participate in workplace rapid antigen screening through a program run jointly by the Ontario government and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

At Whitby's Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, May 10, 2021, council members considered report FS 28-21 (Development Charge By-law Final Recommendations).

The Durham Region Homebuilders' Association is working with a stakeholder group, and wrote a letter requesting a delay to give our consultants more time to review the updated information recently provided by Town staff.  This request was echoed by Matthew Cory who delegated on behalf of the Brooklin Landowners Group.

Councillor Rhonda Mulcahy initially recommended that the report be referred to next week's council meeting.

Mayor Don Mitchell stated, "I am disappointed to hear this request.  This always happens, every time.  Doesn't matter what process we go through, the request for delay from the industry, we have already reduced the amount, we all know what's happening out there in the market, the prices are absolutely sky high and all of the residents who are buying those homes, they are going to expect top quality servicing and this is the money we deliver that with.  So I won't support any delay or the referral.  To get this in place we are going to need every dollar to properly service our new residents."

After Mayor Mitchell spoke, Councillor Mulcahy withdrew her motion to refer it to the council meeting.

The staff report passed unanimously.

DRHBA's working group has been corresponding with Town staff and have thus far been able to reduce the proposed increase by $7,551.  The proposed rate going to council next week is $35,815 per single detached, which represents a 47% increase over their current rate of $24,418.

DRHBA also requested that council and staff consider a phase-in of the new fees to allow builders to adjust their pricing accordingly, but that request was denied.