Change will come slowly despite OMB reforms

After more than 100 years, the Ontario Municipal Board will come to an end.

But things won’t change for years.

Regulations put forward by Ontario on how to transition to a new planning tribunal mean hundreds of applications currently being considered by city could be appealed under old rules.

Queen’s Park voted last week to reform the province’s most powerful tribunal — responsible for land use planning disputes and how cities are built — and replace it with a new Local Planning Appeal Tribunal aimed at giving power for planning back to cities.

But regulations put forward by the province on how to transition to the new body mean potentially hundreds of applications currently being considered by Toronto staff will still be eligible for appeal under the old system, which has been favourable to developers.

And while city officials have championed the reforms, calling them long overdue, they say the transition plan will cause turmoil at city hall.

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