Grey County. (supplied image)
Grey County municipalities are considering centralizing their planning services.
All nine county member municipalities — Owen Sound, Meaford, Georgian Bluffs, Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, The Blue Mountains, Hanover, West Grey and Southgate — met in closed session for a special joint meeting on Aug. 8 to discuss a potential shared services model for planning.
Now, the county issued a statement saying the proposal “would see local planning staff join a reorganized Grey County planning department.”
“All applications and planning services would go through the county, who would then make a recommendation to the lower tier council … Authority for decision-making would remain with the lower tier where it is now. That’s key. We’re not going to throw the decision to the county planning department. Each municipality will maintain authority to make their own decisions based on their own official plans and zoning bylaws,” Grey County Warden and Southgate Mayor Brian Milne explains.
A release from Grey County says the review of a potential shared model for planning services is for a few reasons.
“There have been several changes to provincial planning legislation changes in recent years. Staff have been engaging with developers and collecting feedback to understand their needs and challenges. Grey County and local municipalities have an ongoing goal of optimizing service delivery for all parties involved in supporting the development of new homes and new or expanded businesses,” a statement from the county says.
Milne adds there’s a shortage of planners and Grey County is “struggling like many to find those planners and provide services in a timely manner.”
Local councils are expected to discuss the potential shared services proposal over the next few months. County staff will be preparing a report before the end of the year.
Milne says it’s possible the centralized planning services proposal could move ahead without full consensus among all nine Grey County member municipalities, but it would take most of them for it to work.
“The question was asked: ‘Is it all or none?’ Basically, it’s not … if one or two chose to remain out of the proposal, that would work,” Grey County’s warden explains. “But we need a critical mass to make it work at the county level.”
“That’s part of the analysis county staff are looking at now,” Milne adds.