Minister’s Zoning Order Request – 565 Balm Beach Road
Applicant: Delbrook Group (Owner)Owner: 1000033148 Ontario Inc. (Delbrook Group)
Agent: MHBC Planning, Urban Design, & Landscape Architecture (C/O Jamie Robinson, RPP)
Phone: T: 705-728-0045 x 222
Email: jrobinson@mhbcplan.com
Summary of Proposal
The applicant has requested that Council pass a motion in support of a privately-initiated application for a Minter’s Zoning Order (MZO). The purpose of the MZO is to facilitate the development of a residential draft plan of subdivision on lands municipally known as 565 Balm Beach Road. The subdivision is proposed to consist of approximately 421 dwelling units, including units that would be affordable. The exact number of units, including affordable housing units, would be confirmed as part of the draft plan of subdivision should the Minister issue a zoning order.
Council directed that a Non-Statutory Public Meeting be hosted by the Town and the Town has issued a Notice for April 30, 2025. A revised Notice was posted for this Non-Statutory Public Meeting on April 25, 2025. This revised Notice includes the correct comment deadline of April 30, 2025.
Supporting Documents
No technical or supporting materials are required to be submitted to, reviewed or approved by the Town as part of an MZO request. Rather, all technical and supporting material is to be submitted to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing as part of a request for a Minister’s Zoning Order.
While no technical or supporting material are required, the applicant made presentation to Council on February 5, 2025. The presentation provides information about the need for an MZO request and the proposed draft plan of subdivision it would permit. The presentation can be viewed here.
About MZOs
MZOs are a land use and development approval tool permitted under Section 47 of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13 (‘Planning Act’). MZO requests are approved or refused by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (‘Minister’). As such, municipal Council’s have no authority regarding the approval or refusal of an MZO.
The minister may consider MZO requests submitted by parties such as ministries, municipalities, organizations, businesses, or individuals.
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (‘MMAH’) prescribes the approval process for MZOs. There is only one step in the approval process that involves a municipality, being at the intake stage. That is, for MZO request to be accepted by MMAH it must meet at least one of two intake criteria, which are:
- requests that deliver on a provincial priority that is supported by a minister (for example, long-term care, hospitals, transit-oriented communities, educational facilities, housing priorities, economic development, manufacturing, etc.)
- requests that are supported by a single-tier or lower-tier municipality (for example, through a municipal council resolution or a letter from a mayor where the municipality has been designated with strong mayor powers).
The criteria outlined above indicate that an MZO request must either deliver on a provincial priority (e.g. housing) or be supported by the council or mayor of a municipality. Municipal support is therefore not required where the MZO delivers on a provincial initiative.
After an MZO request is made, and all the supporting information is provided, the MMAH conducts an initial review. At this time the MMAH may request additional information to be provided. Should all the required information, as determined by MMAH, be provided, the MZO application is posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (‘ERO’) for a 30-day consultation period. The 30-day consultation period, however, does not include any direct consultation with the municipality or community in which the MZO request is made. Rather, the only consultation identified on the MMAH website is the ERO posting. Following a review of the MZO request, and the required 30-day consultation period, the minister issues a notice of an MZO being issued. The notice will be posted on the ERO and provided to the clerk of the municipality in which the lands affected by the MZO are located. There is no requirement for any additional notice to be provided to the community, but the minister may issue notice of an MZO being made in a manner the minister considers appropriate.