BUILDING DURHAM

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.

Starting the end of day Wednesday, July 1 and concluding start of day Monday, July 6, the Enbridge system will be undergoing planned maintenance.  This maintenance will occur in former Enbridge Gas service area and will not impact builds in the former Union Gas service area.  Some functionality, including access to online gas attachment service requests and final inspections will be impacted during those six days.  They are advising builders to request services sufficiently ahead of the July 1 date to ensure their request is in the system.

Call to Action:

• Request services prior to Tuesday, June 30.  Booking of service appointments and final inspections will resume July 6.  All appointments scheduled for completion will take place as scheduled.  Crews will continue to work in the field and attachments and inspections that have been scheduled for completion between July 1 and July 5 will continue throughout the planned system maintenance.
• Inform new homeowners with closings between July 1 and July 6 that their gas accounts must be set up prior to June 30 to enable occupancy and title transfer.

Safety

Will emergency services be provided during this time?

Yes.  Emergency and high priority services will continue to be provided as usual by calling 1-866-763-5427.  Safety information is also provided at enbridgegas.com/safety.

Builder Attachment Centers

Can I contact the builder attachment centres for support?

Yes.  However, we encourage builders to get in touch with Enbridge before the end of June, as customer attachment representatives will also be limited in the services that they can provide during the planned system maintenance.

Booking Service Appointments

Can I schedule a service appointment or final inspection?

Booking of service appointments will continue until June 30.  Booking future service appointments will resume July 6.  To request inspections prior to occupancy go to www.buildwithgas.com and click on the Activate Meter Tab.

Will my previously scheduled service appointment between July 1 and July 6 still be completed?

Yes.  All appointments scheduled for completion will take place as scheduled.  Crews will continue to work in the field and attachments and inspections that have been scheduled for completion between July 1 and July 6 will continue throughout the planned system maintenance.

My New Homeowners - Setting Up "My Account"

Why won't my new home buyer be able to sign-in or access MyAccount?

We will be be experiencing planned system maintenance starting the end of day Wednesday, July 1 and concluding start of day Monday, July 6.  As a result, your new homeowners will not be able to access their account information.  We ask that you encourage your new homeowners to process their gas account move online at enbridgegas.com/moving prior to June 30.

When will normal service resume?

We look forward to resuming regular services on July 6.  Please be aware, our call centre may experience longer than usual wait times once we resume full service.  You may wish to take advantage of our online self-service option.  For more information, please contract your residential new construction analyst.

On Friday, May 29, 2020, the Ontario Government enacted Regulation 228/20 under the Employment Standards Act, 2000.  This regulation made several significant changes to employment laws in Ontario, particularly relating to layoffs.

Law firm Mason Bennett Johncox has prepared a memo summarizing some key provisions in the Regulation.

View/Download the Memo

Under the COVID-19 Ontario Regulation 82/20, that model home/inventory home is a part of the builder's supply chain and therefore can generally be sold and open to the public but operating as a retail operation for the builder, and therefore should adhere to the requirements of businesses that engage in retail sale of items to the public within the regulation.

OHBA has prepared a guidance document which may be useful in the development of your protocols for operating a model home.

View/Download Document

OHBA has a working group of renovator members, led by Jamie Adams, that have been working on a package to assist renovators in adapting their Health & Safety policy and procedures during COVID-19.  

View/Download the Document

Oshawa's Municipal Law Enforcement and Licensing Services requested feedback on the City's Noise bylaw 112-82 and specifically the exemption process relating to construction noise.

The Durham Region Home Builders' Association submitted a letter to the City of Oshawa with feedback.

Presently, the Noise By-law establishes a blanket exemption for Construction Noise occurring:

• between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday on any day that is not a Holiday; and,
• on Sunday between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Individuals may currently apply for exemptions to the By-law in order to undertake construction work outside of these permitted times by submitting a request to City Clerk Services for consideration and approval by the Corporate Services Committee (“Committee”) and City Council (“Council”).

In May 2019, Council directed staff to examine the following in relation to noise exemption requests:

“That in future, when the City of Oshawa receives an application for extension of hours for noise generation that the City circulate a notice to area residents prior to the application being heard at Committee.”

Accordingly, staff are working on a proposed process to be presented to Committee and Council for approval.

The proposed process is as follows:

a)    Applicants will be required to submit an application and pay a $250 application fee at least sixty (60) days in advance of the activity. The sixty (60) day timeline is required to allow sufficient time for staff to undertake public notice activities and to allow for public feedback to be received.

b)   City staff will send a letter to all property owners within one-hundred and twenty (120) metres of the site, via regular mail, advising of details of the request, the date of the Committee meeting when the request will be considered, and methods of submitting feedback to City Clerk Services.

c)    The Noise Exemption Request application and any public feedback will appear on the next Committee meeting agenda for consideration.

d)   If approved at Committee, Council approval would then be required.

e)    If the request is approved by Council, staff will provide notice of the approved exemption on the City’s website, to the applicant, and to those who provided comments.

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

Staff at the Region of Durham have put forward a proposal to waive the indexing for two separate development charge bylaws (the Region-wide DC by-law #28-2018 and Transit DC by-law #81-2017).

A statutory public meeting was held on May 27, 2020 ahead of the Regional Council meeting, and feedback can still be submitted to the Clerk at clerks@durham.ca until June 1, 2020.

Council will vote on this proposal at the June 24, 2020 Regional Council meeting.

Members who have questions or concerns are encouraged to contact Stacey at s.hawkins@drhba.com.

The Town of Whitby has been working on their "Whitby Green Standards" and opened up public consultation until June 1.

DRHBA and its members have significant concerns with this program, including that the Town is attempting to mandate building above and beyond the Ontario Building Code.  This is a concern to builders and developers across Durham Region, as if this program gains traction in Whitby, other municipalities may follow suit.

In the proposal, the Town of Whitby has created four tiers, each of which has criteria that needs to be met.  Initially, the plan is to make tier one mandatory, and mandate the remaining tiers in the future.  The tiers are separated into two checklists, for subdivisions and site plan approvals.

DRHBA submitted a letter to the Whitby Green Standards committee and a letter to the Mayor and council on May 11, 2020 outlining our concerns with the mandatory criteria.

As of May 29, 2020, DRHBA has not received a response to that letter.

On May 29, 2020, DRHBA submitted a second letter to council and the committee, along with a legal opinion from Leo Longo of Aird & Berlis.

As of the April 29, 2020 stakeholder meeting, Town staff are planning to bring this proposal to council in June for approval.

Members who have questions, concerns or comments about the proposed Whitby Green Standards are encouraged to contact Stacey at s.hawkins@drhba.com.

On Monday, May 25th, Clarington council considered a bylaw put forward by the planning department designed to replace bylaw 84-63.  The new bylaw was created in response to the Bowmanville Character Study, which looked at ways to maintain the existing character of a specific section of Bowmanville.

Members had concerns about the restrictions contained in the proposed bylaw, and DRHBA submitted a letter to the planning and development committee for consideration.

In addition, past-president Emidio DiPalo gave a delegation to council at the May 25th meeting.  As a result, Clarington council voted to send the report back to staff with instructions to work with DRHBA and area residents to come up with criteria that are not as restrictive while also maintaining the character of the neighbourhood.

Members with concerns about this issue are encouraged to contact Stacey at s.hawkins@drhba.com.

The City of Oshawa undertook a public consultation to obtain input on whether the City should pass by-laws under the Municipal Act, 2001 to control nuisance dust and dirt on roads and properties in Oshawa due to construction and development projects.

DRHBA's government relations committee reviewed the associated documents and prepared a letter to be submitted as feedback.

You can view DRHBA's letter here.