Rosario Marchese Wants to say Bye-Bye to the OMB
By Lucas on Mar 08, 2013
Toronto NDP MPP Rosario Marchese (Trinity - Spadina) is attempting to free Toronto of the powers of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).
On March 6, 2013, Marchese announced via his blog that he would debate a private member’s bill, called “Respect for Municipalities Act (City of Toronto)” on March 7, 2013. The implementation of this bill would put an end to the OMB’s “oversight” over Toronto.
Rosario Marchese: “My bill would allow the City of Toronto to assume authority over zoning bylaws, development approvals and other planning matters within its boundaries. Toronto would also have the ability to establish an appeals body of its own, if it wishes.”
On his blog, Marchese continues, explaining, “Almost all new development proposals in the riding demand zoning changes, and developers often begin preparing their OMB case even before meeting with residents and councillors. Expecting to pay the costs of an OMB hearing no matter what they do, developers have little incentive to seek compromises with the local community and every incentive to push the envelope of what is allowable.”
Marchese also says that the “OMB process pits cash-strapped residents and overworked city planners against deep-pocketed developers.” Developers have the money to hire lawyers, planners, and architects to speak on their behalf.
The Liberals are open-minded about Marchese’s bill, but they are concerned that without the OMB, these development disputes would end up in courtrooms, where the residents would still be overpowered by highly paid lawyers.
Marchese didn’t get much support from the Conservatives either, with the majority of the MPPs thinking that it is a bad idea to single out Toronto as the only big city being exempt from the powers of the OMB.
Marchese did receive some back-up though, from Councillors Adam Vaughan and Kristyn Wong-Tam, who held a press conference on the day of the debate to officially announce their support of the movement.
So, what do you think? We have obviously been huge supporters of the OMB because they have made some of our favourite condo developments possible. But, if the playing field is in fact uneven, and if a more efficient process exists, then we would like to see it.
The truth is, Toronto is growing at a rapid pace, building wise and population wise (number four! Woo!), and many of these towers that have been pushed forward by the OMB are contributing to the growth. Would we have beat out Chicago as fourth-largest city in North America if the OMB wasn’t a thing?
Let us know what you think!
