Council approves Procedure to Evaluate Requests for Building during the Land Use Policy Study
A Special meeting of Council was held June 3rd, during which Staff Report CAO2021-07 Interim Control By-law No. 2021-024 - Exemptions and Procedure for Receipt and Evaluation of Exemption Requests was approved.
At the Council meeting held Monday, April 26, Collingwood Town Council approved a pause in development to address drinking water capacity for future development, using an Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL) that could last up to a year while a Land Use Policy Study is completed. The water supply is safe and available for current residents, industry, commercial uses, and temporary visitors. There is enough water for several years of growth, but not enough to continue at the same pace of development until the water treatment plant is expanded in 2025. As soon as becoming aware of this difficult situation, Council took a proactive and transparent approach to seek further capacity and responsibly manage that which remains.
The ICBL limits the issuance of Building Permits, however Construction that does not use more water, such as most residential renovations, can continue.
With the approval of the Procedure for Receipt and Evaluation of Exemption Requests for water use during the Land Use Policy study, Developers and individual property owners affected by the ICBL, can now apply to be considered for exemption, which if approved by Council per the process outlined below, will allow them to apply for their building permit(s).
Who should apply for an exemption:
Anyone that is planning to develop or construct a building in the Town of Collingwood before April 2022 who has not yet received a building permit and is changing the use of a property or requires water services supplied by the Town should submit an Exemption Request Form. This includes, but is not limited to, the following types of construction:
• Construction of individual homes, including individual infill lots
• New accessory apartments within a home
• New subdivisions, or sections of subdivisions waiting to be built
• Commercial development, including the addition of units within a commercial development not yet built
• Industrial development, including the addition of units within a commercial development not yet built
If you are not sure if you need to apply for an exemption, please email building@collingwood.ca or call 705-445-1030 ext. 3243
The steps of this process are as follows:
1) Applicant fills out the prescribed Exemption form available on Engage.Collingwood.ca and submits the form to the Town Clerk;
2) Requests are received by Council and referred to the CAO for review by senior management and the Town solicitor; and
3) Requests which are deemed to be eligible for possible ICBL exemptions are identified and, where applicable, performance conditions (such as the use of the water by a set date) or other terms are recommended in a staff report prepared for Council’s consideration.
4) All request forms are to be submitted to clerk@collingwood.ca by no later than June 18, 2021, to be considered by the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee on July 5, 2021, and Council on July 19, 2021.
For more information, and to track the progress on increasing water capacity and planning activity associated with removing the need for the pause in development, please visit: engage.collingwood.ca.
Questions and comments are also encouraged using the Engage Collingwood page.
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For further information:
Christa Carter
Manager, Public Relations & Communications
Town of Collingwood
705-445-1030 Ext. 3274
ccarter@collingwood.ca