Official Plan Amendment

Prior to submitting an application, it is important that an potential applicant speak with a City Planner and Urban Designer. These staff members will begin a dialogue with you to understand your application and provide you with information that will help you through the process.

As part of Council’s formal pre-application consultation process, you are required to submit a proposal summary. The proposal summary provides a text description of your proposal as well as conceptual drawings to help Staff to understand the specifics of your proposal. Using the proposal summary template and providing a quality proposal summary will ensure that staff fully grasp your proposal concept such that they can identify all of the issues that you will need to address and to avoid delays later in the process.

Based upon the proposal summary that you submit, staff from the Planning Division, Development Approvals Business Unit and Environmental and Engineering Services review your proposal. They will identify, as completely as possible, issues that will need to be addressed and documents that will have to be submitted with your application. Urban design issues will also be addressed, if relevant, at this stage allowing for an early dialogue between you and Planning Staff on the proposed built form of your proposed development. All of this information will be discussed in a Pre-application Consultation Meeting, allowing you the opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification. Following the meeting, you will be provided with a written record of pre-application consultation that you can take away as a guide to submitting a complete application. You should realize that issues not addressed at the pre-application consultation stage may arise as a result of the planning process – as outside agencies, advisory committees and members of the public engage and potentially raise issues that were not considered at this preliminary stage.

At this stage you have the opportunity to consider the results of the pre-application consultation and, if desired, move forward by submitting an application. If you do not decide to proceed at this time, your pre-application consultation materials will remain applicable for a period of up to 6 months.

Addressing all of the requirements outlined in the planning application form and the pre-application consultation session, you can now submit a complete application. The City will not accept applications that are incomplete – even if they are “almost complete”. All of the information required in the application form, the record of consultation and the required application fee must be submitted.

As provided for under the Planning Act, Staff have a period of 30 days to assess an application for completeness. If the application is complete, the application will be initiated with the “start date” being the date that you submitted the complete application. If the application is incomplete, it will be returned to you, along with all of the information and fees you submitted, with a letter describing the deficiencies that need to be met in order for your application to be considered complete.

Planning Staff will circulate notice of your application explaining that the application has been received and describing the nature of the amendment. Notice of an application for an Official Plan amendment will appear:

• In the “Living in the City” section of the London Free Press (referring to the City of London web site for more details)
• On the City of London web site – both in the Planning and Development Meetings and Notices page and on the Interactive Map of Current Applications
• In a letter mailed to OWNERS of properties within a 120m radius from the boundary of the subject property
• On a sign placed on the subject property, highlighting that a Possible Land Use Change is being considered and providing Planning Division contact information for further details

The notice will request that those who are interested in providing comments do so by providing written or verbal comments to Planning Staff. The notice will also be circulated to a broad range of advisory committees of Council, outside agencies, and neighbourhood association contacts in the area. A circulation checklist is available to provide you with a sense of who is circulated.

Planning Staff will receive a wide array of feedback in response to the notice of application. In some cases, Staff will attend advisory committee meetings. Of note, if your application has a substantive urban design issue associated with it, it will be at this stage that your application will go to the Urban Design Peer Review Panel (a panel of urban design experts assembled by the City in order to review and provide input on applications pertaining to matters of urban design).

All feedback is documented and contained in the Planning Division file. You, or any member of the Public, may access the file at any time at the front counter of our Planning Division offices at 206 Dundas Street. It is recommended that you contact us in advance of attending our offices so that we can ensure that the file is easily accessible and a Planner is available to answer any questions you may have.

Based on all of the feedback that is received, and utilizing the Official Plan policies, relevant guideline documents, and recognizing provincial interests, Planning Staff prepare a planning report which includes a planning analysis and a Planning Staff recommendation to Planning Committee. The planning report is available online as part of the Planning Committee Agenda the Friday before the Monday Planning Committee.

Planning Staff will circulate notice of the date, time and location for the public meeting of Planning Committee at which your application will be considered. The notice will explain the nature of the amendment being requested. Notice of public meeting will appear:

• In the “Living in the City” section of the London Free Press
• On the City of London web site – both in the Planning and Development Meetings and Notices page and on the Interactive Map of Current Applications
• In a letter mailed to OWNERS of properties within a 120m radius from the boundary of the subject property

The letter will provide any interested persons or parties the opportunity to submit a letter to the Secretary of the Planning Committee, within a specified period, such that the letter will be included on the Planning Committee agenda.

A public meeting will be held at the date, time and location specified in the Notice of Public Meeting. There are specific Planning Committee meeting procedures and protocols that are followed to ensure that an orderly meeting is conducted with fair and ample opportunity for input from everyone who wishes to speak. The Planning Act specifies that if a person or public body does not make oral submission at the public meeting or make written submissions to the City of London before the application is adopted or approved, the person or public body is not entitled to appeal the decision of the Municipal Council of the City of London to the Ontario Municipal Board.

After hearing a presentation by Municipal Planning Staff, any presentation by the applicant, and submissions by the Public, Planning Committee will deliberate on the application, undertake a vote of the committee, and make a recommendation to Municipal Council. The recommendations are recorded in a Planning Committee Report to Council which can be viewed online as Council and Agendas on the City of London Web site.

There is no opportunity for public or applicant delegations to Municipal Council. However, both the public and the applicant may provide written submissions, relating to an application, to the City Clerk to be added to Council’s agenda. The Chair of Planning Committee will present the Planning Committee Report to Municipal Council. At this time, Council will make decision.

Following Council’s decision, Staff from the City Clerk’s Office will circulate a Notice of Decision, by mail, to all of those that made delegation at the Planning Committee meeting, have submitted written correspondence directly to the Planning Committee through the City Clerk prior to the Committee meeting, or requested a Notice of Decision. The notice specifies the appeal period which serves as a deadline for anyone wishing to submit a letter of appeal.

Those who have made submissions at the Planning Committee meeting or have submitted written correspondence directly to the Planning Committee through the City Clerk prior to the Committee meeting have the opportunity to appeal the decision of Municipal Council to the Ontario Municipal Board. More information on how to appeal an decision to the Ontario Municipal Board can be found on their website; www.omb.gov.on.ca.

The OMB is an independent tribunal subject to the rules of natural justice and the requirements of the Statutory Powers Procedures Act. The Board hears appeals on a wide range of municipal and land-related matters including official plans, zoning by-laws, subdivision plans, consents and minor variances. The hearings are usually open to observation by the public.

Additional information may be obtained from the Ontario Municipal Board website  Furthermore, a complete list of all upcoming OMB hearings is available on the City of London’s web site.