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It says a lot about planning in this city that no one expects the government body in charge of making final decisions on development applications to consider Toronto’s Official Plan. What about the desires of the people that live in the neighbourhood? Or the decisions made by locally elected officials? These things aren’t always expected to hold much sway either. It’s no wonder, then, that the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) — the provincially appointed body that has the power to overturn planning decisions made by city council — has developed a growing number of enemies calling for its abolishment.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the OMB is that no matter how much Torontonians scream and shout about the problems associated with it, the province doesn’t seem to want to listen. That’s why a recent ruling made by a Divisional Court regarding the OMB’s approval of development in the Queen West Triangle is so satisfying — not only did it rule that the board failed to provide reasonable justifications for their decision, it also found that the government body disregarded evidence before reaching its verdict.<\/p>\n
The court’s decision paints a disturbing picture of the organization that’s played such a big role in shaping Toronto’s future. In the case of the OMB’s recent rulings for development along West Queen West, the court argued, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the board’s reasons are devoid of any discussion of the Planning Act, Provincial Policy Statements and the city’s Official Plan as they apply to these lands.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Even worse: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The board provides no rationale or analysis to support its conclusion that the projects were in the public interest.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
As it turns out, those who claimed the OMB operates according to its own whims aren’t necessarily that far off. While both the city and locals argued that having buildings that would support employment (in addition to residences) was vital to the former industrial area, the OMB argued that Toronto’s need to see a growth in job opportunities would be best fulfilled by the creation of employment-only districts. As the Divisional Court ruling pointed out, this \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ignores evidence that the majority of employment in Toronto is in mixed-use areas,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d not to mention city policies aimed at ensuring this remains the case.<\/p>\n
Still, plans for the Queen West Triangle have not turned out as the community hoped they would — three days before the Divisional Court offered its ruling, nervous city planners who never expected the court to rule in their favour opted to settle with two of the three developers. But the court’s judgment provides a silver lining to those across the city who have called the OMB’s relevance into question. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This decision means that the city has the opportunity to take a far more courageous stance in the future,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Margie Zeidler, a member of West Queen West’s neighbourhood association Active 18. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The question is: will they?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"