BUILDING DURHAM

The Town of Whitby has endorsed Scenario 3 for the Region of Durham's Land Needs Assessment.  At the April 11, 2022 Council meeting, carried report PDP 23-22, with the following amendment:

"That the Built Boundary, which was established in 2006, be expanded/adjusted proportionate to any greenfield expansion to ensure that intensification within the Built Boundary is reasonable and respectful to the historic areas and mature neighbourhoods within the existing Built Boundary."

At the April 25, 2022 Planning & Development Committee meeting, Clarington councilliors passed staff report PDS-021-22, which recommends Scenario 2 for the Region of Durham's Land Needs Assessment.

In the report, the comments and recommendations from staff also included:

• Staff encourages the Region to release the population forecast, as well as unit mix and intensification and DGA density targets for Clarington and the other municipalities before selecting a land use scenario for the whole Region. This would allow the Municipality to appropriately assess the implications of the Scenario for our municipality.
• If the forecasts are not released before selecting a Scenario, staff supports existing Scenario #2 for Clarington. Staff support a modified Scenario #2 for the Region as a whole. Setting the intensification rate at 50% with the understanding that some of the lower tier municipalities like Clarington, could be assigned a lower level of intensification (35-40%) which is in line with existing Scenario 2.
• Staff also request that any land use scenario selected by the Region allow for flexible implementation at the local level. In the case of Clarington, once we have the final Regional forecast for the Municipality, local staff require the ability to distribute the population and employment forecasts among Courtice, Bowmanville, Newcastle, Orono, and the rural areas, a unique case in the Region.
• Staff recommend that specific urban boundary expansions, including a determination of the total land need, not be considered until after there is agreement between the municipalities and the Region on the population and employment forecasts, housing unit mix and the intensification ratio.
• The chosen Land Needs Scenario will also impact the Community Services Department. Thus, to best respond to the increase in expected population, Clarington’s Community Services Department will seek funding approval for the completion of a comprehensive Community Services Strategic Plan as part of the 2023 Budget cycle. This Strategic Plan will take into consideration any new population growth/demographics, will update trends in recreation and leisure future needs, and will re-assess what additional indoor facilities will be needed, all with a planning view out to 2051.

This report will be going to council for approval on Monday, May 2, 2022.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing will be hosting an information on the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022 on Friday, April 29 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.  

The information session is open to all members.  The session will begin with introductory remarks, followed by a presentation on Bill 109, discussion and wrap up.

Register Here.

At the March 23, 2022 Regional Council meeting, council voted in favour of authorizing staff to undertake a comprehensive review and passage of a new Regional residential and non-residential development charge bylaw.

Details can be found in Report 2022-F-9.

Contained in the report are the schedule of dates for the Region of Durham DC Review, which are as follows:

In March, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) announced that they would be delaying the implementation of the Excess Soil Requirements initiative through  ERO #019-5203.

In response, OHBA submitted correspondence to the province.

If you have any related questions or require clarification, please reach out to OHBA Director of Planning Policy and Advocacy, Larry Kotseff.

At the April 11, 2022 Oshawa Development Services Committee meeting, members of the committee passed report DS-22-83: City Comments on Proposed Amendments to the Planning Act Under Bill 109, the "More Homes For Everyone Act, 2022", and the Province's Proposed Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator Guideline (All Wards) as part of the consent agenda.  As it was passed as part of the consent agenda, there was no discussion on the report.

Report DS-22-83 contains staff comments on the proposed provincial legislation.

At the April 11 Oshawa Development Services Committee meeting, report DS-22-76 Durham Region's Municipal Comprehensive Review: City Comments on the Region of Durham's Growth Management Study - Alternative Land Need Scenarios was pulled for discussion.

Committee voted to suspend the rules to hear a delegation from Michael May, P.Eng., General Manager of Delta Urban, who was speaking on behalf of the Columbus Landowners' Group.  May also submitted correspondence in addition to his delegation, which advocated for a revised "Option 2."

This option would include the "much needed affordable middle," and included:

Housing Unit Mix of new units:

• Low - 34%
• Medium - 41%
• High - 25%
• Secondary units: 0%

Intensification Rate: 50%

Designated Greenfield Area Density: 57 people and jobs per hectare

New Community Are Land Need: 2,600 hectares (6,425 acres)

Councillor Chapman put forward the following motion:

"That pursuant to Report DS-22-76 dated April 6, 2022 City Council will endorse scenario 2A as submitted by the Columbus Developers Group as Item DS-22-90 as the City's recommended scenario on the Alternative Land Need Scenarios Report prepared by the Region of Durham as part of Envision Durham, the Municipal Comprehensive Review of the Durham Region Official Plan."

This motion passed, and the recommendation will be brought to council at the April 25, 2022 council meeting.

The Town of Whitby is currently undergoing a Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw Review Update and have just released their Phase II Reports.

The Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw Review will occur in 4 major phases and to date the Town have concluded Phase I and are nearing the completion of Phase II:

• Phase 1 - Background Investigation
• Phase 2 - Analysis and Strategic Directions
• Phase 3 - Prepare First Draft of Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw
• Phase 4 - Prepare Final Draft of Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw

The following reports have now been released:

• Administrative Report Phase II
• General Provisions Report Phase II
• Phase II Commercial Zones Report
• Phase II Definitions Report
• Phase II Employment Report
• Phase II Mixed Zones Report
• Phase II Other Zones Report
• Phase II Parking Provisions Report
• Phase II Residential Zones Report
• Structure Report Phase II

More information on the project can be found on the In the Zone website.

Comments on this phase are due May 26.  If you have any comments or concerns, please contact Stacey.

The Region of Durham has released their 2022 Regional Transit DC Background Study, which you can read here.

While the current bylaw is set to expire on December 31, 2022, Regional Council has authorized staff to have a new bylaw in place by July 1, 2022.

The background study is recommending an increase of 65% for residential rates, and the proposed rates can be viewed here:

Important Dates:

• April 27, 2022 - Statutory Public Meeting
• June 3, 2022 - Deadline for written comments
• June 29, 2022 - Draft Bylaw brought to Regional Council
• July 1, 2022 - New DC bylaw comes into effect

If you have any comments or concerns, please contact Stacey.

The provincial election will be called sometime this spring, and in anticipation, the Ontario Home Builders' Association (OHBA) has launched a third party advertising campaign:

You can visit the full campaign website here: https://www.ontariobuildmorehomes.ca/

As part of the campaign, OHBA is also looking to interview people as part of a Facebook video stream.  Volunteers will be asked to meet on May 3 for about 15-20 minutes to talk about the current housing market and what they are seeing/experiencing.  If you are willing to volunteer, please contact Stacey as soon as possible.