The Ontario government is turning back the clock on how development disputes are decided in the province; it’s reverting to the old Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) rules under the newer Local Planning Appeal Tribunal’s (LPAT) name.

It is a move being applauded by developers but cast as a devastating reversal by some civic officials, who say it undermines local communities’ concerns and municipal planning authority.

The LPAT changes are part of a sweeping piece of legislation tabled in the legislature by Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark, who said it would bring more housing to market sooner, create a more diverse mix of homes and boost supply to make shelter more affordable.

The omnibus More Homes, More Choice Act would affect 13 Ontario laws from the Environmental Protection and Endangered Species acts to the Ontario Heritage and Planning acts.

“This bill will go a long way to provide people hope that they will have the right type of housing at a price they can afford,” Clark said at a press conference at a Habitat for Humanity stacked townhome building site in Scarborough.

The government gave few details on how the new rules around planning and development would be implemented and Clark did not provide a hard target for the number or kind of homes he expects to be built. But he said his government will continue to consult with municipalities around how the changes are implemented. Comments on the bill officially close June 1.

“Our success is going to be shovels in the ground. This is a continual priority of our government,” Clark said.

If it becomes law, the bill would increase opportunities for people to live closer to employment and transit, speed up and streamline development approvals and address the shortage of missing “middle” homes, or small apartment buildings and townhouses, which provide an alternative to detached houses and highrises, the minister said.

Toronto councillors whose wards are being challenged by unprecedented growth decried the shift back to the OMB, which was killed by the former Liberal government after much criticism that it undermined municipal authority.

“Today’s announcement by the Ford government is a giveaway of the development and planning process to the development industry,” said Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 12, St. Paul’s), who represents the fastest-growing part of the Yonge-Eglinton area and fought for years to kill the OMB.

“They’ve gone back to a free-for-all for developers.”

He said it will be taxpayers who will subsidize growth-related infrastructure needed in those communities, including parks, schools and other amenities.

Clark said he is aware of municipal concerns around the old OMB rules and he is mindful of municipal autonomy, but claimed the new LPAT system, just over a year old and still in the early stages of hearings on appeals, is not moving fast enough.

“There are 100,000 (housing) units that are stuck before the tribunal. I believe the processes we have put in place will unlock that backlog. We can’t continue to have a system where you’re waiting 24 or 36 months for a hearing. We need to do better,” Clark said.

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He acknowledged creating a third layer of appeals, which would exist until legacy appeals are dealt with, will create additional challenges for an unknown amount of time.

Mayor John Tory welcomed the government’s commitments to speeding up the supply of rentals. But he said he was concerned about the LPAT and development charges in Thursday’s announcement .

“It would not necessarily be a step forward to go back to the old OMB ways,” said a statement from Tory, who was in Vancouver with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. “Those old ways needed reform precisely because the OMB-type system was not working well for cities or neighbourhoods, so we should take great care in any next set of changes.”

Tory expressed concern over new development charge rules, stressing that “growth pay for growth,” so that property-tax payers aren’t footing the bill for infrastructure attached to new development.

The province is proposing to amalgamate rules that allow municipalities to charge developers for community benefits (known as Section 37 funds) and parkland into a single new “community benefits charge” that would also include municipal costs for “soft services” such as libraries and community centres. How that charge would apply in Toronto would be subject to a strategy agreed to by council.

Other members of council called the LPAT changes a boon for developers, too.

“The reason I and others fought for OMB reforms is that that body was heavy-handed and heavily favoured developers — people with the greatest dollars — so they can force developments they want on neighbourhoods,” said Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 13, Toronto Centre).

Councillor John Filion (Ward 18, Willowdale) said “Christmas came early” for the industry.

“This is clearly a set of rules designed to give the land speculators and developers everything they could possibly want in the guise of creating more affordable housing. If they didn’t write (the changes) themselves, they certainly could have,” Filion said.

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Change will come slowly despite OMB reforms

The Building and Land Development Association (BILD) welcomed the changes and return of OMB rules, saying it would “ensure decisions are based on the best planning outcome and that the body is sustainably resourced.”

BILD president Dave Wilkes blamed “long timelines” for development approvals for adding 10 years to the time it takes to build a highrise or 11 years for a lowrise development.

“I think the bottom line here, and it’s a simple one, is that we don’t have enough homes for people that are looking for homes in the area,” he said.

Ontario Home Builders’ Association president Rick Martins said everyone needs to stop pointing fingers and “get the shovels in the ground.”

“What we’re looking to do is where there’s opportunity for intensification, intensify. Where there’s opportunity to create affordable housing, create it,” he said, suggesting those who are homeless can be sheltered.

The Toronto Board of Trade, which had asked the province to review Section 37 fees and had raised concerns about the LPAT backlog, praised the provincial plan.

None of the changes announced Thursday would ensure affordable home prices or rents as part of increasing supply. Last year, the Ontario Progressive Conservatives repealed rent controls for new units saying that it would encourage the development of purpose-built rentals, which would give landlords more certainty on the return for their investment.

Among the government’s other proposed changes: secondary suites would be exempt from development charges in new homes. This is to create an incentive to encourage the development of more units. Development charges would be deferred for the development of rental and non-profit housing. Municipalities will be required to allow a secondary suite in secondary buildings, such as coach houses, laneway homes and garages.

The bill proposes more provincial power over planning around transit and employment zones and allows more mixed-use development in some locations previously reserved for office and industrial buildings.

The Environmental Assessment Act would be modernized to focus on developments considered to be higher risk and exempt about 350 lower risk projects, such as bike lanes, Clark said.

Changes to the updated Growth Plan, to take effect May 16, would simplify minimum intensification and density targets and streamline the process for increasing land supply by adjusting settlement area boundaries.

There will also be more adjudicators for Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board to clear a backlog of cases there.

The Ontario Building Code would be revised to eliminate the requirement for builders to install electric vehicle charging stations in new homes.

The Ontario Green Party said that shows Premier Doug Ford’s government has a poor understanding of the clean economy and the savings to drivers of electric vehicles.

“As consumers make the switch amidst hundreds of billions of investment from the auto sector, (Doug) Ford cancels EV charging and continues his obsession with big oil and gas,” said Green Party leader and Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner.

It’s a small, “but particularly galling” change, said Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence.

“The cost of running the wire when you’re framing a house is $50. If you do it after the fact, it’s going to cost you $1,000 at least. It’s mean spirited and non-forward looking. You’re penalizing the future homeowner to save $50 for the developer,” he said.

Tim Hudak, CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association, said he was “really excited” the government took up several of the organization’s ideas, including better use of vacant land.

“What I see in the government’s plan today: a lot more room for starter homes, for move-up homes when families’ kids start to get a bit bigger, (and) more rental units,” said Hudak, who argued that more supply will provide more affordability. He said red tape, taxes and charges have stood in the way of this.