Developers to take the brunt of downloaded planning responsibilities – Pickering report

The provincially mandated downloading of planning responsibilities from the regional level to lower tier municipalities comes with a cost, though the City of Pickering is hopeful much of the new financial burden can be passed on to developers and not the taxpayers.

The legislative changes will require additional staff training and the establishment of a “roster of consultants” to undertake peer reviews of consultants’ reports submitted in support of applications, a report from Pickering staff noted.

The decision was conveyed to the city in a letter from Housing Minister Paul Callandra dated November 25, so staff had little time to prepare a detailed budget, though more information as part of a Treasurer’s 2025 Budget Housekeeping report will be provided early in the new year.

The change will take affect on January 1.

“They gave us no notice,” Councillor Maurice Brenner said of the provincial government’s decision to remove land use planning responsibilities from the Region of Durham and automatically assign them to the local municipalities. “We really had no choice.”

The report said the shift in responsibilities – not supported by the region, Brenner pointed out – will have an upfront cost to Pickering of $250,000 for staff resources and training and another $300,000 in consulting and related fees.

But no costs to the tax base, the report declared.

“Any costs associated for this program will have zero financial impact to the Pickering taxpayer. The financing strategy will be based on cost recovery for consulting engagements, charging of fees and where required, cost reductions in the city Development Budget.”

The downloading plan also means Pickering will take on greater responsibility for its future, with staff noting that while the regional ‘Envision Durham’ document will become an official plan for each of the lower-tier municipalities, the city will “need to consider whether it would be appropriate to consolidate the regional Official Plan with the Pickering Official Plan as part of the ‘Pickering Forward’ process, or as a separate process in the future.”

“We now have control of our Official Plan and we have the ability to make changes,” Brenner said.

The removal of the region’s planning responsibilities is one of a number of sweeping changes to land use planning through several pieces of provincial legislation, notably Bill 23 and the More Homes Built Faster Act.

Going forward, the Region of Durham’s planning function will become that of a commenting agency for land use applications, including official plan amendments and reviews, secondary plans, zoning by-law amendments, land divisions, site plans, and subdivisions. The comments will be restricted to matters regarding protecting the region’s interests related to infrastructure, regional transportation, social housing services, public health, and regionally-owned land.

It is expected the changes will result in longer approval times for development applications.