The Committee of Adjustment is a quasi-judicial board established in accordance with Section 44 of the Planning Act. The Committee is responsible for making decisions on consent applications, minor variance applications, enlargement of existing non-conforming uses, and other technical matters set out by the provisions of the Planning Act.
The Committee of Adjustment considers and may authorize minor variances from the zoning by-law, review and permit extensions and enlargements to legal nonconforming uses and can grant consent for severances (land division), when the severance application involves a variance and/or when the consent is in dispute and cannot be resolved without a hearing.
These decisions are made as follows:
- in the case of severances (consent to sever), variances and permissions, the Committee’s decisions must be consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement, conform to Provincial Plans and comply with the County and the Township Official Plans;
- in the case of minor variances and permissions under Section 45(1) and (2) the Committee must consider the applications in light of the requirements as laid out in the Planning Act;
- in the case of severances, the Committee must have regard to the matters under section 51(24) of the Planning Act;
- the Committee must also be aware of Council decisions when making its decisions and must consider and apply the Township Official Plan policies; and
- the Committee must comply with the Statutory Powers Procedure Act.
All decisions are subject to notice of the decision and all decisions made under the Planning Act are subject to appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).
The Committee meets on a monthly basis or as needed. Applications for severance, lot adjustments or other matters are heard by the Committee at a “public hearing”. If you are considering making an application for Consent or Minor Variance, please contact the Planning Department to schedule a Pre-Consultation Meeting. Doing so will save you time and money and help the process go smoothly. The usual schedule for this Committee is the 4th Wednesday of the month in the Council Chambers (Hopeville Administration Office) at 9 am. Other meetings may be called at an as-needed basis. In the event of no applications in any given month, no meeting will be called.
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