CITY CLERK
Clause embodied in Report No. 6 of the North York Community Council, as
adopted by the North York Community Council at its meeting held on May
27, 1998.
28(j)Notice Provisions for Official Plan Amendments - UD03-HOP - All North York
Community Council Wards.
The North York Community Council reports having received the following report
and having authorized staff to schedule a public meeting:
(May 12, 1998) from the Acting Commissioner of Planning, North York Civic Centre,
reporting on the alternative notice procedure in the Official Plan which should be amended
to permit a notice period of twenty days for "old" Planning Act applications, and to permit
current applications submitted under Bill 29 to proceed with the statutory twenty day
notice period; and recommending:
(1)that notice be given for a statutory public meeting to consider an amendment to the
Official Plan to revise the Alternative Notice Procedure as described in the report.
May 12, 1998
To:North York Community Council
From:Bryan Tuckey, Acting Commissioner of Planning
Subject:Notice Provisions for Official Plan Amendments
UD03-HOP
ALL WARDS
Purpose:
The purpose of this report is to recommend that a minimum of twenty days notice be given
for all public meetings to consider official plan amendments. The alternative notice
procedure in the Official Plan should be amended to permit a notice period of twenty days
for "old" Planning Act applications, and to permit current applications submitted under Bill
20 to proceed with the statutory twenty day notice period.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1)that notice be given for a statutory public meeting to consider an amendment to the
Official Plan to revise the Alternative Notice Procedure as described in this report.
Discussion:
The minimum notice period for public meetings to consider official plan amendments has
been shortened from thirty days to twenty days under the new Planning Act (the Land Use
Planning and Protection Act, 1996, or Bill 20). This change in the legislation allows
official plan amendments and associated zoning by-laws to be dealt with concurrently with
twenty days notice.
The number of active applications on file for official plan amendments, and the minimum
notice periods under the three versions of the Planning Act are shown in the following
table:
Table 1Minimum Notice Periods for North York Official Plan Amendment Applications
Planning Act
Version |
No. of Official Plan
Amendment
Applications on file |
Minimum Notice Period
for OPA's |
Minimum Notice Period
for associated Zoning
By-laws |
"old Act" (a) |
12 |
28 days |
20 days |
(b) |
2 |
30 days |
20 days |
Bill 163 |
0 |
30 days |
20 days |
Bill 20
|
22 |
20 days |
20 days |
The "old" Planning Act required a minimum of thirty days notice for public meetings to
consider official plan amendments. North York adopted an Alternative Notice Procedure
under the "old" Act, requiring (a) a minimum of twenty-eight days notice for most
applications, and (b) a minimum of thirty days notice in the case of secondary plans, major
amendments or applications, and Downtown/Uptown applications (refer to Appendix 1).
A number of changes in recent years support revising the alternative notice procedure to
allow for twenty days notice as set out in the new Planning Act. There have been
significant changes in the way we do our business. Preconsultation, community
consultation meetings and preliminary evaluation reports have become the norm for
processing amendments. This provides ample opportunity for the public to be notified and
to participate in the review of an application before a statutory public meeting is held.
The North York Planning Committee met every two weeks. The present Community
Council operates on a four week meeting cycle which does not work well with a thirty day
notice requirement. A twenty day notice period, consistent with the new Planning Act,
meshes well with the new meeting cycle and contributes to on-going streamlining efforts.
Three of the former cities in Toronto have alternative notice provisions in their official
plans (refer to Appendix 2). The North York and Etobicoke policies require more notice
than the twenty days prescribed by the current Planning Act; East York requires twenty
days notice. The other three former cities give notice in accordance with the applicable
version of the Planning Act. Amending the Alternative Notice Procedure in the North York
Official Plan to permit a notice period of twenty days in accordance with the current
Planning Act will allow us to harmonize our normal practice for new applications with that
used by four of the other five former cities.
Conclusions:
Extensive preconsultation takes place before public meetings are held to consider official
plan amendments. It is recommended that Part A, Section 5, Alternative Notice Procedure,
of the North York Official Plan be amended to permit a twenty day notice period for public
meetings for all official plan amendments regardless of which Planning Act governs their
processing (refer to Appendix 3). This notice period reflects the statutory requirement in
the new Planning Act, complements the meeting cycle of the Community Council, and is
consistent with the general practice throughout the rest of the new City of Toronto. The
establishment of a consistent twenty day Alternative Notice Procedure in no way limits the
Community Council's ability to require an extended notice period under special
circumstances where this is warranted.
Contact Name:Ruth Lambe, Senior Planner
Phone:395-7110
Fax:395-7155
Appendix 1
EXTRACT FROM THE NORTH YORK OFFICIAL PLAN
PART A, Section 5, ALTERNATIVE NOTICE PROCEDURE
"Public meetings to consider amendments to this Official Plan shall be held by Council not
sooner than twenty-eight days after the giving of notice.
In those instances where a Part D Secondary Plan is in effect, for major official plan
amendments, all Downtown/Uptown development applications or for any other major
development applications identified in staff reports to the Planning Advisory Committee,
public meetings to consider amendments to this Official Plan shall be held by Council not
sooner than thirty days after the giving of notice."
Appendix 2
Table 2Notice Provisions of the Former Cities for Official Plan Amendments
Former City |
Notice Policy |
Minimum Notice Period for OPA's |
North York |
Part A, Section 5, Alternative Notice
Procedure |
28 days for most applications
30 days for secondary plans, etc. |
Etobicoke |
Section 11.6 public notice policy |
21 days |
East York |
Section 4.15 public participation
policy |
20 days |
Toronto |
Section 16.13 public meeting policy |
"notice shall be in the manner...
prescribed by regulation under the
Planning Act" |
York |
no notice policy in the Official Plan |
notice is given as prescribed under
the Planning Act |
Scarborough |
no notice policy in the Official Plan |
notice is given as prescribed under
the Planning Act |
Appendix 3
AMENDMENT NO. 462
TO THE OFFICIAL PLAN FOR THE
CITY OF NORTH YORK
PART ONE -- PREAMBLE
INTRODUCTION
This amendment consists of one item which is as follows:
ITEM 1amendment to Part A - THE CONCEPT PLAN
EFFECT OF THE AMENDMENT
The effect of this amendment is to amend Part A, Section 5, Alternative Notice Procedure.
Notice of public meetings to consider official plan amendments will be a minimum of
twenty days in accordance with the provisions of the Planning Act, 1996, even if the
application were filed under the previous Planning Acts which required a thirty day notice.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
A public meeting was held by the North York Community Council on , 1998.
Council at its meeting on 1998, enacted By-law which authorized the submission of this
Official Plan Amendment to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for approval.
PART TWO -- THE AMENDMENT
The following text constitutes Amendment No. 462 to the Official Plan of the City of
North York.
ITEM 1:PART A - THE CONCEPT PLAN is hereby amended as follows:
Clause 1Section 5, ALTERNATIVE NOTICE PROCEDURE, is hereby amended to read
as follows:
"Public meetings to consider amendments to this Official Plan shall be held by Council not
sooner than twenty days after the giving of notice."
(Copy of notice of public meeting, which appeared in the Star on June 22, 1998, is on file
in the office of the City Clerk.)