|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TO: |
Mayor and Members of Council |
|
|
|
|
FROM: |
Alan Brown, Director of Engineering John Wright, Director of Building Standards |
|
|
|
|
PREPARED BY: |
|
|
|
|
|
DATE OF MEETING: |
|
|
|
|
|
SUBJECT: |
Town initiated Zoning By-law to Restrict
Issuance of Residential Building Permit until Municipal Services and Adequate
Capacity is Available |
|
|
|
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Report entitled “Town initiated Zoning By-law to Restrict Issuance of Residential Building
Permit until Municipal Services and Adequate Capacity is Available” be
received;
And That a Public Meeting be held
to seek community input on the proposed Zoning By-law.
PURPOSE:
The Purpose of this report is to provide
background information and identify issues relating to the enactment of a
zoning by-law to restrict the issuance of a residential building permit until
municipal services and capacity is available and to call a Public Meeting to
seek input on the proposed by-law.
BACKGROUND:
Municipal
Servicing Constraints
Since 1998, the Town has been required to monitor
and assign limited water supply capacity for residential developments. The Town has adopted a policy to allocate
water supply to specific developments at either the draft plan approval stage or
the site plan approval stage. As of
In Markham, the practice has been that residential
building permits not be issued on plans of subdivisions until a release was provided
by the
OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:
Building
Code and Planning Act Provisions
The Chief Building Official is required to
issue building permits provided the application meets the requirements of the Building
Code and other “applicable law”. In the
past, subdivision agreements have been treated as applicable law. Bill 124 clarifies what is considered “applicable
law” and it does not include subdivision and site plan agreements. Zoning by-laws are defined as “applicable
law.” The Ontario Planning Act, under
Section 34 (5) permits municipalities to pass a zoning by-law to “…. prohibit the use of land or the erection or
use of buildings of structures unless such municipal services as may be set out
in the by-law are available to service the land, buildings or structures, as
the case may be.” As applicable
law, a by-law enacted under this section of the Act would authorize the Chief
Building Official to withhold issuing a residential building permit until specified
municipal services are available. It is
proposed that
Determination
of Available Municipal Services
There are two opportunities within the
development approval process to determine available municipal services;
1.
Capacity of municipal
services (sanitary and water) requiring allocation. This
is typically done at draft plan or site plan approval stage through a council
resolution and/or confirmed by the Director of Engineering.
2.
Actual construction and
operation of municipal services. When
construction of available municipal services are completed to a specified
stage, they are certified by the Consulting Engineer and confirmed by the
Director of Engineering as to completeness.
For the purpose of the proposed by-law,
“available” municipal services will be defined as follows (these municipal
services will be required to be completed prior to the issuance of the residential
building permit and will be defined in the by-law as such);
a) The roadway in the subdivision is constructed to base
course asphalt;
b) The watermain, sanitary sewer and storm sewer are
constructed and operational*;
c) The external sanitary, storm and watermain trunks are
installed and operational to service the development
d) The watermain has been pressure tested and meets certain
flow standards for firefighting purposes
e) The storm, sanitary and water service connections have
been installed to the street line for each lot.
* We
are currently discussing with the Community Services Commission and the Legal
Department to determine the appropriate timing for potable water relative to
the issuance of residential building permits/residential occupancy. This will be clarified prior to bringing
the by-law forward for adoption.
There are situations where residential building
permits are dependent upon external roads and municipal services that are under
construction and will be operational prior to occupancy. In this situation it is recommended the
Director of Engineering be authorized to provide a release for building permits
rather than delay the process.
There
The proposed by-law will provide the Town a legal
mechanism under Bill 124 to ensure a residential building permit will not be
issued until sufficient sanitary and water supply has been allocated to the
development and confirmation that available municipal services are constructed
and available to facilitate building construction.
Zoning by-law requires a public meeting
A public meeting is required to
seek public comment on the proposed zoning by-law. As
this zoning by-law is not site specific, notification will be through the local
newspaper and on the Town web site.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The Legal Department has reviewed this report and
supports the recommendation.
|
|
|
|
|
Alan Brown Director of Engineering |
|
John Wright Director of Building Standards |
___________________________________
Commissioner of Development Services
Q:\Development\Strategy\By-law
for municipal services.doc