For the second time in the past month, city council has postponed making a decision on the massive 1,300 home Trailside neighbourhood proposed for west Orillia.
Initially presented to council during a public meeting April 17, members of the public and city politicians raised concerns about affordable housing, the impacts of Bill 23, climate change impacts, and traffic issues surrounding the project, prompting council to defer its decision on the developer’s requested Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments required to move forward.
At Monday’s meeting, council once again opted to defer any decision until Mayor Don McIsaac could secure a meeting with Steve Clark, the minister of municipal affairs and housing, to discuss the implications of Bill 23 on the project.
Given the changing nature of Bill 23 on development in the province, Coun. Tim Lauer asked city staff to clarify when council might be able to address its concerns.
“Just for the comfort level of all those who are invested in those issues, I'm wondering if you could explain when and where council might have the opportunity to address such things as climate change issues, like electric heating and such, or maybe the affordable housing question, or even intensification,” Lauer said at Monday’s meeting.
Ian Sugden, the city’s general manager of development services and engineering, said “the best tool” council has to dictate neighbourhood development is the city’s Official Plan, but he pointed out the area’s neighbourhood greenfield designation does not include requirements for affordable housing.
“There (are) affordable housing policies in the 'central core intensification area' designation and in the 'living area intensification area' designations, but not in the 'neighbourhood greenfield' designation, so council doesn't actually have the authority to impose requirements for affordable housing because they're not in the policy that this developer is working under,” Sugden explained.
Sugden also explained that, through Bill 23, the province has removed “the ability for municipalities to implement green development standards in its Official Plan,” but he also stressed the ever-changing nature of rules municipalities are currently operating under.
“There may be opportunities in there when those applications come forward, depending on what policy regime we’re working under at the time,” he said. “Unfortunately, I can't give you certainty … the province is changing the rulebook every week, and we're adapting as quickly as we can.”
Coun. Janet-Lynne Durnford questioned whether there are any “potential financial ramifications" of deferring a decision on this project.
“Some of the more recent legislative changes brought about by the province, in which the province was requiring municipalities to give back or refund application fees if decisions were not made by council within the legislative timeframes for official plan amendments and zoning amendment applications,” Sugden said.
“Specifically, these applications were submitted prior to that legislation coming into effect, so there's no risk that we will need to refund or return application fees," he told council.
“There is always the risk of a matter going to the Ontario Land Tribunal … but that risk exists even if you made a decision, and anybody can appeal council’s decision at that point.”
A decision on the project was deferred until June 5, to provide time to secure a meeting between the minister and Mayor McIsaac.
Read more about the proposed Trailside project here.
