The City of Toronto is taking steps towards implementing a development permit system (DPS), a move it is expected would make the planning application process more efficient and predictable.

Instead of rezoning sites on a case-by-case basis, the city would combine background studies with community visioning exercises to create area-based development permit bylaws, according to a Nov. 6 staff report containing draft official plan policies to enable such a system. In essence, this area-based planning would fold rezoning, minor variances, site plan and Section 37 processes into one.

Joe D’Abramo, acting director of zoning bylaw and environmental planning, said that the process would most closely resemble the current site plan-application process. Bylaws would contain as-of-right permissions, requiring only the approval of plans.

City staff would lead community visioning exercises to develop bylaws, D’Abramo said, providing its expert guidance and eventually translating area visions into policy. Participants in these exercises could include people who live, operate a business or own land in an area.

“In our experience, with these types of sessions, we usually move forward on the basis of consensus, which means, of course, that there will be a few that may not be happy with everything that is said,” D’Abramo said. “But the idea is to certainly get most people to agree to the vision for that area.”

Ultimately, proposed development permit bylaws would go to city council for approval. A DPS would also limit third-party appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) to bylaws. After the deadline for filing appeals had passed, or the OMB had resolved any appeals, bylaws would come into effect.

Bylaws would set out allowed uses and permitted development standards, up to a maximum height.

“If the height limit in that area is too low, as far as you’re concerned, then you’re requesting the height in that entire area to change, or at least that sub-area or zone that you’re in… not just for your property, but for everybody,” D’Abramo said. “We’re trying to maintain a consistency, a predictability.”

Such changes would have to be justified, he added, using the example of transit being built in the area since a bylaw had been enacted.

Permitted development standards would be dependent on meeting criteria relating to issues such as shadow impact. Area-based bylaws could also set out conditions of approval to achieve objectives such as protecting heritage features.

The quantity or value of community benefits, as now secured through Section 37, would be specified in bylaws in proportion to height and density. For example, after a certain number of floors, each additional floor would be tied to a certain contribution, D’Abramo said.

The draft official plan policy provides that decision-making authority for development permit applications could be delegated to city staff, a body appointed by city council or a committee of city council. So, D’Abramo said, smaller applications could potentially be reviewed by staff, while larger applications were reviewed by community council. Applicants would have the right to appeal to the OMB if the city failed to respond to applications within 45 days.

City staff is recommending to city council that it start by developing development permit bylaws for areas for which much of the groundwork has already been done, such as those with secondary plans.

In an April 7 letter to the planning and growth management committee, Danielle Chin, senior planner at Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), wrote, “In principle, BILD believes that the implementation of a DPS could provide enhanced certainty, streamlined approvals and be a means to create investment-ready communities across Ontario.”

The association, however, has a number of outstanding questions, among them how new and existing applications would be treated after a DPS area was selected but not yet approved, the letter said. It continued to say that BILD has established a working group comprised of Toronto members, including some familiar with DPSs in other provinces, in hopes of contributing its expertise to the initiative.

Public meetings held in March revealed that residents were especially concerned about being notified and involved in development permit applications, as there would be no requirement for this with community consultation and third-party appeals being moved up to the bylaw stage. D’Abramo said this will be addressed in city staff’s next report.

The city’s proposed official plan amendment will be the subject of further consultation at a June 9 open house. A final report with a proposed official plan amendment to enable a DPS will be considered at a statutory public meeting of the planning and growth management committee on June 19.

Michelle Ervin is the editor of CondoBusiness.