Kincardine’s new council has directed the municipality to send their concerns over the provincial government’s proposed Bill 23, also known as the More Houses Built Faster Act.
The motion, which was brought forward by new councillor Amanda Steinhoff-Gray, points out that Bill 23 and its proposed regulations were not in the best interest of the Municipality of Kincardine.
“This change is coming fast and furious, without a lot of input or requested input from the municipality and I think that it’s important that we raise some of our concerns in the hopes of potentially shaping it into something that is more of a co-operation with the municipality,” said Steinhoff-Gray at Monday’s meeting.
It was also pointed out that the Act included a provision regarding inclusionary zoning for affordable housing which has a limit of only 5 percent of units in a subdivision of 10 or more units.
Bill 23 was tabled on October 25th, which was the day after most municipalities in the province held municipal elections.
The deadline for resolutions or comments on the More Homes Built Faster Act is this Friday, November 24th, within days of most new councils meeting for the first time.
Steinhoff-Gray also says, “I feel that a lot of the changes leave us with accountabilities without any recourse, so it’s important to me we at least submit — at a minimum — what our concerns are.”
Locally, the deadline is also before Bruce County Council even gets to meet for the first time, since their inaugural meeting isn’t until December 1st.
Municipal staff will be sending their concerns to Premier Doug Ford, as well as MPP Lisa Thompson, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and other organizations.
