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BUILDING DURHAM


  • February 19, 2021 1:50 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    The Town of Whitby released their Development Charge Background Study today.

    The background study is proposing a 66% increase on single detached homes, from $23,868 to $40,544, a difference of $16,126.

    Previously, the Town of Whitby has proposed a new rate of $43,366, however, DRHBA is working with a stakeholder group and consults and their initial work has decreased the proposed increase by $2,822.  This stakeholder group will continue to work with municipal staff and Whitby's consultants, Hemson, to further reduce the charge.

    The mandatory public meeting has been scheduled for Monday, March 8, 2021 at 5:30 p.m.  It can be viewed at www.whitby.ca/livestream.

    Correspondence can be submitted to the meeting by emailing clerk@whitby.ca no later than noon on Friday, March 5, 2021.

    If you wish to make a delegation at the meeting, you will need to complete a Delegation Request Form online by noon on March 8, 2021.

    The new development charge bylaw will be brought to council in April, and if passed, will come into effect in May, 2021.

    If you have questions or concerns, please contact Stacey.


  • February 17, 2021 2:30 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    This morning, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark made an announcement that the government is going to begin consultations on ways to potentially  grow the Greenbelt.

    OHBA will be actively involved in the 60 day consultation process and will be forming a working group comprised of members who are interested in participating.  If you would like to be a part of this group and participate in the consultation process, please email Stacey.

    The consultation is scoped to two main study areas: the Paris Galt Moraine and Urban River Valleys.  The Urban River Valleys contains land in Durham Region that will be a part of the consultation.  You can view the map here.

    The Urban River Valleys in Durham Region are:

    • Rouge River - Pickering
    • Duffins Creek - Ajax
    • Carruthers Creek - Ajax
    • Lynde Creek - Whitby
    • Oshawa Creek - Oshawa
    • Farewell/Harmony Creeks - Oshawa
    • Soper Creek/Bowmanville Creek - Clarington
    • Wilmot Creek - Clarington
    • Graham Creek - Clarington

    Other Provincial Priorities

    In deciding on where and how to possibly grow the Greenbelt, they must also consider other key provincial priorities that could be impacted. These key provincial priorities include:

    Growth Management - Overall, the Greenbelt Plan broadly identifies where urbanization should not occur and A Place to Grow directs the majority of growth to fully serviced settlement areas. Currently, municipalities are working towards updating their official plans by 2022 to conform with the revised growth forecasts in Schedule 3 of A Place to Grow. Therefore, Greenbelt expansion needs to be considered in the context of these growth management exercises by municipalities.

    Natural Heritage and Water Resource Systems - The Greenbelt Plan and A Place to Grow are aligned with and build on the Provincial Policy Statement to provide policy protection for natural heritage and water resource systems, features and areas, including habitat for endangered and threatened species. Both the Greenbelt Plan and A Place to Grow contain policies supporting and protecting a Natural Heritage System that is made up of these natural features and areas along with the linkages that connect them together. Similarly, policies in these plans protect water resource systems on a watershed basis, with the Greenbelt incorporating significant headwaters, river corridors, wetlands and other features.

    Agriculture - The Greater Golden Horseshoe contains some of Canada’s best agricultural land. Both the Greenbelt Plan and A Place to Grow have policies supporting and protecting an Agricultural System that is comprised of an agricultural land base (prime agricultural areas, including specialty crop areas, and other productive lands that form a continuous land base for agriculture) and an agri-food network (infrastructure, services and assets that support the agri-food sector).

     Infrastructure - Both the Greenbelt Plan and A Place to Grow recognize that new infrastructure and upgrades to existing infrastructure will be needed to serve the substantial growth projected for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Infrastructure, including highways to sewage and water treatment plants to corridors for transit and utilities, is permitted in these plans subject to certain conditions.

    Discussion Questions

    During the consultation process, the provincial government will be focused on these questions:

    • What are your thoughts on the initial focus area of adding, expanding and further protecting Urban River Valleys?
    • Do you have suggestions for other potential areas to grow the Greenbelt?
    • How should the government balance or prioritize any potential Greenbelt expansion with the other provincial priorities mentioned?
    • Are there other priorities that should be considered?

    Next Steps

    If you want to become involved in this consultation process, contact Stacey about joining the OHBA working team or send in your comments directly to greenbeltconsultation@ontario.ca

    Resources

    View the notice here: https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-3136


  • February 17, 2021 1:52 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    At the February 8, 2021 Clarington Council meeting, council heard from delegates and debated the merits of hosting a public meeting in April to determine if Special Study Area 2 should be deleted from the Clarington Official Plan.

    Council heard from several delegates, some who were concerned that council was looking to recommend to the province that more land be included in the greenbelt.  Council assured delegates that there were no plans to expand the greenbelt in Clarington.

    Other delegates expressed concern that staff would need to be taken off the secondary plans that are currently well under way to facilitate organizing the public meeting in April. 

    As stated in the staff report COPA2021-0001:

    "To undertake this Official Plan Amendment staff in the Community Planning and Design Branch would be diverted from the Brookhill, Southwest Courtice (SWC) and the Southeast Courtice (SEC) Secondary Plan projects.  For both the Brookhill and SWC Secondary Plan, this will mean the delay of bringing forward recommendation reports to adopt the Secondary Plans.  For the SEC Secondary Plan, this will mean staff will be delayed in responding to the Region of Durham as they process the approval of the Secondary Plan.  In addition, staff will be delayed in preparing the zoning by-law amendments needed to implement the Secondary Plans.  Delaying these projects will also have the consequence of constraining the housing supply and building activity within the next few years in Clarington."

    DRHBA requested that council move the public meeting to a later date to allow staff to complete their work on the secondary plans before moving on to this project. 

    Staff also recommended that the public meeting be postponed, as stated in file no. COPA2021-0001:

    "Provided that Council acknowledges there will be delays in projects that Council have accepted funding from land-owner groups to advance; Staff would bring forward a Statutory Public Meeting Report at the April 26, 2021 Planning and Development Committee.

    As outlined previously, our recommendation is that the Official Plan amendment be part of the Clarington Official Plan review to be initiated this year.  By being part of the OP review, Council will be able to comprehensively look at the whole municipality to the year 2051, the new planning horizon for official plans."

    Ultimately, Council voted in favour of hosting the public meeting in April, despite the potential delays to the Secondary Plans.

    Council voted unanimously to pass Resolution #C-058-21, which reads:

    That staff issue the necessary notices for a public meeting under the Planning Act to be held on April 26, 2021, for the consideration of the deletion of Special Study Area 2 from the Clarington Official Plan.


  • February 17, 2021 11:54 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Consultations could result in largest expansion of the protected lands since 2005

    TORONTO ― The Ontario government has launched a 60-day consultation to grow the Greenbelt and help protect more of the province's natural environment — including farmlands, forests, wetlands and watersheds — from future development. The consultations could result in the largest expansion of the greenbelt since its creation in 2005.

    "This is truly a unique opportunity to grow the Greenbelt and protect Ontario's environmental, groundwater and agricultural resources for future generations," said Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. "The Premier has been steadfast in his commitment to protect the Greenbelt and our government will not consider any proposals to remove or develop any part of it."

    The government is seeking public input on how best to grow the size and quality of the Greenbelt, including:

    • the Paris Galt Moraine
    • adding, expanding and further protecting urban river valleys, and increasing the Greenbelt's footprint into high density urban areas including the areas around the Don River in Toronto and land around Duffins Creek in Ajax and Pickering.

    Comments are welcome by email: greenbeltconsultation@ontario.ca or through the Environmental Registry of Ontario by April 19, 2021.

    *to enlarge ad right click and select open in new window*


  • February 09, 2021 10:44 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    The City of Pickering is undertaking a comprehensive Housing Strategy Study that will provide a framework to ensure the City enables a supply of suitable, adequate and affordable housing for the present and future residents of Pickering. The Housing Strategy Study will focus on the need for delivering a diverse range of housing options, including affordable and accessible units to accommodate residents of all ages, abilities and income levels.

    The City of Pickering will be hosting an electronic meeting from 2:30 - 4:30 PM on Thursday, February 25th, targeted to the building/development and government/not-for-profit sector involved in housing/affordable housing. The meeting will provide interested organizations the opportunity to learn more about the Housing Strategy Study, ask questions and provide feedback. The Study is recently launched and in its first phase.

    If you are interested in joining the meeting, please respond to Margaret Kish at mkish@pickering.ca by noon on Wednesday, February 24th. Please ensure that you provide the email address you wish to be contacted at so that you can be connected via audio and video to the meeting. You will be provided with an electronic link prior to the meeting in a separate email.

    There will be a short presentation of the overview of the Study by the project team at 2:30 pm followed by an opportunity to ask questions and share your thoughts on affordable housing. Attached are some Stakeholder Discussion Questions to get the discussion started. You are encouraged to review these questions and the information about the Study on the City’s website at pickering.ca/Housing Strategy prior to the electronic meeting.

    Your comments will help inform the development of a Draft Housing Strategy and Action Plan that will be presented to the public, stakeholders and the Planning & Development Committee for comments at a future date.

    Your comments and/or questions regarding the Housing Strategy Study can be forwarded to:

    Margaret Kish, MCIP, RPP

    Principal Planner, Policy

    City Development Department

    Tel: 905.420.4660, ext. 2196

    Email: mkish@pickering.ca

    For more information please visit our website at pickering.ca/Housing Strategy

    More information is also available in this information package.


  • February 01, 2021 11:49 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    At the January 18th, 2021 meeting, Clarington council passes their new Development Charge Bylaw.

    The new bylaw can be found here and here.  The new bylaw increases the development charge from $18,148 to $21,461, an increase of 18% ($3,313) for a single detached home.

    DRHBA worked with a stakeholder group, and notified council of a few outstanding issues in this letter.

    DRHBA is also aware that Clarington may need to amend their DC Bylaw within the next few years as their secondary plans move forward, and will notify members if this happens.



  • February 01, 2021 11:24 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    MPP Lindsey Park will be hosing a virtual town hall on the GO Train expansion to Bowmanville on Tuesday February 2 at 7:00 p.m with Metrolinx President & CEO Phil Verster.

    This is an opportunity for you to hear directly from Metrolinx on the Bowmanville GO Train expansion project and to ask your questions of the Metrolinx team.  Questions may be submitted during the event.  No RSVP is required.

    A link to the townhall page will be posted here one hour before the start of the event.



  • February 01, 2021 11:10 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    The Town of Ajax is considering a zoning bylaw amendment that will impact residential driveways. 

    According to the Town, the amendments to the bylaw will facilitate numerous Town objectives, such as:

    • Allowing property owners to address parking needs on their own private properties
    • Alleviating issues resulting from on-street parking
    • Providing more flexibility to property owners who wish to undertake landscaping improvements on their properties
    • Maximizing the number of legal parking spaces that can be accommodated on existing driveways
    • Reducing the administrative burden of minor driveway-related applications
    • Matching zoning bylaw standards to current and desirable forms of driveway design
    • Enabling the Town to prevent undesirable forms of driveway design
    • Simplifying existing zoning bylaw standards
    • Facilitating storm water management through the preservation of existing landscape features
    • Creating a consistent policy framework where zoning bylaw standards directly align with other municipal documents impacted by the recently approved Boulevard Encroachment Policy.

    Two electronic public open houses will be held on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.  The first session will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and the second will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

    More information can be found here.


  • February 01, 2021 11:01 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    The City of Oshawa has undertaken a Development Charge Update Study to become compliant with Bill 108 changes.  The background study has been released, and can be viewed here.

    According to the background study, the proposed new DC fees would increase by $1,020 (4%) per single detached.

    The public meeting will be held on March 1, 2021 at 9:30 a.m.

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


  • December 21, 2020 3:45 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Durham Region Home Builders' Association and Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) support today’s provincial government action to combat rising COVID-19 cases. While new home building and renovations may continue with strict protocols in place, the industry recognizes the important responsibility that comes with being an essential workplace designation.

    “The members of the Durham Region Home Builders' Association  have been enhancing their health and safety protocols by providing additional sanitation, applying physical distancing rules, illness reporting and logging the number of workers on job sites. Builders, renovators and suppliers are all working to keep our workers, clients and communities safe,”says Johnathan Schickedanz, DRHBA president.

    Today’s announcement is a necessary step to curb the growth in cases and support the health care system while the process of vaccination ramps up. Under the measures announced this afternoon, construction activities and supporting services may continue with enhanced COVID-19 protocols and inspections in place. Sales centres for new developments must move to virtual and/or appointment only.

    “We all want to be safe at home and at work,” said Joe Vaccaro, CEO of OHBA. “With these new restrictions, the Ontario government continues to make public safety the priority. Across Ontario, industry members have been continuously enhancing their health and safety and COVID-19 protocols. All of our members, from builders to renovators to suppliers, will continue to focus on public and worker safety while ensuring that thousands of families get the keys to the homes they have been waiting for across Ontario.”

    View the province's full list of regulations here.



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Oshawa, Ontario

L1J 7A4






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Durham Region Home Builders' Association is a 501(c)6 non-profit organization. 1-1255 Terwillegar Avenue Oshawa, Ontario L1J 7A4

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