North Grenville Planner Phil Mosher provided details to North Grenville Councillors on a new bill that would limit appeals when it comes to planning decisions made by council.
Mosher explained at Monday’s committee of the whole meeting that Bill 139 is replacing the Ontario Municipal Board with the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal(LPAT). The aim of the bill is to decrease the power of the tribunal in favour of more autonomy at the municipal level. It is also expected to bring more transparency to the process of appeals to planning decisions.
Mosher says that the bill would bring major changes to the appeal process, including limited grounds for appeals and the introduction of a threshold test.
Mosher says that this could reduce the number of appeals heard by the tribunal. He explained that if council is making decisions in keeping with the Provincial Policy Statement, the government’s policies on land use planning, as well as its own Official Plan, the tribunal will have the power to dismiss any appeals without explanation.
The municipality will have to see if there’s any potential for savings in time and money when it comes to the appeals.