5. AMENDMENT TO PLANNING APPLICATION FEES BY-LAW AND CONDOMINIUM APPLICATION TIMELINES

MODIFICATION DU RÈGLEMENT FIXANT LES DROITS RELATIFS AUX DEMANDES D'AMÉNAGEMENT et délais des demandes relatives aux coppropriétés

agriculturE and rural affairs committee and Planning and environment Committee recommendations as amended

That Council:

1. Approve the establishment of new fees for Common Elements and Vacant Land Plans of Condominium, as detailed in Document 1 as amended to correct legal fees, and amend the Planning Fees By-law accordingly, effective 1 February 2009; and

2. Approve the establishment of a revised timeline for Common Elements and Vacant Land Plans of Condominium applications, as detailed in Document 2.

3. Replace reference in Document 1 of “1,606.50 Legal Fee + GST” with “1,530.00 Legal Fee + GST” and correct reference to “687.75 Legal Fee + GST” with “655.00 Legal Fee + GST”.

RecommandationS modifiÉeS DU Comité de l’agriculture et des questions rurales et DU Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’environnement

Que le Conseil :

1. approuve l’établissement de nouveaux droits pour les éléments communs et les plans de copropriété visant des terrains vacants, comme le précise le Document 1 modifié en vue de corriger les frais judiciaires, et de modifier le règlement sur les droits de demandes d’aménagement en conséquence, pour une entrée en vigueur le 1^er février 2009;

2. approuve l’établissement d’un échéancier révisé pour le traitement des demandes relatives aux éléments communs et aux plans de copropriété visant des terrains vacants, comme l’indique le Document 2.

3. remplace dans le document 1 la référence de « 1 606,50 de frais judiciaires + TPS » par « 1 530,00 de frais judiciaires + TPS » et de corriger la référence de « 687,75 de frais judiciaires + TPS » par « 655,00 de frais judiciaires + TPS ».

Documentation

1. Deputy City Manager's report, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability, dated 18 December 2008 (ACS2009-ICS-PLA-0013).

2. Extract of Draft Minutes, 13 January 2009.

Report to/Rapport au :

Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

Comité de l'agriculture et des questions rurales

and / et

Planning and Environment Committee

Comité de l'urbanisme et de l'environnement

and Council / et au Conseil

18 December 2008 / le 18 décembre 2008

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 : Grant Lindsay, Manager/Gestionnaire, Development Approvals/Approbation des demandes d'aménagement, Planning and Growth Management/Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance

(613) 580-2424, 13242 Grant.Lindsay@ottawa.ca

City Wide/à l'échelle de la Ville

Ref N°: ACS2009-ICS-PLA-0013

SUBJECT:	AMENDMENT TO PLANNING APPLICATION FEES BY-LAW AND CONDOMINIUM APPLICATION TIMELINES

OBJET :	MODIFICATION DU RÈGLEMENT FIXANT LES DROITS RELATIFS AUX DEMANDES D'AMÉNAGEMENT et délais des demandes relatives aux coppropriétés

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee and the Planning and Environment Committee recommend Council:

1. Approve the establishment of new fees for Common Elements and Vacant Land Plans of Condominium, as detailed in Document 1, and amend the Planning Fees By-law accordingly, effective 1 February 2009; and

2. Approve the establishment of a revised timeline for Common Elements and Vacant Land Plans of Condominium applications, as detailed in Document 2.

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité de l'agriculture et des questions rurales et le Comité de l'urbanisme et de l'environnement recommandent au Conseil :

1. d’approuver l’établissement de nouveaux droits pour les éléments communs et les plans de copropriété visant des terrains vacants, comme le précise le Document 1, et de modifier le règlement sur les droits de demandes d’aménagement en conséquence, pour une entrée en vigueur le 1^er février 2009;

2. d’approuver l’établissement d’un échéancier révisé pour le traitement des demandes relatives aux éléments communs et aux plans de copropriété visant des terrains vacants, comme l’indique le Document 2.

BACKGROUND

The Province made significant revisions to the Planning Act through Bill 51, which resulted in several new or changed planning requirements. One of the new requirements is for a more involved public process for certain types of condominium applications, specifically Vacant Land and Common Elements condominiums.

These two types of condominiums are different from other types of condominiums in that they do not involve vertically stacked units that are commonly found in a high-rise building. Instead, Vacant Land and Common Elements condominiums involve the laying out of a common element such as a private street, and in the case of Vacant Land condominiums, horizontal units with no building or structure. In this sense, these two types of condominiums are similar to a subdivision. Furthermore, unlike most other types of condominium applications, these two types of condominiums are not always accompanied by another public planning application process, such as a subdivision or site plan application.

DISCUSSION

The revised Planning Act requirements are now the same for processing applications for Vacant Land and Common Elements condominiums as for subdivisions. Specifically, this includes notification of additional public bodies and adjacent residents, posting of an on-site sign, and a statutory public meeting. Staff recommend that these types of condominiums also be aligned with the City’s public notification and consultation policy. Other types of condominiums would still not be subject to public consultation.

The additional steps in the revised planning process for Vacant Land and Common Elements condominium applications will have the effect of lengthening the process, which means changes to the Council-approved application timelines are required. The change would be an increase of 35 days to the point in the process where a decision is rendered. It is proposed that the additional time be added as follows:

· Public circulation—14 additional days (28 days versus 14 days)

· Public meeting—21 additional days

Further details of the revised process timeline are included in Document 2.

The level of effort required to process Vacant Land and Common Elements condominium applications is greater than for other types of condominiums as they require more detailed level of review. This is because Vacant Land and Common Elements condominiums often will have additional considerations usually reviewed during a subdivision or site plan process. As a result of this, the cost of reviewing these types of condominium applications is expected to increase. Staff recommend increasing the fees for Vacant Land and Common Elements condominiums as set out in Document 1. This sum is required to contribute to cost recovery of notice to the Public, technical agencies, and the additional staff time and effort to process the application.

This fee increase represents approximately the same fee as the current condominium and site plan application fees combined, or the equivalent fee of a typical subdivision application. The condominium application fee will not increase in situations where a Site Plan application is submitted concurrently with a condominium, so as to avoid redundant fees.

Note that the existing condominium process and fees will still apply to all other types of condominium applications, including Standard, Phased, and Leasehold condominiums.

CONSULTATION

Staff have been in contact with select representatives of the development community for the proposed changes for condominiums. Since the condominium process revisions are administrative in nature, no formal public consultation is required.

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS:

N/A

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The average volume of Vacant Land and Common Elements Condominium applications is five per year, or approximately 20 per cent of all Condominium applications. The intent of the increase in application fee for the Vacant Land and Common Elements Condominiums is to contribute toward cost recovery of the increased processing costs associated with the additional requirements under Bill 51.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Document 1 Proposed Condominium Fee Schedule

Document 2 Proposed Condominium Process Timelines

DISPOSITION

Legal Services to prepare the amendment to the Fees By-law

PROPOSED CONDOMINIUM FEE SCHEDULE DOCUMENT 1

1. Vacant Land and Common Elements Condominiums:

Draft Plan Approval Fees Required at Application Submission:
Planning Fee:
New Vacant Land or Common Elements Condominium fee:	$26,335.00* (includes $1,606.50 Legal Fee + GST)
Plus
Initial Engineering Design Review and Inspection Fee:	$5,000 (includes GST) (value of Hard and Soft Servicing <$300,000) or $10,000 (includes GST) (value of Hard and Soft Servicing >$300,000)

New Vacant Land or Common Elements Condominium fee if an associated Site Plan is submitted concurrently for the entire lands:	$11,516.50* (includes $1,606.50 Legal Fee + GST)

Revisions/Extensions to Draft Plan Approval Fee:	$2,422.75 (includes $687.75 Legal Fee + GST)

Plus
Conservation Authority Fee:	Conservation Authority will invoice separately as required.

* Includes on-site sign fee of $400 for two signs. Additional signs, if required, will be invoiced to the applicant at a cost of $200 each.

2. Standard, Phased, and Leasehold Condominiums:

New Draft Plan Approval and Registration Fee:	$11,116.50 (includes $1,606.50 Legal Fee + GST)
Revisions/Extensions to Draft Plan Approval Fee:	$2,422.75 (includes $687.75 Legal Fee + GST)
Plus
Conservation Authority Fee:	Conservation Authority will invoice separately as required.

PROPOSED CONDOMINIUM PROCESS TIMELINES DOCUMENT 2

CONDOMINIUM PROCESS (VACANT LAND/COMMON ELEMENTS) (Calendar Days/Weeks Elapsed)
Milestone Step	Delegated Authority	Authority Withdrawn
Pre-consultation	Prior to Filing Application
Application Submission	Day 1
Application Deemed Complete	Day 6
Community “Heads Up”	Day 9
Technical Circulation	Day 14 (Week 2)
Notice to Community Groups/ Posting of On-site Sign	Day 14 (Week 2)
End of Comment Period	Day 42 (Week 6)	Day 42 (Week 6) Last date to withdraw delegated authority
Statutory Notice of Application and Public Meeting to Public	Day 49 (Week 7)	N/A
Statutory Public Meeting (in community)	Day 63 (Week 9)	N/A
End of Issue Resolution/Delegated Authority Memo Preparation	Day 77 (Week 11)	N/A
Concurrence by Ward Councillor/ Draft Approval by Manager	Day 87 (Week 12.5)	N/A
End of Issue Resolution/Committee Report Preparation	N/A	Day 63 (Week 9)
Report Sign off	N/A	Day 70 (Week 10)
Financial Comment/Deadline for Committee Report to City Clerk	N/A	Day 77 (Week 11)
Statutory Notice of Application and Committee Meeting (mail out to property owners + on-site sign update)	N/A	Day 83 (Week 12)
Committee Public Meeting	N/A	Day 98 (Week 14)
Draft Approval by Committee	N/A	Day 98 (Week 14)
Notice of Decision	Day 102 (Week 14.5)	Day 113 (Week 16)
End of Appeal Period	Day 123 (Week 18)	Day 134 (Week 19)
Clearance of Conditions/Signing of Agreement/Posting of Securities	No time limit	No time limit
Final Approval by General Manager/Registration of Plan	One month	One month

2. approuve l’établissement d’un échéancier révisé pour le traitement des demandes relatives aux éléments communs et aux plans de copropriété visant des terrains vacants, comme l’indique le Document 2.

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

2. d’approuver l’établissement d’un échéancier révisé pour le traitement des demandes relatives aux éléments communs et aux plans de copropriété visant des terrains vacants, comme l’indique le Document 2.

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS:

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Milestone Step

Delegated Authority

Authority Withdrawn