Toronto, ON ? The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) has submitted a targeted set of recommendations to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, aimed at bringing consistency and transparency to the Site Plan Approval (SPA) process. Prior research found significant delays, costs and regional variation regarding SPA. A followup report in 2018 found that delays associated with the SPA process may be costing Ontario $900 million per year?a number the OAA believes may actually exceed $1 billion due to the conservative nature of the economic model.
The OAA believes that good design is paramount for the public realm and has also voiced its support for the continued existence of Design Review Panels. These panels exist outside of site plan approval and deal with a much broader set of considerations, providing important feedback on a variety of design projects. Just as they existed prior to the introduction of design control in 2006, the OAA is confident that these recommendations will not impact design review panels. The OAA proposes to restore exclusions to the Planning Act that existed for decades prior to 2006. These include the ?colour, texture and type of materials, window detail, construction details, architectural detail and interior design of buildings.? Allowing municipalities to change these elements of exterior design has added significant time and cost while detracting from elements that are more critical to the public realm such as height, massing, parking,...