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The Town of Oakville is voicing concerns that chang-voicing concerns that chang-v es being proposed by Bill 108 could result in reduced ser- vice levels or a property tax increase for Oakville resi- dents. Bill 108, the province's "More Homes, More Choice Act" was again a topic of dis- cussion during Oakville's planning and development council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 6. Council voted unani- mously to send the province a report containing the town's comments regarding proposed Bill 108 regula- tions. On June 21, the province posted four proposals seek- ing comments on draft regu- lations related to Bill 108, in- cluding the forthcoming Community Benefits Charge, and transitional matters related to changes to the Planning Act, the Devel- opment Charges Act and the Local Planning Appeal Tri- bunal (LPAT) Act. The Ford government says the bill will increase the supply of housing in Onta- rio. Town staff, however, ar- gue the province has not re- leased enough information to allow them to provide comprehensive comments; the commenting periods have been too short; and it still remains unclear how Bill 108 will deliver more af- fordable housing and ensurefordable housing and ensuref that growth will pay for growth. "In May, when the town's comments and concerns on Bill 108 were forwarded to the province, we requested more consultation before the province took any further steps," said Oakville Mayor Rob Burton.Rob Burton.R "Despite the serious con- cerns raised by municipali- ties and citizens across Onta- rio, on June 6, the provincial legislature passed Bill 108 in- to law." Burton said the time frame for the review of theseframe for the review of thesef proposed regulations - cou- pled with the lack of detail or consultation - completely undermines the town's abil- ity to conduct a comprehen- sive analysis of their impact on the town's financial posi- tion, its official plan, and the town's ability to protect the character of existing neigh- bourhoods. Town staff said Bill 108Town staff said Bill 108T will have a serious impact on the Town of Oakville, argu- ing it will change the finan- cial tools available to the town to fund parks, libraries, recreation centres and other community infrastructure. They said it will also change where the town can require new affordable housing, how heritage build- ings are conserved and how development applications are reviewed by the town at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT). They went on to say these changes could result in re- duced service levels or a property tax increase for Oakville residents. Some of the town's con- cerns about the Bill 108 reg- ulations include: • Bill 108 reduces time- lines for municipalities to make decisions on "com- plete" development applica- tions. A proposed regulation would make these timelines retroactive to June 6, 2019. The town's position is that the reduced timelines should only apply to com- plete applications submitted after Bill 108's Planning Act provisions come into force. Municipalities should also be permitted to deem a devel- opment application incom- plete for qualitative reasons (e.g. a required study did not provide sufficient technical analysis). • Bill 108 effectively rein- states the former powers of the Ontario Municipal Board, whereby the Local Planning Act Tribunal (LPAT) will determine the "best planning outcome" in development disputes poten- tially ignoring a municipal council's planning decision. Proposed regulations would require most unresolved ap- peals to be decided under the new rules, and also revoke existing prescribed time- lines for the LPAT to dispose of appeals. The town is re- questing that appeals filed under the existing LPAT Act (Bill 139) be completed under the Bill 139 rules, regardless of whether a hearing has been scheduled. It is also the town's position that the re- moval of the timeline re- quirements for the LPAT to dispose of appeals - and the return to lengthy de novo hearings - will slow down the resolution of land use dis- putes. • Bill 108 significantly changes how the municipal- ities will finance develop- ment-related services. Cur- rently, development charges (DCs) - the fees collected by municipalities on new devel- opments - pay for "hard ser- vices" such as roads and wa- ter infrastructure, and "soft services" such as libraries, community centres and parks. Under Bill 108, soft services would be removed from development chargesfrom development chargesf and financed through a new "community benefits charge" (CBC) based on land value. A CBC formula has yet to be proposed by the province. It is unclear how any CBC methodology based on land value could ensure revenues are maintained among Ontario municipali- ties so that complete com- munities are delivered in re- sponse to growth needs. It is the town's position that sig- nificant consultation is needed regarding the CBC formula, and the require-formula, and the require-f ments for a municipal CBC bylaw, together with more time to implement it, which should run parallel with DC studies and the expiry of an existing DC bylaw. The changes that Bill 108 makes to the Development Charges Act, LPAT Act, Planning Act and Ontario Heritage Act, among others, will come into force by proc- lamation of the lieutenant- governor as the related reg- ulations are finalized. To learn more, read theTo learn more, read theT staff report, item seven on the Aug. 6 planning and de- velopment council agenda addendum on oakville.ca. TOWN VOICES CONCERNS ABOUT BILL 108 NEWS