The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, Ju ly 18 ,2 01 9 | 4 The provincial government is repealing the Toxics Reduction Act, killing a voluntary reduction program that empowered you to see what toxins are used in the industrial facilities in your neighbourhood -- and what they planned to do to reduce them. A Torstar Community Brands web-exclusive, multi-part series, A Toxic Decision? takes an in- depth look at the impacts of the act's repeal and the program's cancellation. READ PART 1 NOW theifp.ca/toxins COMING SOON 'Deeply troubled': Experts sound the alarm on Toxics Reduction Act repeal ATOXIC DECISION? the right thing, this will be the election issue in 2022," said Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, who is calling on other cities to join the fight individually and through organizations such as the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). "If they want to be more than a one-term govern- ment they're going to have to start listening to the community on all of their policies," she said. "This is just the latest. Their cuts to essential ser- vices, downloading costs to municipalities are exceed- ingly unpopular. They are aware of that." Municipal councils can make decisions on every- thing from taxes to traffic. Planning is the only front on which locally elected politi- cians are subject to provin- cial oversight, she said. She accused the Ford government of gratifying the development industry by turning back the clock on the LPAT through its omnibus housing Bill 108, More Homes, More Choic- es Act. The old OMB rules fa- vour developers because they are permitted to start their cases from scratch, as if the municipality's plan- ning decisions and rules didn't apply, Meed Ward said. Under the Liberals' LPAT rules, developers could only appeal on the grounds that the munici- pality had failed to comply with provincial policies. Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark's office said the prov- ince is taking the best of the OMB and LPAT "to create a system that can make final decisions in a timely man- ner." It said there are 100,000 housing units, three years' worth of construction, tied up in a backlog that has oc- curred since the LPAT was formed. At that time, the then Liberal government allowed applications al- ready in process to be grandfathered under the old OMB rules. "The LPAT decision- making process is slow and there is a substantial back- log of former OMB legacy cases, preventing housing from being built," said an emailed statement from Clark's office. "We want to ensure that barriers are removed for those seeking to launch an appeal and move toward a cost-recovery model so that homebuilders pay more for the system, not the people of Ontario," it said. But Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette said elimi- nating the tribunals is the quickest way for munici- palities to find the savings that the province is push- ing. He denied that Halton is trying to shun highrise de- velopment. "We have supported growth. Our track record and population stats show we're one of the fastest growing regions in Cana- da," Bonnette said. Halton has spent $5 mil- lion for three years of OMB/LPAT appeals, he said. When the latest amendments to the Onta- rio growth plan were ap- proved in 2017, Halton bud- geted $6 million for ap- peals, including $1.1 mil- lion from Halton Hills, which has a population of about 62,000, he said. "We didn't spend it all but we still have to budget it and we still have to have it ready. At the end of the day we spent two-thirds," Bonnette said. "We're slaves to the con- sultants and the lawyers and the cash box," he said. An OMB fight against a condo at Lakeshore Rd. and Martha St. in Burling- ton cost hundreds of thou- sands of dollars on both sides, Meed Ward said. Adi Development Group applied to build a 28- storey condo on a site that was municipally approved for four to eight storeys. Four years later, the OMB approved 26 storeys. Meed Ward also ac- cused the OMB rules of fu- elling land speculation. "When people look at a piece of land that is zoned for four storeys, maybe eight and an approval for 26 comes in, the next per- son who has a similarly zoned parcel is pricing it at 26 storeys," she said. "We have seen the rapid land escalation of values because of decisions that are wildly out of line with existing official plan and zoning policies. "Those plans are all ap- proved by the province so the province is overruling itself." COUNCIL Continued from page 1 'WE'RE SLAVES TO THE CONSULTANTS AND THE LAWYERS': BONNETTE Halton politicians say the LPAT adds costs to the local housing supply via expensive and drawn out tribunal hearings. Nikki Wesley/Torstar