In response to the province’s request for input on OMB reform, SERRA drafted and submitted a letter with our recommendations.
We believe that OMB reform should be based on the principle that municipal councils together with input from the local community should drive local planning decisions, not an unelected body that is not accountable to citizens.
The OMB violates this basic principle in these key areas:
It frequently overrides the decisions made by elected municipal councils and local communities;
It sets aside all the review work the municipality and the community have done and starts the review of the development proposal anew (“de novo”) and can ignore the decisions of municipal councils and evidence presented to them;
During its review it pays little attention to concerns of affected citizens, having regard principally for evidence presented to it by “expert witnesses” that ordinary citizens cannot afford to hire.
We also provided input to the submission of the Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations (FONTRA), an umbrella organization representing some 30 residents’ associations.
To read more about SERRA’s and FoNTRA’s suggestions for OMB reform, click here
In response to the province’s request for input on OMB reform, SERRA has drafted and submitted a letter with our recommendations.
To view our letter click here: SERRA OMB Review letter-final
To view FoNTRA’s letter click here: FoNTRA-OMB-Reform-2016-12-18 detailed report