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

in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ju ly 18 ,2 01 9 | 2 Oakville Place 240 Leighland Ave.Oakville Place + MORE GREAT PRIZES IN-STORE! FOR TWO YEARS ENDLESS DATAWIN Hurry in to your local TELUS store today for your chance to win!* *No purchase necessary. Contest runs July 18 to 28, 2019. See in-store for complete contest rules. © 2019 TELUS. velopers could only appeal on the grounds that the mu- nicipality had failed to comply with provincial pol- icies. 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, theformed. At that time, thef 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 anfrom being built," said anf 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 development. "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 Ontario growth plan were approved in 2017, Halton budgeted $6 million for appeals, includ- ing $1.1 million from Halton Hills, which has a popula- tion 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 Burlington cost hundreds of thousands 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. Fourfour to eight storeys. Fourf years later, the OMB ap- proved 26 storeys. Meed Ward also accused the OMB rules of fuelling land speculation. "When people look at a piece of land that is zoned for four storeys, maybefor four storeys, maybef eight and an approval for 26 comes in, the next person who has a similarly zoned parcel is pricing it at 26 sto- reys," 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 approved by the province so the prov- ince 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