Huntsville and District Councillor Scott Morrison says eliminating planning hurdles will expedite the construction of more affordable housing.
At the Jan. 14 Huntsville Planning Council meeting, Morrison questioned Muskoka’s two-tier planning system. He asked councillors for support in calling for a review of how developers get approvals to build.
“The whole purpose of bringing this to the Huntsville table is that a few of us at the District table are looking at bringing something forward at the District to look at the feasibility of adjusting the roles of the two planning authorities and having a third-party study done to look at all the pros, cons, costs associated, and everything else with how that would work,” said Morrison. “And I felt because we are the representatives for Huntsville at the District table, I thought it would be prudent for us to have a discussion here to see if it’s even something that this council would want us to discuss.”
Morrison clarified that the issue is not a slight on Huntsville and District planning staff, “it’s just about the process, and the process is driven by council. So anything that the planning staff are dealing with that makes things slower, it’s not them, it’s the process that we’ve created, so I want to make that clear.”
Morrison told the Huntsville Planning Council that he has spent a long time analyzing the issue. “Through my research, there is no evidence that removing the upper-tier planning would involve any reduction in staff at all. I’m not looking at this as a way to save money from staffing costs. I’m looking at this as a way to make housing more affordable by removing parts of the process that might not be needed.”
He said there is evidence that the removal of planning authority in upper-tier municipal governments “has resulted in less cost, less time to developers, which has resulted in cheaper homes and more homes being built. The process is something that’s always being looked at, but this seems to be a big-ticket item that I’ve done a lot of research in… but we still don’t have enough information to say if it’s a good idea or not.”
Morrison said the cost of building has increased significantly for developers, but also said a high cost to developers is tied up in governmental fees, timelines and the approval process.
He said the Ontario government has already taken the initiative in several municipalities. He said some were petitioned by the municipalities themselves, and in others, the action has been taken by the province, which means there is merit in examining the process.
“There are a lot of trades, sometimes, when processes take longer than they need to, that are sitting idle, not earning an income, waiting for permits to come through… if we get more consistent and predictable timelines, these trades can be working more, making more money and spending that money in our communities,” he argued, adding that it also means a faster increase in municipal assessment growth, particularly at budget time, and it could mean less Ontario Land Tribunal challenges when dealing with just one municipal tier.
Councillor Bob Stone asked whether there is an appetite to ask the province for help in reviewing Muskoka’s process. Morrison said it could be something that the province gets involved with instead of a third-party consultant. “And also we want to know what can the province do to help us, if we’re going to do this, because we know all the bills they’ve passed on getting more homes built quicker, if we go down this road… it will be helping them meet their goals and their initiatives.”
Councillor Cory Clarke said it’s worth considering, but it probably should happen at the start of the next term of council. He said it would be more fair to allow the next council to make a decision as to whether to embark on a review, and then make decisions about changes.
Morrison said it’s a lengthy process. “The housing crisis is not waiting; it’s here today. The bottom line is that if we do the review now, I don’t think any decisions will be made this term, and I don’t want any decisions made this term. If we wait to next term to start the review, we’re probably 18 months behind on looking at an option that could have a significant impact on cost of housing and number of units built in our community. So the time now is not to wait when the housing prices are so strong.”
Councillor Jason FitzGerald agreed that the timing is sensitive. “So do we pursue further at the District? I think we should, in my mind. I think everyone knows that our current situation with housing and with the holdups and the way developers feel, and the way projects potentially are put on hold or are relocated somewhere else, a lot of homework to do, a lot of learning to do, but I think we probably should get the ball rolling as soon as we can because if there’s a lot of new faces in council it’s going to take them a while to get their feet under them and that would even delay it further…,” he said.
Huntsville Mayor Nancy Alcock said she’s had some discussions on the issue and believes there is an appetite to address possible redundancies between the two planning levels. She used plans of subdivision as an example. “That’s an area where I think our incredibly competent planning staff do a full review of something and then, more often than not, the District will look at it through the plan of subdivision lens and their own OP [Official Plan], which they have to do, and sometimes it appears quite redundant,” she said, adding that in those areas there is room for analysis.
She said the District plays an essential role in areas related to integrated watershed management, protection of the environment, climate change initiatives – areas where the lower tiers are not staffed as well and need to be looked at from a regional lens. She said she would not get rid of planning as a function of the District.
Deputy Mayor Dan Armour said he’d be willing to look at ways to make the process better, but also questioned whether the lower tiers have the ability to take on more work.
Morrison clarified that he is not suggesting that the District get rid of upper-tier planning. “It’s to get rid of planning authority over our applications,” he said. “So upper-tier planning does all those things that Mayor Alcock talked about, and that is crucial. We have regional desires and goals with the environment and watershed and everything else, and that’s not something that I would want to download to lower-tiers… just the upper-tier having planning authority.”
Councillor Dione Schumacher said she’s in favour of having a discussion on the issue. And questioned whether it would represent a financial burden on the taxpayers. Morrison said if it is, then he would be against it. “If it ends up not making sense financially. If it’s going to be a big burden on the taxpayer, then no. We want affordable housing, but at what cost, right? We have to be careful, so it’s a balance.”
Alcock did say she did not want the issue to be placed on the desk of Huntsville planning staff, who have enough on their plate.
Discussions continued, but in the end, it seemed Huntsville councillors were amenable to bringing the discussion to the District table.
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Mr. Tapley is correct! We are over governed in Muskoka. I think every time restructuring or right sizing is discussed at the district level it get shot down by most councilors because they like either the pay or the feeling of authority. Why should a councilor from Georgian Bay have any say in what happens in Dwight?
We need cheaper permits and less red tape for contractors.
The population of Muskoka is about 1/10 of a percent of California but if you look at the Federal, Provincial, District and Local governments I think you will find we are government top heavy.
We duplicate too much! Any rationalization or reduction would probably be good.
It is also always easier for a person to deal local as possible for permits and things like them so a review of this might be good.
I appreciate Councillor Morrison raising this for thoughtful discussion. Taking a hard look at planning processes without blaming staff and without rushing to conclusions is exactly the kind of practical, good-faith leadership the housing crisis calls for.
A third-party or provincial review that weighs costs, timelines, and impacts makes sense, especially if it helps deliver more housing sooner while preserving the District’s essential environmental and watershed role. Asking the right questions now is a responsible first step.