Planning Act Pre-Submission Review Request

Prospective applicants are not required to use the pre-submission review service prior to submitting a Planning Act application (e.g. consent to sever, plan of subdivision, rezoning, etc.), however, it is strongly recommended and encouraged as it offers prospective applicants a number of benefits including but not limited to:

• Circulation of proposal to external stakeholders, agencies, and approval authority (e.g. utilities or County of Simcoe) to obtain feedback and approval requirements/conditions from same/consolidated application review process,

• Opportunity to confirm applicable policies and zoning standards/regulations and their implementation,

• Identification of which Planning Act approvals/applications are required, and the associated fees,

• Confirmation of municipal servicing capacity and whether any local benefit improvements are required,

• Establishing which plans, reports, and studies – as well as Terms of Reference and scope of same – are required to be submitted in support of a complete Planning Act application,

• Timely and coordinated processing of applications by ensuring required public consultation and decisions timelines align with Council and Committee meeting dates,

• Assistance with project management, and

If an applicant goes through the pre-submission review process to the satisfaction of the Town, a fee refund will only be issued where the criteria, as outlined in the Fee Refunds section of the manual, have been met.

Fee Refunds

Applicants may request a refund for the pre-submission review fee following the receipt and deeming complete of a subsequent and related application under the Planning Act. Requests for fee refunds are to be submitted to the Planning Department. A refund will be issued according to the following:

• To be eligible, the Record of Pre-Submission Review must be valid when the related Planning Act application is submitted. Should an extension to the Record of Pre-Submission Review be provided, an extension to the refund eligibility will be automatically applied.
• The refund will be based on the amount paid at the time the pre-submission review request was submitted.
• The refund will be provided to the payor of the pre-submission review fee.
• Where the pre-submission review relates to multiple Planning Act application types, only the first related submission will be entitled to a refund.
• Requests for a refund shall be submitted no later three months after the application has been deemed complete.
• The submitted Planning Act application must be for policy and development approvals as outlined in the Record of Pre-Submission Review.

The pre-submission review process was developed by the Town to provide prospective applicants with guidance and direction to ensure timely approvals and cost savings are maximized. By not going through the pre-submission review, prospective applicants risk incurring additional costs and introducing delays in approvals by:

• Submitting incorrect development applications due to incomplete or inaccurate understanding of applicable policy or zoning regulation,
• Misunderstanding of the Town’s approval process,
• Lack of coordination with Council or Committee meeting dates,
• Reports and studies not being completed as per the Town’s Terms of Reference (‘ToR’), and scope of reports and studies being inadequate or exceeding scale of development proposed, and
• Applications being deemed incomplete due to missing supporting material or incorrect fees being paid/appropriate fees not being paid.

In not participating in the pre-submission review process, applicants forfeit their ability to work with the Town to establish an agreed upon Terms of Reference for any required studies and coordinate comments from stakeholders.