On March 5, 2019, Burlington City Council voted in favour of a staff report recommending an interim control bylaw (ICBL). The ICBL temporarily restricts the development of lands within a study area for a period of one year, with a maximum extension of a second year.
The lands in the ICBL study area approved by City Council include the Downtown Urban Growth Centre (UGC) and lands in proximity to the Burlington GO Station.
During the one-year “freeze” on development in the study area, the City will complete a land-use study to:
On Jan. 30 at the Special Council Meeting, Council approved the revised recommendations from the findings of the Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL) Land Use Study, including approval of:
Following this meeting, Official Plan Amendment 119 and Zoning By-law Amendment 2020.218 were appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) so the Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL) remains in effect. All appeals received by the City Clerk were forwarded to the LPAT and this information was assigned by the LPAT:
Case Number: PL200150
File Number for ZBLA 2020.418: PL200150
File Number for OPA 119: PL200151
The documents received by the City Clerk which constitute appeals to Official Plan Amendment 119 and Zoning By-law Amendment 2020.418 are:
Full list of appeals received | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Here are all the appeal applications and letters listed individually or click here to download all appeal applications and letters in one PDF document.
List of all appeal applications and letters received:
|
At the Jan. 30 Special Council Meeting, Council approved the revised recommendations from the findings of the Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL) Land Use Study, including approval of the proposed Official Plan Amendment 119 and proposed Zoning Bylaw Amendment 2020.418 resulting from the IBCL Land Use Study.
As per the Planning Act, appeals to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) must be filed 20-days after notice is given. Notice of Decision for Official Plan Amendment 119 and Notice of Passing of Zoning By-law Amendment 2020.418 was provided on Feb. 6, 2020. The last day of appeal was Feb. 26, 2020.
The City has received appeals to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal for both Official Plan Amendment 119 and Zoning By-law Amendment 2020.418 which have been filed with the City Clerk. As a result, the Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL) remains in effect and will not end on March 5, 2020. The ICBL will remain in effect until the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal has issued a final decision on each appeal of Zoning By-law Amendment 2020.418.
At the Jan. 30 Special Council Meeting, Council approved the revised recommendations from the findings of the Interim Control By-law (ICBL) Land Use Study, including approval of the proposed Official Plan Amendment 119 and proposed Zoning By-law Amendment 2020.418 resulting from the IBCL Land Use Study.
The revised recommendations were based on the land-use study undertaken as a result of the ICBL, passed by City Council on March 5, 2019. If no appeals are received, the ICBL will end on March 5, 2020.
As part of the land-use study, staff considered all submissions provided at and following the Jan. 14 statutory public meeting as well as the Committee motion and proposed several modifications to the proposed Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw amendments. Please see below for more information on the Jan. 14 Statutory Meeting, including links to staff report PL-01-20 and appendices.
The revised recommendations brought forward to the Jan. 30 Special Council Meeting include proposed amendments to Burlington’s current in-force-and-effect Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw. The staff memo and proposed amendments can be viewed online at the Jan. 30 Special Meeting of Council Agenda Addendum. Please also see the Special Meeting of Council Agenda.
The materials include the following:
Please see the Jan. 30 Committee Meeting Minutes for further information and to view a video of the meeting.
In accordance with Section 17 and Section 34 of the Planning Act, R.S.O 1990, c.P.13, as amended, a Statutory Public Meeting was held for members of the public to ask questions and provide comments on proposed Official Plan (OP) Amendments to the city's in-force-and-effect OP, and Zoning Bylaw Amendments that are the result of the findings of the ICBL Land Use Study.
The purpose of the Statutory Public Meeting was to provide the public with the opportunity to provide comments to City Council on the proposed Official Plan Amendments and Zoning Bylaw Amendments, and for Council to consider the feedback prior to making a decision on the proposed amendments.
Statutory Public Meeting Details
Tuesday Jan. 14, 2020
9:30 a.m.
City Hall, 426 Brant St., Council Chambers, 2nd floor
Please see the Jan. 14 Committee Meeting Minutes for further information and to view a video of the meeting.
Following the Jan. 14 Statutory Public Meeting, a Special Council meeting was held on Thursday, Jan. 30. Please see above for details.
Purpose of the proposed Official Plan (OP) and Zoning Bylaw Amendments
The purpose of the proposed amendments is to:
Staff Report and Appendices - Jan. 14, 2020
Please see below to view a copy of report PL-01-20 that will be presented to Council on Jan. 14:
Speaking to Council at the meeting on Jan. 14, 2020 |
Individuals who wish to speak to City Council at the statutory public meeting are not required to register in advance in order to speak. However, if you wish to arrange in advance to speak at the statutory public meeting, please register online at www.burlington.ca/delegation or contact Jo-Anne Rudy, Committee Clerk by phone at 905-335-7600, ext. 7413 or Jo-Anne.Rudy@burlington.ca. Speakers are limited to a maximum of 10 minutes each and are webcasted online. Speakers with presentation materials must submit them to Ms. Rudy by noon on Jan. 13, 2020 to allow for their distribution and review by all members of the Committee. Please note the content of all submissions is considered to be public and will be posted to the City’s website. |
Notification of Council decisions |
Individuals who wish to be notified of City Council’s decision to approve, refuse, or approve with modification the proposed OP and Zoning Bylaw amendments, or of any subsequent Local Planning Appeal Tribunal appeal of this matter, must submit a written request to the Clerk’s Department to the attention of Jo-Anne Rudy, Committee Clerk, City of Burlington, City Hall, 426 Brant St., P.O. Box 5013, Burlington, ON, L7R 3Z6. Those who do not include their name and address with written comments about the proposed OP and Zoning Bylaw amendments or speak at the public meeting, may not be able to appeal the decision of Council to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal or appear as a Party to any future Hearing about this issue. |
Personal information collection notice |
Personal information is collected under the authority of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13 and may be contained in an appendix of a staff report, published in the meeting agenda, delegation list and/or the minutes of the public meeting and made part of the public record. The City collects this information in order to make informed decisions on the relevant issues and to notify interested parties of Council’s decisions. It may also be used to serve notice of a Local Planning Appeal Tribunal hearing. Names and addresses contained in submitted letters and other information will be available to the public, unless the individual expressly requests the City to remove their personal information. The disclosure of this information is governed by the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.M. 56. If a person or public body would otherwise have an ability to appeal the decision of the City of Burlington to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal but the person or public body does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or make written submissions to the City of Burlington before the proposed OP amendment is adopted, and/or the Zoning Bylaw is passed, the person or public body may not be added as a party to the hearing of an appeal before the Local Planning Appeal and is not entitled to appeal the decision. |
What is an interim control bylaw? |
An interim control bylaw (ICBL) is a tool available to Ontario municipalities as part of the Planning Act. An ICBL places a temporary “freeze” on the development of certain lands while a municipality is studying or reviewing its land use policies. The restrictions can only be imposed for one year, with a maximum extension of a second year. Once an ICLB is no longer in effect, a subsequent ICBL may not be imposed on those same lands for three years. Why was the recommendation for an ICBL introduced? The recommendation to implement an ICBL was brought forward by City staff in response to two primary concerns:
Why were residents and developers not asked for their feedback as part of the ICBL Land Use Study? An ICBL does not have public notice requirements beyond a statutory meeting, as set out by the Planning Act. The ICBL Land Use Study was largely a planning policy exercise which will be discussed at the statutory public meeting to be held on Jan. 14, 2020. Are there legal challenges allowed to the ICBL once it’s in place? An ICBL may not be appealed when it is first passed, however the extension of the ICBL to a second year may be appealed. |
ICBL Land-Use Study |
When did the land-use study start? Work to begin the land-use study was initiated in Q2 2019, following approval of the ICBL by Burlington City Council. When were the recommendations from the Land-Use Study brought to Council for their consideration? On Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, a statutory public meeting was held to provide the public with the opportunity to ask questions and provide comments on proposed Official Plan (OP) Amendments to the city's in-force-and-effect OP, and Zoning Bylaw Amendments that are being proposed as a result of the findings of the ICBL Land Use Study.
Subsequently, a Special Council meeting was held on Thursday Jan. 30, 2020 for Council to make a decision on the revised staff recommendations outlined in the staff memo to report PL-01-20, including the approval of the proposed Official Plan Amendment 119 and Zoning Bylaw Amendment 2020.418, as a result of the ICBL Land Use Study. The materials from the Jan. 30 Special Council Meeting can be found at the Special Meeting of Council Agenda Addendum. Please also see the Special Meeting of Council Agenda. Who has conducted the land-use study? The Executive Director of Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility hired an independent consultant to carry out the land-use study. The project has been managed by City staff. What was the process for the ICBL land-use study? There were four key stages in the study, including:
2. Asses the Role and Function of Transit Station Areas
3. Examination of Planning Structure, Land Use Mix and Intensity
4. Reporting
Which areas of the city are impacted? The study areas identified are in Ward 2 and includes the Downtown Urban Growth Centre and lands near the Burlington GO station. What percentage of land in Burlington does the study area cover? 1.07% How does the land-use study impact the re-examination of the policies in the Official Plan? Work to re-examine the adopted Official Plan is taking place at the same time as the ICBL study. Findings from both initiatives will inform each other. How does this study differ from studies done in the past through work on the Official Plan or the downtown Mobility Hub? Previous studies of the downtown have not included an examination of the role and function of the John Street bus terminal and Burlington GO as a Major Transit Station Areas (MTSA). |
ICBL Costs |
What is the cost for the land use study and where is the money coming from? Funding for the Study will come from city reserve funds including the Planning Initiative Reserve Fund with final costs to be confirmed and reported to Council at a later date. |
ICBL Exemptions |
Were certain developments taken out of the ICBL study area? No developments were removed from the study area to allow for a comprehensive planning study to be undertaken and consistent and fair application of the ICBL. Were exemptions allowed for residential properties during the ICBL for people who want to build a deck or renovate their home? Yes. Building of pools, decks, fences and interior alterations are permitted. These types of developments are considered minor and/or accessory to the main use of the property. They are not considered to affect intensity or land use in the study area, so they are exempt from the ICBL. |
Development Application Impacts |
Which developments will be impacted by the interim control bylaw? Developments in the study areas that submitted applications for site plan approval, in accordance with the approved zoning bylaw, prior to the date the ICBL was passed (March 5, 2019) are exempt from the ICBL. This includes development applications for:
What about proposed developments in the study area that are low density and within the limits of what is anticipated in the Official Plan? Low-density residential uses within the study area will be affected by the ICBL. No new construction of permanent buildings or structures will be permitted including additions will be permitted while the ICBL is in effect. Did the city continue to accept development applications during the year-long freeze? Yes, the City has and continues to accept complete development applications while the ICBL is in place, as required by the Planning Act. Applications in process at the time the ICBL began, and new applications submitted have been circulated for comment to relevant departments and agencies and statutory public meetings have been held to receive public input. No planning analysis has been undertaken and recommendation reports will not be prepared until the recommendations from the ICBL Land Use Study and associated Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw amendments are approved by Burlington City Council and come into force. Are landowners still able to file an appeal of their development applications if the City does not make a decision on their applications within the number of days required by the Planning Act, even though the Interim Control Bylaw is in place? Yes, the Planning Act permits landowners to appeal applications for non-decision after 120 days for Official Plan Amendment applications and after 90 days for Zoning Bylaw amendment applications, regardless of whether or not an ICBL is in place. Have any appeals been filed? Yes. As of Dec. 17, 2019, appeals have been filed for non-decision for applications for 1157-1171 North Shore Blvd. and 2069-2079 Lakeshore Rd./383-385 Pearl St. Will there be an LPAT hearing related to the appeals filed? Eventually, yes. The LPAT will first schedule case management conferences for each appeal filed. However, it would be premature to proceed beyond a case management conference to a full hearing of an appeal while an ICBL is in place, as development applications will be required to be reviewed against any Official Plan or Zoning Bylaw amendments resulting from the ICBL study.
|
Samantha Romlewski
Community Planning
samantha.romlewski@burlington.ca
905-333-7600, ext. 7402