To: Mayor and Members of Council
From: Jim
Baird, Commissioner of Development Services
Biju Karumanchery, Senior Development Manager,
Planning & Urban Design
Date: June 22, 2010
RE: Hold
Removal By-laws for properties with 2011 / 2012 servicing allocation
Council
has distributed 2011 / 2012 servicing allocation to various developments in
Town. The zoning for these developments contain a Hold provision required
by the Region at the time of the initial zoning and these Hold provisions cannot
be released until the conditions are satisfied. A typical Hold removal
section of these by-laws reads as follows:
“Prior to removing the (H) Holding
provision, the following conditions must be met to the satisfaction of the Town
of Markham:
a) York Region has
advised in writing that the expected completion of the Duffin Creek Water
Pollution Control Plant expansion project and the YDSS Flow Control Structures
project will be within six (6) months of the date of
the removal of the Holding (H) provision; and,
b) The Council of the
Town of Markham has allocated adequate available water supply and sewage
servicing capacity to the subject development; or,
c) The Council of the
Town of Markham approves servicing allocation to the lands that are not
dependent upon the construction of Regional infrastructure; or
d) The Regional
Commissioner of Environmental Services confirms servicing capacity for this
development by a suitable alternative method and the Town of Markham allocates
the capacity to this development.”
The
key prerequisites for the purposes of Hold removal are conditions a) and b)
above. Condition b) has been satisfied
through Council’s distribution of 2011/2012 servicing allocation.
The
Region originally intended to provide the Town with a clearance letter satisfying
condition a) above by July 1st (ie. six months
prior to the anticipated completion of the Duffin Creek Water Pollution Control
Plant expansion project and the YDSS Flow Control Structures project).
Six months was anticipated to be the time required to complete construction of
a dwelling after the issuance of a building permit. The
expectation was that this would allow the Town to lift the Hold provisions and
issue building permits and allow developers to complete construction by the
time the aforementioned Regional infrastructure became operational.
In
recent weeks, several developers have raised a concern that if the Holds are
not removed before the summer recess of Council meetings, they would be forced
to wait until September for the Hold removal, resulting in an unnecessary delay
of construction, particularly in the event the Region is able to provide a
clearance letter by July 1st as originally intended. To
address this issue Regional staff had agreed to see if they could provide a
clearance letter in time to allow the Town to bring forward Hold removal
by-laws by June 22nd.
However, at this time this does not appear likely although a release
letter is still anticipated in the next few weeks.
It
was recently brought to our attention by some developers that Vaughan, which is
facing a similar situation, has passed Hold removal by-laws for their
subdivisions with the by-laws having an effective date that is dependent on the
receipt of a release letter from the Region. Therefore, the Hold would
remain in place until the Hold removal by-law comes into effect, which will
only happen after receiving a Regional Clearance.
Staff
contacted the Region regarding the acceptability of this approach and, while
the Region has not expressed support for this approach, the Region has
indicated that they do not intend to object to the Vaughan By-laws.
Staff
has consulted the Legal Department regarding this matter and feel that the Town
could proceed using Vaughan’s approach with little
risk. As noted, these by-laws will not
come into effect until the Region provides a written clearance indicating that
the developments can proceed to building permit. However, it should be noted that although
these hold removal by-laws will take effect upon receiving a clearance from the
Region, enabling the issuance of building permits, such building permits still
cannot be issued until the Plans of Subdivisions are registered. The registration of the Plans will require a
separate clearance letter from the Region indicating that their conditions of
draft approval have been satisfied.
Accordingly,
staff is bringing forward to this Council meeting a number of Hold removal by-laws
where the Hold is related to the 2011/2012 servicing allocation. The
By-laws would be the typical Hold removal By-law with an added clause as noted
below:
“This By-law
shall not come into effect until the Town of Markham receives written
confirmation from the Region of York indicating that the expected completion of
the Duffin Creek Water Pollution Control Plant expansion project and the YDSS
Flow Control Structures project will be within six (6) months, or a similar
clearance letter to this effect, to the satisfaction of the Town.”