[URBAN NOTE] "Richmond Hill to appeal OMB decision on how much parkland developers must hand over"

[rfmcdonald]

Noor Javed writes in the Toronto Star about the politics of parkland in Richmond Hill.

The Town of Richmond Hill has won a minor victory, after a judge ruled this week that it can appeal an Ontario Municipal Board decision that capped how much the town could ask developers to pay for parkland in exchange for building condos in the booming suburb.

The municipality will now head to Divisional Court, to make the case for why it should be allowed to implement its own policy, instead of the one determined by the OMB — an unelected board that has become the de facto decision maker in countless planning matters across the province.

“We are appealing the OMB decision as we believe that planning for the long term future of communities is a municipal responsibility,” said Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow. “No one is better equipped to understand or respond to the needs of the community.”

In his decision in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Justice H.J. Wilton-Siegel said the case “engages the issue of the correct balance between the flexibility that municipal councils seek in their land use planning and the transparency and certainty that developers seek,” he said.

The town, in conjunction with the community, spent two years developing a parks plan that would guarantee residents ample green space for its residents in light of intensification pressures.