COUNTY OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENT PROCESS (TYPICAL)

Transcription

1 COUNTY OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENT PROCESS (TYPICAL) Refer to Process Flow Chart: Typical County Official Plan Amendment Process 1. PRE-CONSULTATION Pre-application consultation with prospective applicants provides an opportunity to clarify the County s expectations with respect to applications and supporting requirements. Pre-consultation can be legally required by a by-law as per the Planning Act Section 22 (3.1)(b). Based on discussions with the County to-date, it is assumed that pre-application consultation will be a mandatory process. Deliverable 1: Pre-application consultation application form o Possibility of online form options (for future discussion) o Address AODA requirements Deliverable 2: Pre-application consultation checklist template o Identifies mandatory submission requirements, Informed by O. Reg 543/ RECEIVE PRE-CONSULTATION FORM Determine a contact person at the County as the recipient of pre-application enquiries and application packages. This person will forward the package to MMM and coordinate with MMM during processing. o This person will also be responsible for coordinating with other County staff with respect to addressing AODA requirements relating to pre-application enquiries and process. Upon receipt of a pre-consultation package, MMM will: o Record that a package has been received in a GIS database; and o Check whether minimum information and validation requirements have been met, including submission of pre-application consultation fee. If the pre-consultation package is deemed to meet minimum requirements, MMM will proceed to 1.2. Incomplete requests for consultation will not be processed: o In such cases, MMM will confirm this finding with the County contact and proceed to notify the applicant that the submission is incomplete. We will communicate the outstanding or incomplete information that needs to be provided. 1.2 NOTIFY INTERNAL REVIEWERS &CONDUCT INTERNAL REVIEW MMM will assign a File Manager to each completed pre-application package forwarded to us by the County MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 1

2 We will work with the County to establish a pre-consultation review group consisting of relevant County staff and MMM Staff: o Possibility to establish automated notifications for County staff. MMM will circulate the pre-application package to the pre-consultation review group o Deliverable 3: We will prepare a process flow chart identifying County and MMM staff as well as potential peer review contacts to be circulated. MMM will compile the findings of the Review Group. o Members of the review group will review the request for pre-application consultation package and provide their input to MMM. o The review group will provide comments on potential challenges associated with the proposed application. This will include determining whether associated local planning applications must have been endorsed or adopted by local Council first. o Review group members will confirm submission requirements for complete application using the pre-application consultation checklist template. o The review group will reach a corporate consensus on application submission requirements prior to meeting with the applicant. 1.3 SCHEDULE PRE-CONSULTATION MEETING MMM and the County will confirm the members of the review group that should attend the preconsultation meeting, including local Municipal Staff, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH), and Conservation Authorities where required. MMM will work with the County and the applicant to determine a pre-application consultation meeting date, to be held at the County offices. 1.4 HOLD PRE-CONSULTATION MEETING Internal performance standard: pre-consultation meeting (1.4) should occur no more than three weeks after the internal review meeting (1.2). o Possibility of meeting/telecommunication options. Applicants will attend the pre-consultation meeting to present their application, pose questions for clarification and hear consolidated comments. Review group members identified in 1.3 will attend to explain issues and recommend course of action. At the meeting, staff will fill out the pre-consultation checklist identifying all supporting materials and number of copies required, and will have the applicant sign the checklist as an acknowledgement of the submission requirements. Within 2-3 days following the pre-consultation meeting, MMM will compile comments and will release a Record of Consultation. MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 2

3 The Record of Consultation will include: o A copy of the signed pre-consultation checklist identifying the mandatory submission requirements, along with number of required copies; o Written comments from the review group; and o Whether other considerations need to be addressed prior to the submission of a County OPA application. The Record of Consultation provides the applicant with documented confirmation of the proposed County OPA objectives and the requirements for a complete application. The Record of Consultation will also establish an expiration date, which is enforced should an application not be forthcoming within the prescribed time period (i.e. typically 6-9 months) o An applicant wishing to proceed after the expiry of the Record of Consultation will be required to submit a new request for pre-consultation. 2. APPLICATION SUBMISSION The applicant will submit a package of materials in accordance with the submission requirements detailed in the Record of Consultation in both hard copy and electronic format: o Future possibility of having an online submission interface/option. 2.1 RECEIVE APPLICATION Determine contact person at the County as the recipient for OPA applications submissions. County to notify MMM File Manager that an application has been received and forward copies of all materials received to MMM File Manager. 2.2 EVALUATE COMPLETENESS Upon receipt of a submission package: o MMM will confirm that materials submitted as part of the submission package meet the minimum requirements established in the Record of Consultation. Statutory requirement: determination of application completeness must be communicated within 30 days of application receipt (2.1): o Should the County fail to notify the applicant as to the completeness of the application within 30 days, the applicant may appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). Internal performance standard: determine application completeness in 21 days. 2.3 NOTIFICATIONS a) If a submission is deemed complete, MMM will notify the applicant of submission completeness and proceed to process the application (3) o Statutory requirement: Public notification must be given after an application has been deemed complete: MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 3

4 o o Public notification will include the posting of a sign as well as a letter, given by personal service or mail, to owners of properties within a designated radius (120 m) from the boundary of the subject property, and via local newspaper, as per O Reg 543/06 Section 3. ( The posting of a sign to County specifications may be the responsibility of the County (subject to a fee) or the applicant Possibility of also giving notice via County website. Notice will request that those who are interested in providing comments do so by providing written or verbal comments to the File Manager Statutory requirement: From the date of issuance of notice of complete application, the County has 180 days to make a decision regarding the proposed County OPA. Deliverable 4: Public notice sign template (possible templates for form letter and newspaper notices). Future possibility of automated notification options. b) If a submission is deemed incomplete, MMM will notify the applicant with an explanatory letter identifying why the submission was deemed incomplete, and what materials are missing. o The applicant has 30 days from the date a notice of incompleteness is issued to appeal this decision to the OMB. c) If the applicant has not received notification of a decision regarding the completeness of their application within 30 days of submission, the applicant can pursue an OMB hearing on the grounds that the County has failed to render a decision. Similarly, if the applicant receives a notice of incompleteness, the applicant may also pursue an OMB hearing. o The outcome of the OMB hearing would determine if the application is deemed complete or incomplete. o Should the OMB deem the application complete, the application would proceed through the prescribed application process (3), see (7) for details regarding appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board. 3. PROCESSING COMPLETE APPLICATION Once a submission has been deemed complete, MMM will circulate the materials to the relevant internal and external technical agencies for peer review. o Deliverable 5: List of internal staff / external technical agencies to circulate, informed by O. Reg 543/06. List will also identify materials to be circulated. o Statutory Requirement: Identified persons and agencies must be notified of the request for amendment within 15 days of a notice of completeness having been issued, and required submission materials must be made available to them. In addition, submission materials must be made publicly available within the 15 day window. Once a submission has been deemed complete, the County will tentatively add the application to an agenda for an upcoming public meeting of Council / Planning Advisory Committee ( Committee, once established): MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 4

5 o The selected date will serve as a placeholder date until such time as a presentation to Council / Committee is formally scheduled: Formal scheduling will occur once the commenting period has expired, comments have been compiled, and County staff are satisfied that corporate consensus has been established. o Internal Performance Standard: The application should be placed on the agenda for a Council / Committee meeting taking place within a 2 calendar-month window of the time a notice of completeness is issued. A preliminary report will be prepared. The report will provide preliminary information regarding the proposed application and seek Council / Committee direction with respect to further processing of the application, and the community consultation process. o Deliverable 6: Preliminary report template. 3.1A PRELIMINARY REPORTING MMM will work with the County to prepare a preliminary report for the application and add the report to the next Council / Committee session. Peer review recommendations will also be identified where appropriate for Council / Committee consideration and direction. 3.1B CIRCULATION The application will be circulated to internal staff and external agencies as identified in process (3) for review and comment. A commenting deadline will be provided to staff and external technical agencies. If staff members or external technical agencies do not have comments, they will communicate this to the File Manager. Following the commenting deadline, comments will be compiled by MMM File Manager (process 6.1). It may be desirable to hold a review group meeting to discuss any issues with the application prior to issuing comments to the applicant (process 6.2). o Possibility of telecommunication options; o At the internal review group meeting: Staff will discuss their comments for the application in order to establish corporate consensus; Where differences of opinion cannot be resolved at the group meeting, the File Manager will facilitate a resolution, engaging senior management as necessary; and Comments provided by the liaison group must be solution-oriented, rather than simply identifying issues with the application. MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 5

6 4. COMMITTEE / COUNCIL MEETING A preliminary report will be presented to Committee / Council for information at a regularly scheduled Council/Committee meeting. At the meeting, Committee / Council may offer additional direction regarding processing and may request additional public consultation. 4.1 NOTIFICATION OF APPLICANT & PUBLIC OF COMMITTEE / COUNCIL MEETING Upon the formal scheduling of a public meeting of Council / Committee (process 3), County staff will circulate notice of the date, time and location of the public meeting at which the application will be presented for preliminary consideration. o The notice will explain the nature of the amendment being requested. Public notification will include an update to the notification of application sign posted in process 2.3 as well as a letter, given by personal service or mail to owners of properties within a designated radius (120 m) from the boundary of the subject property, and a posting in a local newspaper. The update to the sign will be the responsibility of the County. Possibility of also giving notice via County website. o Deliverable 7: Notice of public meeting templates. 4.2 HOLD MEETING & RECEIVE COMMITTEE / COUNCIL DIRECTION o The preliminary report will be presented to Committee / Council for information and direction. 5. INFORMAL PUBLIC MEETING (IF REQUESTED) As an outcome of the meeting (process 4.1), Council / Committee may deem it beneficial to undertake additional public consultation in the form of an informal public meeting. 5.1 SCHEDULE INFORMAL PUBLIC MEETING MMM will work with County staff and the applicant to schedule an informal public meeting. 5.2 GIVE NOTICE OF INFORMAL PUBLIC MEETING MMM will assist County staff to circulate notice of the date, time and location of the public meeting: o This will include consideration of the venue and AODA concerns; o Public notification will consist of a letter, given by personal service or mail to owners of properties within a designated radius (120 m) from the boundary of the subject property, and a posting in a local newspaper. Possibility of also giving notice via County website. 5.3 HOLD INFORMAL PUBLIC MEETING An informal public meeting will be held at the date, time and location specified in the Notice of Public Meeting. MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 6

7 MMM will coordinate with County staff to attend the meeting and prepare a record of attendance and comments received. o Deliverable 8: Sign-in sheet template. o Deliverable 9: Comments table/summary. 6. COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATION REPORT Comments identified by reviewers circulated in 3.1b and those received from the public by the County during processes 4.1 and process 5.3 (if requested), or through mail/digital submission (via County website) will be compiled and reviewed by MMM to determine the appropriate channel for addressing the comments. Comments that should be addressed by a County department will be directed to the appropriate member of the review team. Comments to be addressed by the applicant will be forwarded in conjunction with comments from the review team (process 6.2). 6.1 COORDINATE/COMPILE COMMENTS FROM CIRCULATION MMM will receive, compile and synthesize all circulation comments, and will coordinate with reviewers to ensure consistency and clarity prior to forwarding comments to the applicant. 6.2 ISSUE PRELIMINARY COMMENTS TO APPLICANT The MMM File Manager will compile all circulation comments, along with any public comments to be addressed by the applicant, and will forward a preliminary comment package to the applicant o Internal Performance Standard: One week after comments from circulation have been compiled (process 6.1) they will be issued to the applicant. A cover letter will accompany the comment package noting the expectation that the applicant will address the comments provided in a timely manner, in order to progress the application efficiently within the 180 day statutory requirement. o Deliverable 10: Comment package cover letter template 6.3 RECEIVE RESPONSE FROM APPLICANT The MMM File Manager will be available to communicate directly with the applicant, should the applicant require clarification of comments or anticipated timelines. o Where necessary, the file manager will seek comment clarification from relevant review team members. It may be necessary for the applicant to submit additional materials, or to resubmit some or all of the required studies/plans requested as part of the original submission package, reflecting updates in response to comments received (this will be clearly indicated in the circulation comments provided to the applicant). MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 7

8 o o Should new or updated materials be required, these will be recirculated to appropriate internal staff and / or external agencies for scoped review and comment (process 3.1b). Circulation comments received regarding new or updated submission materials will be re-issued to the applicant as per process PREPARE RECOMMENDATION REPORT When the all comments have been addressed to the satisfaction of the file manager (or to the extent deemed necessary by the applicant), MMM will prepare a final recommendation report. o The recommendation report will include a review of the application and planning context, a summary of the public consultation process and agency circulation, and recommendations for Committee/Council. o A draft recommendation report will be provided to the County for review and approval, prior to finalizing for Council/Committee consideration. County staff will review the recommendation report and will notify the MMM File Manager of any issues. o Upon receipt of the recommendation report, the County will tentatively add the application to the agenda of an upcoming public Committee / Council meeting (process 7.3a). o The selected date will serve as a placeholder date until such time as the report has been endorsed by County staff. No notice of public meeting will be issued until such time as the Report has been finalized. 7. STATUTORY PUBLIC MEETING (SPM) & COUNCIL DECISION Statutory Requirement: A final recommendation report regarding the County Official Plan Amendment application will be presented to Committee / Council at a Satutory Public Meeting (SPM). The meeting will provide an opportunity for the public to make representations with respect to the proposed amendment. 7.1 SCHEDULE STATUTORY PUBLIC MEETING Once County staff has endorsed the final recommendation report (process 6.4), the date of the SPM at which the recommendation report will be considered will be finalized. 7.2 NOTIFY APPLICANT & PUBLIC OF MEETING Upon the formal scheduling of the SPM before Committee / Council (process 7.1), MMM will work with County staff to circulate the statutory Notification of a Public Meeting, and to notify the applicant. o The notification will provide the date, time and location of the statutory meeting. o The notice will explain the nature of the amendment being requested. Public notification will include an update to the notification of application sign posted in process 2.3, as well as a letter, given by personal service or mail, to owners of properties within a designated radius (120 m) from the boundary of the subject property, as well as a posting in a local newspaper. The update to the sign may be the responsibility of the Applicant or County. MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 8

9 Possibility of also giving notice via County website. The SPM may be held before Committee (process 7.3a) or before Council (process 7.3b). 7.3A HOLD STATUTORY PUBLIC MEETING BEFORE COMMITTEE The SPM will be held at the date, time and location specified in the Notice of Public Meeting. o The final recommendation report will be presented to Committee. o There will be an opportunity for the applicant to present their application, and sufficient time allocated to allow for submissions by the public. o The Committee will make a recommendation and provide comments to Council to either adopt, refuse or defer the application. The Committee will also have the option to not make a recommendation, and leave the matter of the application to Council s discretion. MMM will attend the SPM if requested by the County. 7.3B HOLD STATUTORY PUBLIC MEETING BEFORE COUNCIL The SPM will be held at the date, time and location specified in the Notice of Public Meeting. o The final recommendation report will be presented to Council. o There will be an opportunity for the applicant to present their application, and sufficient time allocated to allow for submissions by the public. Council may elect to provide a recommendation for consideration at a future meeting of Council, or it may elect to render a decision at the SPM, depending on the comments received and nature/complexity of the application. Should Council choose to render a decision, it may adopt or refuse the proposed County OPA, or it may defer its decision. MMM will assist the County to prepare a draft Official Pan Amendment for consideration by Council. In the event that Council defers a decision, Council will direct staff to add the application to an upcoming Council meeting for future consideration. Council may also elect to not render a decision: o In the event that Council does not render a decision, and the statutory period for decision has expired (180 days from the time of notice of complete application) the application can be appealed to the OMB (process 8) MMM will attend the SPM if requested by the County. Statutory requirement: If Council has adopted the proposed Official Plan Amendment, County staff will submit the adopted by-law and required information to MMAH for ministerial approval (process 7.5). 7.4 RECEIVE COUNCIL DECISION OR DIRECTION o Should Council receive a recommendation from the SPM, it will render a decision or provide direction on the matter of the application. Council may adopt or refuse the proposed OPA: MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 9

10 MMM will assis.t the County to prepare a draft by-law for consideration by Council Council may also elect to not render a decision. o In the event that Council does not render a decision, and the statutory period for decision has expired (180 days from the time of notice of complete application) the application can be appealed to the OMB (process 8) Statutory requirement: If Council has adopted the proposed Official Plan Amendment, County staff will submit the adopted by-law and required information to MMAH for ministerial approval (process 7.5). 7.5 NOTIFY APPLICANT & PUBLIC OF DECISION Once Council has rendered a decision to adopt an official plan amendment, MMM will work with County staff to ensure that statutory notice of adoption requirements are met. o Statutory requirement: Written notice of decision must be provided to the following within 15 days of decision, and must follow the requirements set forth in O.Reg 543/06 (Section 4): MMAH as the approval authority; Each person or public body that filed a written request to be notified of adoption with the County clerk, including the applicant; and Any other person or public body otherwise prescribed. Council s decision is retroactive pending approval authority decision. FORWARD TO MMAH APPROVAL All County OPA s are subject to approval by MMAH. Note: Planning Act section 17(9) allows the Minister authority to exempt certain OPAs from MMAH approval, through regulation and subject to conditions. Statutory requirement: MMM will work with the County to compile the record of decision, along with any fee as prescribed under Section 17(31) of the Planning Act, and forward to MMAH for approval consideration no later than 15 days after the day the amendment was adopted. MMAH will have the option to approve, modify and approve as modified, or refuse to approve part or parts or the whole of the Official Plan Amendment. Once MMAH has issued a decision, it will provide written notice of its decision to the following: o Dufferin County Council, as the adopting body; o Each person or public body that made a written request to be notified of the decision o Each municipality or planning board to which the amendment would apply; and o Any other person or public body otherwise prescribed. 8. OMB APPEAL Statutory requirement: Following MMAH decision, the decision may be appealed to the OMB within 20 days from the date of issuance of the Ministry s notice of decision. MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 10

11 The following may file an appeal: o A person or public body who, before the plan was adopted, made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to Council; o The County of Dufferin; o The applicant; o Any prescribed person or public body. 8.1 RECEIVE NOTICE OF APPEAL In order to initiate an OMB appeal, the appellant must file a written notice of appeal with County clerk. Should an appeal be received by the County clerk, MMM will work with the County to confirm that the appeal was received within the appeal period, that the notice of appeal conforms to the statutory requirements as established in Section 17 of the Planning Act, and that the necessary fee payment prescribed under the Ontario Municipal Board Act has been included. A notice of appeal may be received either by personal service, mail, or by facsimile. 8.2 COMPILATION OF RECORD MMM will work with the County to compile the municipal record. 8.3 FORWARD NOTICE OF APPEAL TO OMB Statutory Requirement: If an appeal is not withdrawn, MMM will work with the County to forward the notice of appeal, along with the compiled record (Process 8.2) and the required fee to the OMB within 15 days after the last day for filing a notice of appeal. Statutory requirement: If all appeals in respect to all or part of a decision of Council are withdrawn, and the time for filing appeals has expired the OMB will notify the County clerk. o The decision or the part of the decision that was subject of an appeal is final. o The amendment, or part of the amendment that was adopted for which all appeals have been withdrawn comes into effect as part of the official plan on the day the last outstanding appeal has been withdrawn. 8.4 OMB HEARING/MEDIATION The OMB will may hold pre-hearings and mediation session prior to a hearing. o Pre-hearings may be scheduled in advance of a hearing to: identifying issues, parties and participants. organizing complicated hearings. determining what documents should be exchanged, and determining procedures before and during the hearing. o Mediation meetings will include only the parties to the matter or those directed to attend by the OMB. MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 11

12 If a dispute is resolved, the OMB may give a decision that day. If an agreement is not reached at mediation, the OMB will schedule a public hearing. MMM will attend any OMB meetings and hearings on behalf of the County as requested/required. 8.5 OMB DECISION The OMB may approve all or part of the amendment, make modifications to all or part of the amendment and approve, or refuse to approve all or part of the amendment. o However, the OMB cannot approve or modify any part of an amendment that is in effect and was not dealt with in the decision of Council to which the notice of appeal relates. If the OMB decides to dismiss the appeal, the OMB will notify the County clerk that the decision, or part of the decision that was subject to an appeal is final, and that any part of the plan that was adopted or approved that had been subject to an appeal that has been dismissed comes into effect as part of an official plan on the day after the day the last outstanding appeal has been dismissed. 9. OPA IMPLEMENTATION 9.1 COUNTY IMPLEMENTATION OF OPA The amendment, or part of the amendment that was adopted that is not the subject of an appeal, comes into effect as part of the Official Plan on the day after the last day for filing a notice of appeal. MMM GROUP LIMITED AUGUST 2015 PAGE 12