BUILDING DURHAM

 

On June 16, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing posted to the Environmental Registry (019-1679 and 019-1680) a series of proposals related to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe that responds to key advocacy positions of OHBA and the 11 local home builders' associations impacted by the Growth Plan (Durham Region, Niagara, West End, Brantford, Haldimand-Norfolk, Waterloo Region, Guelph & District, Greater Dufferin, Simcoe County, Peterborough & the Kawarthas, and BILD).  

The proposed Amendment 1 to the Growth Plan and the Land Needs Assessment have each been posted for a 45-day public consultation to July 31, 2020.  OHBA is looking for feedback from members as they will prepare a submission to respond to the amendments and they will be working with BILD on an upcoming webinar (date TBA) for members regarding the proposed amendments.

OHBA, DRHBA, BILD and a number of members from other impacted local HBAs participated during the Fall of 2019 and Winter of 2020 on Ministry established stakeholder working groups regarding the Schedule 3 population and employment forecasts as well as the Land Needs Assessment.  With respect to improving the LNA methodology, OHBA submitted recommendations on October 22.  Tuesday's Growth Plan proposals also responds directly to OHBA Resolution #7 passed at the OHBA Annual Meeting of Members on September 23, 2019 that specifically recommended that the Growth Plan Schedule #3 be updated with 2051 forecasts and that the Ministry update the Land Needs Assessment methodology.

Key highlights from the Environmental Registry postings (019-1679 and 019-1680):

• Policy 2.2.1.5 of the Plan requires upper- and single-tier municipalities to use the Methodology issued by the Minister to assess the quantity of land required to accommodate forecasted growth to the horizon of this Plan. The government is consulting on a proposed new Land Needs Assessment Methodology for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (Environmental Registry 019-1679)
• The proposed Methodology outlines key steps for assessing community and employment land need to the Plan horizon year. Municipalities must follow the steps of this methodology as part of the municipal comprehensive review to ascertain the amount of land required to accommodate the amount and type of additional housing units and jobs required to meet market demands in conformity with the Plan and determine whether there is a need for a settlement area boundary expansion for employment area or community area, which is all other settlement area land outside of employment areas.
• Schedule 3 is the baseline to be used by municipalities. Lower forecasts for population, dwellings by type or employment are not permitted as this would lead to land supply issues which would lead to housing affordability issues and land shortages.
• The Minister has initiated a review and update of the Distribution of Population and Employment for the GGH (Schedule 3), in accordance with policy 5.2.4.7 of A Place to Grow. The forecasts are being updated and extended to 2051 through a proposed amendment to the Plan.
• For more detailed background information about the proposed updated growth forecasts and the methodology behind them, please view “Greater Golden Horseshoe: Growth Forecasts to 2051” available at: https://www.hemson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/HEMSON-Schedule-3-Forecasts-FINAL-16JUN20.pdf.
• In addition to the updated forecasts, a related policy change is proposed to specify that municipalities would use the forecasts in the Plan or higher forecasts determined through the municipal comprehensive review as part of their long-term planning work.
• Another proposed change is an extension of the Plan horizon from 2041 to 2051 to ensure municipalities have sufficient land to support the fostering of complete communities, economic development, job creation and housing affordability. The new horizon is consistent with the long-range planning approach of previous growth plans and better aligns with the land supply requirements of the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020.
• Under the Reference Forecast, the GGH is forecast to grow to close to 15 million people and 7 million jobs by 2051.
• Proposed Amendment 1 also includes a proposed change to A Place to Grow policies related to mineral aggregate resources. The proposed changes would make it easier to establish new mineral aggregate operations closer to market throughout the GGH outside of the Greenbelt.
• In light of the unique nature of each zone and to address the government’s objective of intensification around major transit station areas MTSA(MTSAs), Proposed Amendment 1 proposes to change an employment policy within A Place to Grow with respect to the planning of MTSAs within a Provincially Significant Employment Zone (PSEZ). Notably, the policy amendment would allow conversions of employment areas to non-employment uses within a provincially significant employment zone that is located within a MTSA. This proposed change would allow for mixed-use developments to be initiated faster around MTSAs.
• Given the most recent changes to the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020, (PPS)proposed Amendment 1 proposes to change A Place to Grow policies to ensure continued alignment with the new PPS, which came into effect on May 1, 2020. 
• The date by which municipalities must conform with the policies in A Place To Grow will remain July 1, 2022.

OHBA would like to thank our members from DRHBA and BILD that volunteered on the various working groups including Tiago Do Couto, Matthew Cory, Jeannette Gillezeau, Gary Gregoris, Robyn Brown and others that have provided support, advice and assistance. With over 5 million more #homebelievers forecast to join Greater Golden Horseshoe communities by 2051 – we are going to need approximately 2 MILLION new homes to make their #homebeliever dreams a reality. There is still work to be done on the Growth Plan file, and OHBA looks forward to consulting with members to respond to these Ministry proposals.

On June 23, representatives from DRHBA will be meeting with Whitby staff to discuss the proposed Whitby Green Standards.

A special council meeting has been called for July 20, in which staff are asking council to ratify the program.

The Durham Region Home Builders' Association has strenuously objected to implementing the Whitby Green Standards in its current form, as it mandates building above and beyond the Ontario Building Code and the Planning Act.

DRHBA sent separate letters to the committee and to council on May 11 outlining our concerns.  A follow up letter was sent on May 29, accompanied by a legal opinion from Leo Longo, a prominent municipal law attorney.  To date, DRHBA has received no response from the WGS committee addressing the Association's technical and legal concerns.

As part of the Whitby Green Standards, builders and developers will be required to follow two checklists -  Plan of Subdivision Checklist and Site Plan Checklist.  The WGS committee is requesting that Tier 1 criteria be made mandatory, and in following years to make each of the additional three tiers mandatory as well.

It should be noted that while there have been three stakeholder sessions, the specific criteria were not released until April 15, and there has been no discussion with the building and development industry on the criteria.

 If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Stacey at s.hawkins@drhba.com.

The City of Oshawa will be considering proposed Dust & Mud Control bylaws at its Monday, June 22 electronic council meeting at 9:30 a.m.

The report CNCL-20-122 - Dust and Mud Control Related to Construction and Development Activities will be presented to council.  In it are the findings from the public consultation as well as draft bylaws to control dust and mud on adjacent properties and city roads.

Three by-laws are proposed in the report:

• A bylaw to control nuisance dust and mud
• A bylaw to regulate the fouling of highways
• A bylaw to amend general fees and charges bylaw 13-2003

The bylaw to amend general fees and charges bylaw 13-2003 is proposing to add:

Dust and Mud Control Cleanup (after confirmation of an order)	Full recovery of all costs including but not limited to staff, policing, agency time, contracted services, equipment charges and overhead costs.
Fouling of Roads Cleanup (after confirmation of an order)	Full recovery of all costs including but not limited to staff, policing, agency time, contracted services, equipment charges and overhead costs.

If you have an concerns about these proposed bylaw, please email Stacey at s.hawkins@drhba.com.

The Ontario Home Builders' Association has opened their Awards of Distinction 2020 for 2020.

OHBA is going virtual this year, and you won't want to miss it!  It's a great opportunity to showcase your talent across the entire province.

Entering is easy...simply visit www.ohbaaod.ca to enter your submissions.

Early bird pricing ends on June 26th - so enter soon!

In a report to the General Government Committee, staff are recommending that the Town of Ajax proceed with indexing on development charges on July 1.

The full report can be viewed here.

The conclusion of the report is that residential and non-residential development charges levied by the Town of Ajax are being indexed by 2.9% in accordance with by-law 50-2018.

This report will be presented at the Ajax Council meeting on June 15.

At May's Ajax Council meeting, members of council voted to approve the Development Charge Interest Policy developed by staff.

The full policy can be viewed here.

The policy has been created in response to Bill 108: More Homes More Choice Act - Status Update.  This policy addresses two parts of Bill 108: the provision that changes the date at which the development charge is calculated; and the provisions that require municipalities to defer collection of development charges over a period of 5 to 20 years for rental housing, institutional development and non-profit housing developments.

The Town has concerns that these provisions will result in a shortfall in the DC collected as compared to the cost of the capital infrastructure required.

The proposed solution to recover that revenue is to implement an interest charge.  This charge will be the Bank of Canada Rate plus 2%.

In the Fall of 2019, the Oshawa Accessibility Advisory Committee provided the following recommendation to council:

"Whereas the O.A.A.C. Built Environment Subcommittee is finding numerous site plans with only inaccessible townhomes and stacked townhouses; 

Therefore the City require that all residential projects be designed with 15% accessible units with visitable features, including no stairs to entrances doors as well as entrance door and washroom door widths sufficient for mobility devices."

Council referred the recommendation back to staff to have the matter discussed with Oshawa's Building Industry Liaison Team (BILT).

DRHBA was present at the October 29, 2019 meeting where representatives voiced concerns over mandating accessibility, which was followed up by a letter.  It was pointed out that many builders offer this option to purchasers already.

As a result, staff presented Report CNCL-20-67 to council on May 25, 2020.

In the report, the following recommendations were made:

• Implement conditions in planning agreements to promote consumer awareness of developers' accessible construction programs but maintain status quo pursuant to Ontario Building Code Requirements.
• Staff to encourage builders to construct model homes with accessible features to further increase consumers' awareness.

It should also be highlighted that the staff report noted that "municipalities are not permitted to require houses, triplexes, and boarding or rooming houses with fewer  than eight boarders, to exceed the minimum standards established by the OBC for barrier-free design or otherwise."

At the council meeting, Councillor Rosemary McConkey moved "That the Report CNCL-20-67 be amended to add the following as Parts 2 and 3:

2. That the Province of Ontario be requested to implement changes to the Ontario Building Code to require a portion of all new single-detached dwellings, semi-detached dwellings, row townhouse dwellings proposed in developments in excess of 6 new dwelling units to contain an accessible front entrance, an accessible width front door and an accessible washroom on the ground floor; and,

3. That all Durham Region municipalities be notified of the recommendation directly above and their respective councils encouraged to support this resolution."

Councillor Brian Nicholson moved "That Parts 2 and 3 to Report CNCL-20-67 be referred to staff for a report back to the next meeting of City Council."  This recommendation was carried.

Councillor McConkey then moved "That Part 1 of the recommendation contained in Report CNCL-20-67 be referred back to staff."  This motion lost.

The vote to adopt the recommendation contained in Report CNCL-20-67 carried.

At the May 25th Oshawa council meeting, council carried a recommendation to temporarily defer payment of development charges until occupancy.

The recommendation contained in Report CNCL-20-62 was before council sitting in Committee of the whole.  The following recommendation was carried:

"Therefore, that Council direct staff to work with the Region of Durham and the School Boards to advance changes to all our respective development charges by-laws/policies to delay the payment of residential and non-residential development charges to the time of occupancy of a building is provided rather than at the time the building permit is issued for a limited time in order to help economic recovery in the Region and report back to the Finance Committee."

TORONTO — The Ontario government announced today that it intends to take action to protect commercial tenants from being locked out or having their assets seized by their landlords due to the negative impacts of COVID-19. 

The proposed changes to the Commercial Tenancies Act would, if passed, temporarily halt evictions of businesses that are eligible for federal/provincial rent assistance. If passed, the legislation would reverse evictions that occurred on or after June 3, 2020. The government intends to bring this legislation forward as soon as possible.

In partnership with the federal government, Ontario is committing $241 million to the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) for small businesses which is providing more than $900 million in support. CECRA for small businesses provides forgivable loans to eligible commercial landlords to help cover 50 per cent of commercial rent for tenants for the months of April, May and June 2020.

The tenant will be responsible for covering up to 25 per cent of rent, so that up to 75 per cent of the rent is covered. Tenants and landlords can learn how much they may be eligible for by visiting Ontario.ca/rentassistance.

"We need everyone working together to overcome COVID-19," said Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. "Commercial tenants who can pay their rent, must do so. Landlords should work with their tenants to come to an agreement and use this joint program. Ontario's small businesses are the backbone of our economy and we need them to flourish."

If passed, the proposed legislation would make it illegal to evict a commercial tenant until August 31, 2020.  

"Working with the federal government, we are providing more than $900 million in relief to tenants and landlords," said Rod Phillips, Minister of Finance. "We've been clear we would support small businesses and today's action does just that."

"Ensuring the immediate future of our small businesses is critical to helping our economy recover and rebound," said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction. "A moratorium on commercial evictions will bring stability to our small businesses and the employees and families they support. Their success is Ontario's success."

The Region of Durham has decided not to waive indexing on the development charges on July 1, 2020 as previously recommended by staff. This means that development charge rates will be indexed by 2.9% on July 1, 2020.

On June 9 the Finance & Administration Committee voted to carry Report #2020-F-14, Final Recommendations Regarding Amendments to Regional Residential and Non-Residential Development Charges By-law No. 28-2018.  This report recommended that the Regional Development Charge Bylaw No. 28-2018 to waive the annual indexing not be adopted.  Council vote unanimously in favour of not waiving indexing.