RECOMMENDATION:
THAT
the staff report entitled “Draft Oak Ridges Moraine
Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Public Meeting Request”, dated
May 20, 2003, be received.
AND THAT
staff be authorized to schedule a public meeting for July 7, 2003 with
notification provided by direct mail and newspaper notice.
AND FURTHER
THAT the Region of York and Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing be
forwarded a copy of the report.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to obtain authorization to schedule a
public information meeting on the draft Oak Ridges Moraine Official Plan and
Zoning By-law Amendments as required pursuant to the Oak Ridges Moraine
Conservation Act, 2001.
BACKGROUND
On December 14, 2001, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed Bill
122, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, 2001. The legislation requires that local
municipalities amend their Official Plans and zoning by-laws by October 22,
2003.
DISCUSSION
Oak Ridges Moraine conformity process tied to external activities
and processes
Town staff have
been working with the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan since its release by
the Province in April 2002. The
regulation is a complicated document and several meetings have been held with
the Region and local municipalities to identify common issues and approaches to
address policy and zoning related implementation concerns. The Province has also held training sessions
on their technical manuals, some of which are not yet finalized. Although the Province released the Oak
Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan in April 2002, the mapping was not released
until several months later. A number of technical manuals needed to implement
the policies remain unavailable from the Province. The required Wellhead Protection Study is now underway by the
Region and the completion of the study and policy recommendations may or may
not be available for inclusion within the conformity amendments within the
prescribed timeline. To assist local
municipalities with implementation of the legislation, the Province provided
funding to East Gwillimbury to prepare the conformity amendments. The East Gwillimbury amendments are intended
to be used by all other local municipalities as the draft policy and regulation
framework. The amendments prepared by
East Gwillimbury were released in the Spring and
a public meeting was held on May 5, 2003.
Staff have now obtained a copy of the draft Amendments and are reviewing
the documents within the Markham context.
This slow release of needed information has caused some delay in the
preparation of the draft Markham Amendments.
Most other affected municipalities are at a similar point in the process
and are only in the early stages of preparing their documents. Most municipalities
have retained the assistance of planning consultants.
Consultants retained to assist the Town with conformity exercise
The Town has
retained Meridian Planning Consultants to assist with the preparation of the
Oak Ridges Moraine Official Plan and Zoning By-law. The funds are approved in the 2002 and 2003 Environmental
Planning Consulting budget and the contract costs are within a range that can
be approved by the Director. Work is
underway and the consultant has advised that draft amendments will be available
in early June.
Statutory public meeting to be held
Staff would
like to proceed to a statutory public meeting on July 7, 2003. By holding the statutory public meeting in
July, staff will have the opportunity to finalize the documents over the summer
months with the Province and bring forward the final amendments to Committee in
the fall of 2003, with the objective of meeting the October 22, 2003 deadline.
Extension to time frame to be requested
As discussed with Council on February 13,
2003, it would be appropriate to continue to work towards the mandated
deadline, but the Town should protect for a potential delay given the reduced
meetings schedule throughout the summer months and pending municipal
election. Council authorized
staff to request an extension (Appendix ‘A’) if
required. The Oak
Ridges Moraine extends
into Markham at
the northern boundary
of the Town on lands
currently designated and
zoned for agriculture. There are no
planning applications that affect the lands and the lands are
mostly held by the Federal government.
A six month extension will not affect the applicability of the Oak
Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
There
are no financial considerations for the purpose of scheduling and conducting a
statutory public meeting.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED
Staff in the Development Services
Commission and the Legal Services Department will review the draft
Amendments.
ATTACHMENTS
Figure 1: Council Resolution
File Path: Q:\Development\Planning\MISC\MI204
Oak Ridges Morraine\Reports
and Documents\report to DSC
June 3, 2003.doc
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Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Director of Planning & Urban Design
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Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Commissioner of Development Services
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