As a result of the Province of Ontario's legislative changes aimed at increasing the pace and volume of housing construction in the Province, the Town of Newmarket is reviewing its development application process. The Development Application Process (DAP) and a Collaborative Application Preparation (CAP) project was started in 2022 and is ongoing.
Overall Purpose: To ensure Newmarket's processes are more efficient, customer-focused, and ready to meet growing housing demand
The DAP & CAP Project aims to see Newmarket modernize its development application process by addressing the following objectives:
- Seek out new ways to increase efficiencies and shorten the Newmarket portion of the development application process; with a goal of three submissions (or less), where and whenever possible.
- Assess opportunities for expedited decision-making, while acknowledging and analyzing the risk management factors associated with an expedited decision-making process.
- Identify and record efficiencies, such as, process clarity, streamlining and elimination of duplication.
- Evaluate constraints that prevent the Town from achieving the goals set above.
- Work collaboratively with developers to achieve our common goals of great community building, while maintaining the standards of community design and that residents enjoy and expect.
Why these changes matter
- Processing times: Faster approvals ensure Newmarket can meet housing demands while maintaining quality, particularly as development shifts towards higher-density, complex projects.
- Development Capacity: By streamlining the process, Newmarket can handle more applications without overwhelming staff or sacrificing attention to detail.
- Customer Service: These efforts align with creating a community Well Beyond the Ordinary, improving satisfaction among residents and developers alike.
Achievements
The implementation plan continues to be refined. However, changes to make the development review process more efficient is underway. Recommendations and changes that could be implemented without further planning were executed. Since 2023,of the refined list of 50 recommendations,13 have already been implemented and a further 19 have been identified as changes that can be made immediately without further process.
Part of the DAP & CAP project was to map out the entirety of the Site Plan Approval process. This process mapping exercise showed that a typical site plan process currently takes approximately 13 months from first submission to approval. The suggested improvements could reduce the site plan approval process to approximately 6 to 10 months. The following is a brief list highlighting some of the changes already implemented:
- A focus on the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for submission requirements, with the aim to simplify submission requirements and keep Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment applications focused on land use matters, leaving detailed design for the Site Plan Approval process.
- A new Pre-Consultation By-law was passed in fall 2023 to clarify and outline the new process adopted in response to the Bill 109 changes.
- Implemented the new delegated authority, as provided for in the Planning Act, for Removal of Holding Provisions and Temporary Use By-laws.
- Streamlined the submission requirements for different development applications and different types of proposals, including lengthening the list of proposals exempted from Site Plan Approval.
- Use of standardized terms of reference created in partnership with York Region. This allows applicants and consultants to become familiar with the requirements for studies and reports regardless of which municipality in York Region they are working in.
- Moved to a single cloud-based comment response matrix which allows all comments and each of the applicant's responses to be in a single document and available to all parties.
Next Steps
Changes will be rolled out over the next several years to allow for various interested parties to adjust to any new processes, practices, and procedures.
Background
In response to Province's legislation change, the following actions were taken by the Town of Newmarket:
- Beginning in 2022 staff participated in a York Region study involving all local municipalities. The project aim was to address the impacts of changing legislation on municipalities with respect to development application processing. This is known as the Collaboration Application Preparation (CAP) project.
- In 2023, Newmarket initiated a project to look at its own internal procedures relating to development application processing. Sajecki Planning was engaged by Planning Services to facilitate the work which resulted in a report issued in June of that year entitled "Development Approval Process and Fees Review". This is known as the Development Application Process (DAP) review project.
- In the fall of 2023, Planning Services issued an RFP seeking consulting assistance for the preparation of an implementation plan that would form the framework for project recommendations.
- In the spring of 2024, a process mapping exercise was undertaken that allowed all Newmarket front line staff to participate and highlight their role and responsibilities relating to development application processing. The results of this work led to further areas having the potential for processing enhancements.
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