Report to/Rapport au :
Comité de l'urbanisme
and / et
Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
Comité d'agriculture et des affaires rurales
09 June 2011 / le 09 juin 2011
Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy Schepers, Deputy City
Manager,
Directrice
municipale adjointe, Infrastructure
Services and Community Sustainability, Services d'infrastructure et Viabilité des
collectivités
Contact
Person/Personne ressource : John L. Moser, General Manager/Directeur général,
Planning and Growth Management/Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance
(613) 580-2424 x 28869, John.Moser@ottawa.ca
|
SUBJECT: |
2010
Planning and Growth management department Year-end report |
|
|
|
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OBJET : |
rapport
de fin d’exercice de 2010 du service de l’urbanisme et de la gestion de la
croissance |
REPORT RECOMMENDATION
That the Planning Committee and the Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Committee receive this report for information.
RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité de l'urbanisme
et le Comité d'agriculture et des questions rurales prenne connaissance de
présent rapport.
BACKGROUND
In the past, a report was sent each year to the Planning Committee and Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee entitled “Summary – Delegated Authority Applications”. This report provided information on Planning Applications received and dealt with during the previous year, with a focus on Site Plan Control and Zoning By-law Amendment applications.
With the recent implementation of “One-Stop Service” and the realignment of Planning, Buildings, Easement and Inspection functions within the Planning and Growth Management Department, there is an opportunity to include information on all applications and (non-building code) permit activity under the jurisdiction of the Planning and Growth Management Department.
DISCUSSION
Delegated Authority Planning
Applications
In 2010 there was a dramatic increase in the total number of Planning Applications received over 2009. 665 submissions were received in 2010, versus 542 for 2009 - an increase of 18%, as illustrated in the graph below. This was close to the 686 applications that were received in 2008, before the recent economic downturn impacted the development industry.
Of the total 665 applications received in 2010, 543 were applications with delegated-authority - a 28% increase over 2009. Applications received in 2010 exceeded the 521 that were reported in 2007. This trend can be seen in the graph below.
Even more significantly, Site Plan Control applications, which made up the majority (56%) of delegated-authority applications, rose by 33% from 2009.
A total of 419 were processed in 2010 through delegated authority with
a decision rendered by the General Manager, Managers, Program Managers or File
Leads of the Development Review Process Branches. Those 419 applications processed were
received during 2010 or in the years previous and include those that were
cancelled/terminated by the City or withdrawn by the applicant. Production in 2010 was somewhat more than
during 2009, when 397 applications were processed through delegated authority.
The Urban Development Review area processed the greatest number of
delegated authority applications with 158, followed by the Suburban area with
137 and the Rural area with 64. This
generally reflected the volume of applications received in each area.
The 256 Site Plan Control applications processed under delegated
authority in 2010 made up 39% per cent of the total dealt with through
delegated authority. One Site Plan
Control application had delegated authority removed and was considered by
Committee.
The table below is an analysis of the timelines for processing
Manager-delegated Site Plan Control applications with public consultation, from
determining that the application is deemed adequate to approval.
Thirty-two per cent of Manager-delegated Site Plan Control
applications, requiring public consultation, were processed within the 74 day
target timeline in 2009. This is lower
than the 42 per cent achieved in 2009, but similar to 2008 and 2007, and higher
than for 2006. In 2010, a further 30 per
cent were processed within 30 days of the targeted timeline, for a combined
total of 62 per cent dealt with on-time or within 30 days.
Site Plan Control – Manager-Delegated with
Public Consultation
Processing Time; Target - 74 days (excluding
inadequate and on hold time)
|
Year |
On/Below Target |
+ 30 Days from Target |
+ 60 Days from Target |
+ 90 Days from Target |
Beyond 90 Days from Target |
Total Number Processed |
|
2010 |
32% |
30% |
20% |
5% |
13% |
94 |
|
2009 |
43% |
31% |
10% |
5% |
11% |
98 |
|
2008 |
39% |
25% |
14% |
9% |
13% |
102 |
|
2007 |
29% |
38% |
13% |
6% |
14% |
110 |
|
2006 |
24% |
34% |
18% |
11% |
13% |
138 |
Site
Plan Control applications requiring public consultation typically have a greater
chance of not meeting timelines because of the level of interest within the
community and the need to spend additional time to resolve issues through
community consultation. The focus of
these types of applications is on resolving issues and encouraging positive
results both for the community and the applicant.
However, it is
recognized that notwithstanding this, Council’s targets are not being achieved
and that applicants are not provided with a realistic timeframe for the
processing of a Site Plan Control application.
The Department is currently undertaking an analysis of the pinch-points
in the application review process and will be implementing changes before
year-end.
As indicated in the table below, Staff-delegated Site Plan Control
applications processed in 2010 did not achieve the results for 2009, with only
38 per cent dealt within the target timeline in 2010 versus 54 per cent for
2009.
Site Plan Control – Staff-delegated without
Public Consultation
Processing Time; Target - 42 days (excluding
inadequate and on hold time)
|
Year |
On/Below Target |
+ 30 Days from Target |
+ 60 Days from Target |
+ 90 Days from Target |
Beyond 90 Days from Target |
Total Number Processed |
|
2010 |
38% |
37% |
13% |
6% |
6% |
68 |
|
2009 |
54% |
35% |
7% |
2% |
2% |
63 |
|
2008 |
57% |
27% |
6% |
6% |
4% |
48 |
|
2007 |
49% |
40% |
6% |
5% |
0% |
65 |
|
2006 |
51% |
35% |
7% |
2% |
5% |
57 |
It is anticipated that the continued refinement of the mandatory
Pre-application Consultation process, launched in February 2010, as well as the
implementation of One-Stop Service improvements, will provide more assurance of
processing the applications within the on-time targets in the future.
Non-delegated Authority Planning Applications
The dramatic increase in delegated-authority Planning Applications contrasts with the absence of change in the 119 non-delegated authority Planning Applications submitted in both 2009 and 2010. This continued the decline exhibited since 2006, as illustrated below.
Zoning By-law Amendment applications, which make up the majority of non-delegated Planning Applications (87%), declined 38% from 2006 through 2010. This may have resulted from the development of the new Comprehensive Zoning By-law and its adoption in 2009, which resolved many outstanding zoning issues.
One hundred nineteen non-delegated Planning Applications were processed
through to Planning Committee or Council in 2010. This was similar to 2009, when 120
applications were dealt with by Committee or Council.
The 32 non-delegated application reports forwarded to Committee or Council
by the Urban area surpassed the 23 processed by each of the Suburban and Rural
areas. As with delegated-authority
applications, this was consistent with the volume of applications received in
each area.
The table below reflects the timelines for processing Zoning By-law
Amendment applications from the time they are deemed complete until
consideration by Council (Planning Act target 120 days).
Zoning By-law Amendments
Processing Time; Target - 120 days (excluding incomplete and on hold time)
|
Year |
On/Below Target |
+ 30 Days from Target |
+ 60 Days from Target |
+ 90 Days from Target |
Beyond 90 Days from Target |
Total 100% |
|
2010 |
65% |
18% |
4% |
4% |
8% |
71 |
|
2009 |
62% |
19% |
9% |
3% |
7% |
68 |
|
2008 |
57% |
20% |
9% |
4% |
10% |
129 |
|
2007 |
54% |
27% |
7% |
5% |
7% |
126 |
|
2006 |
56% |
22% |
9% |
4% |
9% |
113 |
Sixty-five per cent of the rezoning applications were processed within the targeted timeline during 2010, reflecting a steady improvement over the last five years. The average processing time for Zoning By-law Amendment reports to Council was about the same as for the previous year - 129 days in 2010 versus 126 in 2009. This compares favourably with the 137 days on average to process Zoning Amendments in 2008, and is significantly better than the 197 day average in 2003.
Other Application and Permit
Activity
Heritage Applications and Restoration Grants
A total of 17 heritage applications were dealt with by Committee and Council in 2010. One application was for an alteration to an individually-designated heritage building designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act and the remainder were for alterations, demolitions or new construction in heritage conservation districts, designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA).
Three heritage designations of individual properties under Part IV of the OHA were approved by City Council.
Thirty-eight matching heritage grants for building restoration were approved with a value of $145,357.
Requests to Release or Reduce Securities
The City receives securities from developers that are associated with work being undertaken through early servicing or development agreements and letters of undertaking. These securities ensure that the work is undertaken in accordance with the conditions of approval. Once part or all of the work has been completed, the developer can request partial or full releases of the securities that the City is holding. The release or reduction of securities is carried out collaboratively with the Development Inspections Unit. During 2010, 585 requests were made to reduce the securities that the City is holding. This resulted in the release of almost $71 million in securities - a similar amount to 2009, when 573 requests were received and $70 million released.
Reimbursement Program for Development-Related Fees for Charitable and Non-Profit Organizations
In response to the growing number of requests from charitable and non-profit organizations for financial relief from development-related fees, a program to provide reimbursements was approved by Council in October 2009. This returns to those organizations up to 50% of application fees for applications such as Site Plans, Zoning By-law Amendments and Cash-in-lieu of Parking, as well as for Building and Demolition Permits.
The Program was launched on the City’s website in June of 2010, and initially received great interest from charitable and non-profit organizations from across the city. However, only two applications were received and processed in 2010, for a total reimbursement amount of $15,720. The lack of submissions was due in large part to the decisions by these organizations to delay and/or postpone several major initiatives over the course of 2010, or delays in completion of their projects.
|
Organization |
Project |
Amount Reimbursed |
|
Ottawa Rotary Home |
Building new Leitrim Road Campus |
$10,095 |
|
Ottawa Carleton Association for Peoples with Developmental Disabilities |
Renovation of the new Colonnade Road Facility |
$5,625 |
Based on information received, we are anticipating submissions in 2011 from the YMCA-YWCA, the Ottawa Human Society, and the West Ottawa Community Resource Centre, for a total of approximately $120,000.