The Peterborough Examiner e-edition

City seeks to speed up home building approvals

Premier Doug Ford is putting pressure on municipalities, saying they need to speed up approvals to build new housing

TAYLOR CLYSDALE TORSTAR

Premier Doug Ford is calling out municipalities, saying their dawdling is preventing valuable homes from being built.

It’s an issue the City of Peterborough is seeking to fix, as home prices continue to rise with little new stock on the market.

“The delays between the concept of residential development and the realization of it are too long,” said Tom Phillips, a Trent University teacher and economist.

In 2017, Phillips published a report, commissioned by RE/Max Eastern Realty, examining the costs of delays. The report found that each home unbuilt was costing the community $1 million.

That’s something the premier is seeking to address. Ford said this week that slow approval processes in municipal planning departments are a barrier in building new housing.

Phillips said he’s not in agreement with Ford often. While he likely has different reasons than the premier for thinking that way, he has arrived at the same conclusion.

“Something has got to be done to speed up the processes of residential development,” Phillips said.

That doesn’t mean traditional subdivision development, though. Phillips notes that a challenge Peterborough faces is a lack of land and there’s more opportunities to look at underutilized areas and intensify.

“If we do development in the traditional single-family, single home (style), it’s not going to be viable,” he said.

But getting those infill projects approved can be a struggle. There are apartment buildings which have been on the books for years, which should have taken months, he notes.

“We’re years from catching up,” Phillips said.

The city is looking at how to speed up its planning processes, though.

In November, a consultant’s report, paid for by grant funding from the province, laid out some of its recommendations for streamlining.

Some suggestions are already being implemented, such as the use of a new computer system that will create a more consistent process for developers.

Other suggestions included increasing non-tax revenue streams, investing in more staffing and potentially asking for city council to divest itself of site plan approvals, allowing city staff to take on that responsibility.

Those consultants also noted council could “un-delegate” any hot applications which will require additional scrutiny or consultation.

Coun. Henry Clarke, who cochairs city council’s housing portfolio, said while some councillors think it’s important council be responsible for site plan approvals, it doesn’t need to be.

“I think an awful lot of it could be delegated to staff, and should be,” Clarke said.

There are certain issues the public cares about, such as the lighting of a site, the location of garbage or issues with traffic, and Clarke said those site plan issues could always be forwarded to council members to deal with.

But for routine site plan issues, “if they’re within the norms of what we’re doing, stamp it and approve it,” Clarke said. “Why complicate your meetings and staff times with things that could be handled as a standard operating procedure.”

The city needs to make the planning process more streamlined and predictable for developers, and that’s going to mean investing in technology and more people, he adds.

There’s a tremendous amount of pressure on the city to get projects approved, and Clarke said he’s aware people are getting stressed as inventory diminishes while prices remain high.

“The pressure for building here is astronomical,” he said.

But the city is taking note, and wants to get applications moving so projects can get built.

“I am very excited about the changes we’re looking to make in the planning department,” Clarke said.

The timing is right, said Phillips, noting city council approved a new Official Plan on Monday and is restarting negotiations with Cavan Monaghan Township about annexing lands.

Phillips said a “moat” has been built around the city, and it needs to look inwards to find places to build. But it needs to act quickly.

If it does, the city could reap plenty of rewards through additional tax revenue, development charges and jobs.

“It’s a money maker for the city if they take it on with that mindset,” Phillips said.

LOCAL

en-ca

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://thepeterboroughexaminer.pressreader.com/article/281603833752544

Toronto Star Newspapers Limited