Saugeen Shores council is sending a letter to the provincial government about Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act.
A letter signed by Mayor Luke Charbonneau says the changes in the Bill won’t address housing issues, says a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work, and waiving development charges will directly affect the town’s ability to build and maintain infrastructure.
The letter says, “Saugeen Shores understands what the Government of Ontario is working to accomplish with Bill 23 and related proposals. We commend the attention the Province is giving to this pressing issue. However, we feel these changes will not attain our shared objectives.”
It adds, “Municipal governments are in the best position to address the immediate and local concerns of its citizens, including concerns related to housing. Bill 23 takes autonomy away from municipalities and prevents them from addressing the housing crisis in an adequate and timely fashion.”
It continues, “The changes outlined in Bill 23 are a one-size-fits-all approach; we do not believe this approach will be successful in Saugeen Shores. Saugeen Shores is not the same community as St. Catharines, Sault Ste. Marie, Mississauga, or Pickering.”
Charbonneau’s letter asks the Progressive Conservative government to, “Strike an appropriate balance between building housing for all and ensuring our natural environment, parks and built heritage are protected and can improve in the long term.”
It says council is particularly concerned about the Bill’s impact on development charges, which would be removed for housing developments, explaining, “These fees directly fund the new infrastructure that is necessary to support new housing. Infrastructure needs to be adequately funded and built in order to support appropriate housing development and places for new residents to live.”
The letter adds, “Bill 23 will require us to implement broad and dramatic changes to how our municipality operates its business. The volume of these proposed changes — and the time it will take to fully understand and implement them — will consume substantial resources that would be better spent focusing on actually supporting the building of homes.”
Attached to this letter was council’s unanimously endorsed comments that recommend the provincial government engage with municipalities to make inclusionary zoning and community planning permit systems more useful, cost-effective and helpful for municipalities to use.
The provincial government passed the bill into law on Monday.