Quote:
Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple
Again, I find the application process in Hamilton so confusing. Why does this building go before council, but others don't? Now that it is approved by council, what is the procedure moving forward? When will this start construction?
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It's essentially dependent on whether or not a proposal complies with the existing policy (i.e. the Urban Hamilton Official Plan and the relevant Zoning By-law) or not, and, if it does not comply, by how much it doesn't comply.
I'll try and break it into stages:
1) You have a site, and a proposal for it.
2) Does that proposal fully comply with the relevant policy? If no, continue to #3. If yes, skip to #5
3) If the proposal does not comply, by how much is it different?
Example A: Is it substantially different, for instance, proposing a 45 storey residential tower where a low-rise institutional building is envisioned? You will need to amend the relevant zoning by-law, and you probably need to amend the UHOP, as well. Either one of these application types triggers a public process that will bring the proposal before the Planning Committee and ultimately City Council.
Example B: Is it significantly non-compliant in terms of the details regulated by the relevant zoning by-law (exact height , density, parking, etc.), but matches the designation in the UHOP? For instance, a UHOP designation that could allow up to 12 storeys residential, but the zoning only allows for 6 storeys residential? You will need a zoning by-law amendment, but you probably do not require an amendment to the UHOP. However, a zoning by-law amendment alone is enough to trigger a public review process that brings the application before Planning Committee and City Council.
Example C: Does it conform to the UHOP provisions, and does it generally comply with the zoning provisions, but not fully? For instance, are you proposing a 21-metre tall building where the zoning permits an 18 metre tall building, or are you proposing a parking ratio of 0.55 whereas the zoning requires 0.70? You MAY be able to get away with a Minor Variance application, instead of going through a more odious (expensive, time consuming) zoning by-law amendment. Applications for Minor Variances trigger a public process, but it is substantially different than the public process for a zoning by-law amendment or a UHOP amendment.
Instead of going to Planning Committee and City Council for approval, applications for Minor Variance go to the Committee of Adjustment, which is a committee of citizen appointees that decides whether the application meets the statutory test for minor variances. (the test, if you're curious, is that the variance must meet all four of the following: be minor in nature; be desirable for the appropriate development of the land; conform with the general intent of zoning by-law; and conform with the general intent of the official plan) The decisions of the Committee of Adjustment do not go to the Planning Committee or City Council for ratification.
4) For the sake of brevity, I won't go into the minutiae of the processes of what happens within the various applications, as they vary greatly even among the same type of application. Let's move forward to where the actual decision-making happens: when the applications come to the Planning Committee, and subsequently, the City Council, for Examples A and B; and the Committee of Adjustment for Example C.
Examples A and B: The Planning Committee hears the final report from staff on the zoning by-law amendment and/or UHOP amendment. The public can speak at these meetings to the proposals, or submit written comments. The members of the Planning Committee will vote whether or not to approve the amendments. Whatever the Planning Committee decides at this meeting then goes into a report to City Council for ratification. It's usually a rubber-stamp of what happened at the committee meeting, but for more contentious applications like this one, ratification of the items in the report may be considered individually. City Council could, if they disagree with the decision made at the Planning Committee, vote to amend the report to decide differently, and then ratify the amended report. Once the City Council makes a decision, it's final, unless it is appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
Example C: The Committee of Adjustment hears the application for Minor Variance, and takes into consideration the staff recommendation whether they support the variances and whether they believe it meets the four tests of a Minor Variance. The public can speak at these meetings or send written correspondence. The members of the Committee of Adjustment must then make their decision on each Minor Variance requested. (it could, for instance, approve the variance to allow 3 metres of extra height, but deny the variance for reduced parking. It can also approve variances with amendments) Once this decision is made by the Committee of Adjustment, it's final, unless it is appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
5) Let's assume at this stage, that the development has received all it's necessary approvals at the Zoning/UHOP/Committee of Adjustment level (Examples A and B), or didn't require any to begin with (Example C).
It now needs Site Plan Approval, which is a technical approval process not subject to a public review process.
This is important, and is the main reason why so many applications don't go before council: the Downtown Secondary Plan in particular cuts out most need for Zoning By-law and UHOP amendments. Projects may need Minor Variances, but comparatively, those are small potatoes. So, essentially, they go right to the Site Plan Approval stage. (it may need removal of a holding provision, which usually requires the applicant to submit a servicing report to confirm it won't destroy the sewers or a shadow/view study, for the City to confirm that the application complies with the Zoning By-law and UHOP. Like Site Plan Approval, this is a generally technical stage of approval and doesn't really involve the public)
6) Finally, once Site Plan approval is in hand, the applicant can move forward to the building permits stage, which is the most technical stage and has no public involvement, basically checking that all of the plans meet the building code and comply to the Zoning, UHOP, and approved Site Plan. Once these permits start rolling in (they are split into various types), the approved phase of work can commence.
I've skipped over a lot of the fine details in this, a big one is I haven't really covered how the Ontario Land Tribunal fits into this (essentially: it can go there multiple ways, for a multitude of reasons, by a multitude of people, and it's very difficult to condense into a neat timeline), but I have tried to highlight how and why some projects have a public process, and why others don't, and I hope it makes it a bit easier to understand.
The absolute TL;DR is:
Zoning and/or UHOP amendment needed = Public process via Planning Committee and City Council
Minor Variance needed = Public process via Committee of Adjustment
Neither needed = No public process, straight to Site Plan Approval (+ potentially holding provision removal)