Quote:
Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere
Most municipalities like using something called "section 37", which comes from, well, Section 37 of the planning act. Section 37 allows for municipalities to require additional funds for community improvements in exchange for increases in development height and density above that required in the zoning by-law.
This means that many municipalities purposefully keep zoning very restrictive and outdated to ensure basically every development needs to file a rezoning, which 1. allows for increased input from council (more power), 2. allows for increased community input (as-of-right development does not need to hold a public meeting), and arguably most importantly, 3. gives councillors millions of dollars to spend as they please in their ward.
Hamilton, for whatever reason, has never used Section 37 agreements, even on projects which have required rezoning. I believe this is largely driven by decades of little to no investment in the city, causing the city to not use them in an effort to keep development costs low. Hamilton also has unusually low development charges and gave tax breaks to new development until very recently in order to encourage it.
So for Hamilton, 3. doesn't exist and it makes a lot more sense for politicians to support as-of-right zoning.
Regardless, the Ford government is getting rid of Section 37 charges in September and replacing it with a new, more consistent funding tool which is not dependent on rezoning (which Hamilton is planning on using now). I imagine we may see a lot more municipalities in Ontario create as of right zoning as a result since the $$$ from Section 37 agreements is no longer there. |
I didn’t know any of this, thank you for the thorough response! This does seem to fall in line with what I’ve seen when zoning is brought up in other cities, and definitely explains why cities ask for so much elsewhere. There’s a precedent for every development that it is inherently “not allowed”, putting the given city on a pedestal and in a position of power before a design review can take place, or application processed. It’s little tidbits and differences like this that make Hamilton such a unique and interesting place; it explains why we get projects that the city adamantly dislikes (310 Frances comes to mind) but are nonetheless permitted due to zoning (or the lack thereof in that case).
I think this approach is better, as it allows for a more natural and market-based approach, but might also introduce challenges to newcomers who aren’t familiar with our development process. It’s certainly ironic that in a city with such a greedy and incompetent council we have managed to keep one of the more easily abused powers out of their hands. Overall, this approach is especially valuable in a city where its common knowledge that new investment isn’t guaranteed, nevermind seen as a right (looking at all these other Ontario cities). Despite section 37 changes I think our approach will continue to make it easy enough for developers to build as it seems to be a mindset of the city that has manifested into policy. The recent as-of-right multiplex conversions bylaw really exemplifies this and shows that it isn’t just legacy zoning that is being tapped into, but new policies as well.