Ontario Development Information employees author
St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe has directed employees to undertake a “housing-focused” strategy to the administration of the company. This course consists of implementing enhanced customer support protocols and expediting planning and growth purposes, whereas additionally acknowledging regulatory compliance because the core perform for the Metropolis.
All metropolis departments have additionally been instructed to prioritize growth purposes, particularly requests for feedback on these purposes, after council unanimously permitted a housing technique handed in early 2023. Departments have additionally been requested to establish and deal with any obstacles or challenges that might delay a well timed response as quickly as attainable.
Additionally, town will undertake a “solutions-first lens” in direction of growth purposes, offering options in all conditions the place roadblocks are encountered from a technical perspective. The objective is to hurry up the applying course of and get residential and mixed-use growth tasks in entrance of Council shortly, working in collaboration with the event group whereas assembly all relevant insurance policies and laws.
“Advancing Housing Accelerator Fund initiatives is a top strategic priority for the corporation, and implementing an expedited approach to our planning process is the first step in creating more successful outcomes for housing development in our city,” Siscoe mentioned in an announcement. “This includes using federal funds to resolve a long-standing lack of development engineering services, expand our project expeditor program, and remove barriers to timely and thorough review of development applications.”
Priorities recognized by the mayor embrace:
Implement customer support coaching, protocols, and directives for workers groups that work together with the event group to make sure expeditious return of inquiries (wherever attainable within the method they had been acquired)
Create a reporting mechanism for Council that identifies key metrics and milestones for the processing of growth purposes, the timelines for assembly these milestones, and on-going alternatives for steady enchancment.
Observe the place delays are occurring within the growth utility course of and the inner or exterior elements contributing to delays and notify the Workplace of the Mayor as quickly as attainable when these elements are impeding processing purposes for vital developments.
To learn the mayor’s declaration, click on this hyperlink.
