Burlington Council Unanimously Approves Terms of Reference for New Pipeline to Permit Standing Committee
At our Nov. 2 meeting, Burlington City Council unanimously approved the Terms of Reference for our new Pipeline to Permit Housing Standing Committee.
Last month, I introduced the concept of creating a new standing committee called the Pipeline to Permit Standing Committee regarding the development process, and with respect to Burlington’s approved housing pledge of 29,000 units by 2031, to the Province. That committee was approved by Council on Oct. 17, 2023, requesting I and the City Manager build a term of reference for the new committee.This new standing committee will focus on tracking growth, addressing issues, and pursuing continuous improvement opportunities for the development approval process within the City of Burlington, recognizing overarching legislative planning requirements and any other relevant regulations. The Committee will take an informed and analytical approach to the current procedures and development approval processes that affect the way businesses, residents and developers move through the development processing system. The Pipeline to Permit Committee (P2P) will make recommendations to Council to ensure the timely and efficient issuance of development approvals and building permits for residential and commercial customers to enable the development of complete communities.The Pipeline to Permit Committee Terms of Reference is available for viewing via the link.The Committee is comprised of thirteen (13) members, with one vote per member, including:
- Four members of Council:
- Mayor (Committee Co-Chair)
- Deputy Mayor for Housing Councillor Shawna Stolte (Committee Co-Chair)
- Deputy Mayor for Business & Red Tape Reduction Councillor Kelvin Galbraith
- Deputy Mayor for Strategy, Budgets, Process & Procedure Councillor Paul Sharman
- One representative from non-profit housing association
- One representative from Halton Region housing division
- One representative from Conservation Halton
- One representative from West End Home Builders Association (WE-HBA)
- One representative from Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD)
- One Planning Professional from a consulting firm, that does business in Burlington
- Three public member volunteer representatives
The criteria for a citizen volunteer member of the committee are:
- Be a resident of the City of Burlington
- **Representatives appointed in their professional capacity or by membership in an identified organization are not required to be a resident of Burlington.
- Relevant and applicable background or experience such as but not limited to:
- Housing sector development and building
- City planning or urban design
- Land-use economics
- Architectural and Landscape design
- Real estate
- Public policy
- Performance measurement and continuous improvement
- Community development
- University/college student in a related post-secondary field such as Architecture, Planning, Business Administration, or Construction Engineering (encouraged to apply)
- All appointed public members must complete a police record search, paid for by the City of Burlington.
Applications for the volunteer public committee positions are open until Nov. 27, 2023. Please click/tap here for more details.
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MY TAKE:I'm very excited to have the terms of reference for this new standing committee approved so that we can get one step closer to seeing it in action. I want to thank City staff for helping to further refine the terms of reference. This new committee will be a game-changer. It has not been done before by a municipality -- to have a committee with all stakeholders together at the same table to help us meet our housing targets. I want to thank the Deputy Mayor for Housing Councillor Shawna Stolte for her partnership in getting this committee off the ground and Councillors Kelvin Galbraith and Paul Sharman for sitting on this committee and lending their expertise to it. I'm looking forward to getting this committee up and going in early 2024.To read the staff report and related supporting documents, please click/tap the links below:
- City Manager's Office report: CM-15-23 Pipeline to Permit Committee Terms of Reference.pdf
- Appendix: CM-15-23 - Appendix A - Pipeline to Permit Committee Terms of Reference.pdf
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