Ottawa offers developers $1.8 million option to accelerate review of urban boundary expansion proposals

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By Mark Buckshon

Ottawa Construction News staff writer

If property developers want to build on lands outside of Ottawa’s urban boundary and don’t want to wait for the next growth management review, they will soon be able to bootstrap the process – for a fee of as much as $1.8 million.

Or they can wait until the city is ready for its next review, sometime later next year – through a process that will be accelerated from many years in the future in the traditional Official Plan review process.

The new options are the result of changed provincial government rules designed to reduce roadblocks to build new housing. Requests would have to be received through an Official Plan Amendment (OPA) application, resulting from the implementation of the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) on Oct. 20.

The city recently updated its infrastructure master plan and development charge bylaw, and is currently working on the next version of its comprehensive zoning bylaw and transportation master plan, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has reported.

It’s uncertain whether any developer will want to push forward with the special fee, which Derek Moodie, the city’s planning services director, says “is much greater than anything we have ever seen in the city before.”

“The fee is not intended to be a disincentive,” Moodie said last Friday. “It’s intended to (recover costs) for the effort that is required in order to update our master plans.”

The review process would seek answers to three questions:

  • Does the city need more land?
  • Can the current infrastructure support it?
  • Why should one area be chosen over others?

Royce Fu, the city’s manager of policy planning, said he is hopeful that developers will take a more “collaborative” approach as city planning officials take on potentially extra work loads with the new arrangments.

Developers will also have an option to stop the process early and get a partial refund, after initial feedback from staff.

The province wants the city to rely on population projections issued annually by the ministry of finance. Recent data indicates Ottawa needs to plan for an additional 240,000 people to move to the city by 2046.

CBC quoted Jason Burggraaf, the executive director of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association (GOHBA), as saying that the fee is “not as unreasonable as it seems” given the sheer amount of potential growth.

“We’re talking approximately 60,000 more houses than we’re currently planning in our zoning bylaw for. Ottawa’s perpetually behind in terms of its growth projections,” Burggraaf said. “We need to step it up in terms of intensification, in terms of zoning, in terms of expansion lands. Every possible avenue to get more housing is going to be needed moving forward.”

The fee has been calculated to ensure cost recovery, aligning with the city’s position that growth must pay for growth, a city statement says. “It reflects how much it would cost the city to review land needs, infrastructure capacity, and location alternatives. This cost-recovery approach is consistent with other application fees for development applications.”

“This approach also recognizes that there is already enough land within the current urban boundary to meet population and growth needs. It also reflects the city’s commitment to building more homes more quickly.”

Documentation from the city says each application would require much of the same work that is required during an Official Plan update.

“Updating the Official Plan is a necessary process to ensure Ottawa has enough land to achieve its planning goals,” the statement says. “It is a comprehensive document and updating requires time and resources. Updating the current plan, which was approved by Council in 2020, cost $3.4 million.

“Should landowners choose to add lands prior to the completion of the 2025 Official Plan update, expansion applications would be assessed based on current Official Plan growth projections, the adequacy of land supply as well as infrastructure capacity. They would require new studies to confirm that there is enough capacity within existing or planned infrastructure, including:

  • Water
  • Sanitary
  • Stormwater
  • Transportation

“According to the PPS, any expansion applications must not require an upgrade to the city’s Infrastructure or Transportation Master Plans. If additional upgrades are needed, the 2025 Official Plan update is the appropriate process rather than an application.”

City staff say that developers of lands that scored high for development outside the current urban boundary, most specifically lands in South March, will probably not need to pay the full $1.8 million.

 

Photo caption

This map shows lands previously evaluated for urban development. Of the highest scoring yellow parcels, only the circled South March land was not added to the urban boundary, CBC reported

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