WHEREAS Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) are being misused and overused by the Ontario Provincial Government in a way that damages the environment, threatens our safety, and saddles municipalities with ill-considered development that could have significant negative long-term consequences;
WHEREAS there are very rare emergencies that warrant speeding up the approval process and the Ontario Provincial Government has changed the laws to let the Minister issue MZOs that could otherwise be unlawful because they violate fundamental planning rules or even create hazardous situations;
WHEREAS municipalities cannot fairly deal with MZOs on a case-by-case basis because there is no transparent or coherent MZO process;
WHEREAS the Ontario Provincial Government has just as haphazardly created the new Enhanced MZO and Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (CIHA) without even the legally required public consultation and Environmental Registry of Ontario process;
WHEREAS an MZO could be requested and issued arbitrarily by the Minister before a municipality and Council even hear about it, or in the case of the new Enhanced MZO or eMZO, the municipality completely bypassed altogether;
WHEREAS Wilmot Township Council must be proactive in protecting our community from these dangerous types of MZOs by developing a proper, transparent process that:
1) Tells MZO applicants that any request must meet strict and transparent criteria,
2) Asks the Province not to issue any MZO that fails to meet such criteria,
3) Asks the Ontario Legislature to prohibit MZO’s that do not meet those criteria.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Township of Wilmot will not make a request or indicate its approval for any MZO, Enhanced MZO’s, and Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (CIHA) order applicable to land within the Township of Wilmot, excepting Orders:
- which are limited to addressing an extraordinary and emergent circumstance that is a matter of provincial interest, and,
- which are limited to measures which the Township of Wilmot could not otherwise bring into force in a time to adequately address the relevant extraordinary and emergent circumstance, and,
- which are consistent with the Official Plan, Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 and the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and s. 24, s. 2, s. 3 of the Planning Act, and,
- which do not authorize urbanization outside of settlement area boundaries, and,
- which do not authorize development that would destroy, damage or displace a Provincially Significant Woodland, Provincially Significant Valley Lands, Provincially Significant Wildlife Habitat, Coastal Wetlands, Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest, Greenbelt lands, farmland, or lands within the Protected Countryside or Environmentally Sensitive Landscapes of Waterloo Region, and,
- which are framed geographically or in their wording so as to not limit any power that a Conservation Authority would otherwise have, and,
- which are supported by the Minister’s comprehensive, written, and publicly disclosed reasons for determining that the above criteria have been met;
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Township of Wilmot request the Government of Ontario, including the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing place an immediate and permanent moratorium on the issuance of Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs), Enhanced MZO’s, and Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (CIHA) orders applicable to land within the Township of Wilmot, excepting Orders:
- which are limited to addressing an extraordinary and emergent circumstance that is a matter of provincial interest, and,
- which are limited to measures which the Township of Wilmot could not otherwise bring into force in a time to adequately address the relevant extraordinary and emergent circumstance, and,
- which are consistent with the Official Plan, Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 and the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and s. 24, s. 2, s. 3 of the Planning Act, and,
- which do not authorize urbanization outside of settlement area boundaries, and,
- which do not authorize development that would destroy, damage or displace a Provincially Significant Woodland, Provincially Significant Valley Lands, Provincially Significant Wildlife Habitat, Coastal Wetlands, Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest, Greenbelt lands, farmland, or lands within the Protected Countryside or Environmentally Sensitive Landscapes of Waterloo Region, and,
- which are supported by the Minister’s comprehensive, written, and publicly disclosed reasons for determining that the above criteria have been met, and,
- whose issuance is expressly requested through a lawfully adopted motion of the Township of Wilmot;
THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Township of Wilmot request the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Legislative Assembly to amend the Planning Act, to prohibit the issuance of Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs), Enhanced MZO’s, and Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (CIHA) orders applicable to land within the boundaries of any municipality in Ontario, excepting Orders:
- which are limited to addressing an extraordinary and emergent circumstance that is a matter of provincial interest, and,
- which are limited to measures which the Township of Wilmot could not otherwise bring into force in a time to adequately address the relevant extraordinary and emergent circumstance, and,
- which are consistent with the Official Plan, Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 and the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and s. 24, s. 2, s. 3 of the Planning Act, and,
- which do not authorize urbanization outside of settlement area boundaries, and,
- which don not authorize development that would destroy, damage or displace a Provincially Significant Woodland, Provincially Significant Valley Lands, Provincially Significant Wildlife Habitat, Coastal Wetlands, Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest, Greenbelt lands, farmland or lands within the Protected Countryside or Environmentally Sensitive Landscapes of Waterloo Region, and,
- which are supported by the Minister’s comprehensive, written, and publicly disclosed reasons for determining that the above criteria have been met, and,
- whose issuance is expressly requested through a lawfully adopted motion of the Township of Wilmot;
- whose issuance is expressly requested through a lawfully adopted motion of the municipal government(s) to whose territory the Order pertains.