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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLN 20-24Report to Executive Committee Report Number: PLN 20-24 Date: June 10, 2024 From: Kyle Bentley Director, City Development & CBO Subject: Authorization to Execute a Memorandum of Understanding - Pre-Approval of Design Drawings for Detached Additional Dwelling Units - OPA 23-002P - File: D-1300-020 Recommendation: 1. That the Mayor and City Clerk be authorized to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Pickering and the Town of Whitby, as set out in Attachment 1 to this report, for the sharing of resources to enable the preparation of pre-approved design drawings for detached Additional Dwelling Units, subject to minor revisions as may be required by the Director, Corporate Services & City Solicitor, the Director, City Development & CBO, and the Chief Administrative Officer; and 2. That appropriate officials of the City of Pickering be authorized to take such action as is necessary to give effect to the recommendations in this report. Executive Summary: The purpose of this report is to request Council's authorization to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Town of Whitby for the sharing of resources for the preparation of building drawings, pre-approved under the Ontario Building Code, for detached Additional Dwelling Units (ADU’s). The goal of this program is to create an expedited path for the public to select designs and receive building permit approval for detached ADUs. The Town of Whitby would be contributing financial resources secured through a Federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) grant, and the City of Pickering would be contributing staff resources to the program, as set out in the MOU (see Attachment 1). Relationship to the Pickering Strategic Plan: The recommendations in this report respond to the Pickering Strategic Plan Priorities of Advance Innovation & Responsible Planning to Support a Connected, Well-Serviced Community; and Strengthen Existing & Build New Partnerships. Financial Implications: There are no direct financial implications arising from this report. PLN 20-24 June 10, 2024 Subject: Authorization to Execute a Memorandum of Understanding Page 2 Discussion: The purpose of this report is to request Council's authorization to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Town of Whitby for the sharing of resources for the preparation of building drawings, pre-approved under the Ontario Building Code, for detached ADU’s. 1. Background Following changes to Provincial legislation through Bill 109 and Bill 23, all municipalities in Ontario are required to permit two ADUs “as-of-right” on most residential properties in urban areas. They may also consider these types of dwellings in rural areas. Over the years, Pickering has had many ADUs constructed inside existing homes (i.e., basement apartments). The new permissions now also allow ADUs to be built as stand-alone dwellings on residential properties. The City passed new zoning regulations in September 2023 to permit detached ADUs throughout the City. After the new zoning regulations came into effect, staff investigated other ways to support the construction of detached ADUs, in an effort to promote increased housing in the City. Aside from construction costs, one of the major challenges home owners face in building detached ADUs is the time required to find a qualified architect and obtain design drawings that conform to the Ontario Building Code. Staff therefore developed a plan to make it easier for the public to obtain a Code compliant design drawing and receive a Building Permit as soon as possible. In collaboration with the Town of Whitby, staff are proposing to solicit, review, and pre- approve building designs for detached ADUs. The pre-approved designs will be posted online (at a dedicated web site) for the public to view, select, and purchase a license for use. The public can then use the pre-approved drawings as part of their Building Permit application. The goal is to save the public time on selecting, preparing, and receiving approval of building drawings for detached ADUs. It is anticipated that providing multiple options of approved drawings will also help reduce design costs. Staff from Whitby and Pickering have developed a work plan for collaboration on the review and pre-approval of building designs for detached ADUs. The City of Pickering would provide the staff resources to undertake the necessary plan review of the drawings, while the Town of Whitby would provide financial resources, through their Housing Accelerator Fund grant, to compensate design professionals for the preparation of the design drawings. PLN 20-24 June 10, 2024 Subject: Authorization to Execute a Memorandum of Understanding Page 3 2.Conclusion Staff are requesting Council authorization to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Town of Whitby for the sharing of resources for a pre-approved design program for detached ADUs (see Attachment 1). The goal of this program is to create anexpedited path for the public to select designs and receive building permit approval fordetached ADUs. Attachment: 1.Additional Dwelling Unit Regional Design Catalogue Memorandum of Understanding Prepared By: Original Signed By Paul Wirch, RPP Principal Planner, Policy Approved/Endorsed By: Original Signed By Catherine Rose For Kyle Bentley, P. Eng. Director, City Development & CBO PW:ld Recommended for the consideration of Pickering City Council Original Signed By Marisa Carpino, M.A. Chief Administrative Officer Attachment 1 to Report PLN 20-24 ADDITIONAL DWELLING UNIT REGIONAL DESIGN CATALOGUE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING Dated this XX day of May, 2024. B E T W E E N: THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF WHITBY (hereinafter “Whitby”) and THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF PICKERING (hereinafter “Pickering”) RECITALS: A.Between October 2, 2023 and January 15, 2024, Pickering completed a Request for Information for the preparation of pre-approved architectural plans for detached additional dwelling units B.In response to the Request for Information, Pickering received some submissions from design professionals, which require further refinement and finalization. C.Whitby has received funds from the Federal Government, through the Housing Accelerator Fund, operated by Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation, in order to support certain initiatives undertaken by Whitby to boost housing supply within the Town of Whitby. D.One part of initiative 7, Build Innovative Greatness (BIG), undertaken by Whitby was to encourage the construction of additional dwelling units on existing residential properties within the Town of Whitby by exploring pre-approved designs for additional dwelling units, prefabricated homes, and modular homes. E.Whitby and Pickering are desirous of working cooperatively towards creating a catalogue of approved designs for detached additional dwelling units and to make the approved designs available to the public through a newly created web site. THEREFORE, in accordance with the principles set out above, the parties hereby agree as follows: - 2 - 1. DEFINITIONS 1.1. ADU or ADUs shall mean additional dwelling units. 1.2. Business Day or Business Days shall mean any day(s) other than Saturday, Sunday or statutory holidays. 1.3. CBO shall mean the Chief Building Official for Pickering and/or Whitby as the context requires, appointed under the Building Code Act, 1992. 1.4. Client Direction shall mean the document to be prepared by the parties for submission to Design Professionals which sets out the key elements of the Project. 1.5. CMHC shall mean the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation. 1.6. Council shall mean the council of the Corporation of the City of Pickering and/or the Corporation of the Town of Whitby as applicable. 1.7. Designs shall mean any designs and/or architectural plans for a pre-approved detached ADU which was prepared by a design professional in response to the RFI and for use as part of the Project. 1.8. Design Professional shall mean an architect, professional engineer and/or BCIN qualified designer who responded to the RFI. 1.9. HAF shall mean the Housing Accelerator Fund which is being administered by the CMHC. 1.10. MOU shall mean this Memorandum of Understanding. 1.11. Project shall mean the creation and promotion of pre-approved designs which are prepared with the intention of expediting the approval of detached ADUs. 1.12. RFI shall mean the Request for Information issued by the City of Pickering, which closed January 15, 2024 for the purpose of engaging architects for the purposes of the Program. 2. PICKERING ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 2.1. Pickering’s primary responsibility will be the procurement of the Designs and communication with the Design Professionals who responded to the RFI to finalize the Designs. Pickering has completed the RFI and obtained interest from Design Professionals. 2.2. Pickering will solicit revised Designs from the Design Professionals which respond to any comments made and that target specific criteria. Pickering’s building and - 3 - development department and building department will coordinate the necessary revisions and finalize the drawings to Pickering’s satisfaction. 2.3. Pickering will ensure that two categories of design are available: (1) Large ADU (40 square metres or more); and (2) Small ADU (less than 40 square metres). 2.4. Pickering will ensure that all Designs meet the minimum standard of both Pickering and Whitby and are completed in accordance with the Client Direction as completed by Article 4.4 below. 2.5. Pickering will confirm with the Design Professionals that the amount to be paid per drawing is a maximum of $5,000.00 plus HST. 2.6. Pickering will coordinate with the Design Professionals with respect to the retainer of the Design Professionals. It is intended that Pickering and Whitby will retain selected Design Professionals on a joint retainer basis. Pickering will be responsible for communicating with the Design Professionals and providing instructions to the Design Professionals. Prior to providing any instructions to any Design Professionals, Pickering will discuss any matter with Whitby and will ensure that Whitby has a reasonable opportunity to provide any comments or concerns. Any direction or instructions provided to Design Professionals shall be jointly agreed to by Pickering and Whitby. 2.7. Following the completion of Pickering’s review, the Designs will be sent to Whitby for a brief review by Whitby’s planning and development department and building department. Following Whitby’s review, Pickering will submit any additional comments to the Design Professionals and ensure that any revisions requested by Whitby are included in the Designs. 2.8. Once a Design has been approved by Pickering and Whitby, Pickering will advise the applicable Design Professional that the drawing has been approved, and request that the Design Professional issue an invoice for that Design. Once the invoice is received, Pickering will forward the invoice to Whitby for payment. 2.9. Pickering will continue to lead the review and collaboration with the Design Professionals that submitted Designs until such time as the drawings are finalized. - 4 - 3. WHITBY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 3.1. Whitby’s primary responsibility will be the payment to the Design Professionals for the drawings that are prepared and approved for use. 3.2. Whitby understands and agrees that while the retainer with any Design Professionals will be a joint retainer, Pickering will be providing instructions to the Design Professionals on behalf of Pickering and Whitby. Whitby will promptly respond to any requests from Pickering for input when providing instructions to Design Professionals. 3.3. Following Pickering’s review of any Designs submitted, Whitby will review the Designs and provide any comments. Whitby will limit its comments to compliance with Whitby’s urban design guidelines or any other guidelines, plans or other requirements that are unique to Whitby. Following completion of its review, Whitby will send any comments to Pickering to be communicated back to the Design Professionals. 3.4. Whitby will commit a maximum amount of $5,000.00 plus HST, per approved drawing. Payment will be made by Whitby upon approval of a drawing by both Whitby and Pickering. No more than two (2) Designs may be approved from the same Design Professionals. 3.5. Upon receipt of an invoice from Pickering, Whitby will ensure prompt payment of the invoice to the applicable Design Professional. If Whitby wants to dispute the invoice for any reason, Whitby will promptly advise Pickering of the reason for the dispute. 3.6. Whitby’s total financial commitment for the Designs is $60,000.00, plus HST for a total of $67,800.00. It is anticipated that there will be a maximum of 10 to 12 Designs prepared by various Design Professionals. 4. MUTUAL ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 4.1. This MOU shall be in effect from the date it has been executed by both parties until December 31, 2024 (hereinafter the “Term”). The MOU may be extended upon the mutual agreement of the parties. - 5 - 4.2. Pickering and Whitby will each promote the Program through their respective public communication channels. It is intended that the communications provided by each party will be consistent with one another, however each party has the discretion to communicate the Program as they see fit. 4.3. Pickering and Whitby will be responsible for the costs of their own communications and will not be required to contribute financially to the other’s communications. 4.4. Pickering and Whitby will collaborate on the creation of the Client Direction. This Client Direction will be provided to Design Professionals and will set out the design standards with which the Designs must comply. Where a standard is lower in one municipality than the other, the higher standard shall be used. 4.5. Pickering and Whitby shall be responsible for meeting their own reporting requirements. This includes any reports to Council, reports to CMHC, or reports to each municipalities’ respective CBO. 4.6. Once the Designs have been completed, Pickering and Whitby will make the Designs available to the public through a website to be created for the promotion of the Program. 4.7. Pickering and Whitby will enter into a joint retainer agreement with any Design Professionals selected and the retainer agreement will be negotiated as set out above. While Pickering will be the primary point of contact for the architecture firms, Whitby shall be kept appraised of any discussions and the contact person for Whitby as noted in this MOU will be copied on any and all communications with the Design Professionals. 4.8. It is the intent of Pickering and Whitby that once the Designs are made available to the general public that property owners will select a design and contact the Design Professional which prepared the Design directly. Prior to issuing a building permit for a detached ADU based on a Design, property owners will be required to submit a drawing stamped by the applicable Design Professional. The property owners will be responsible for obtaining the stamped drawing and the parties will not be obligated to issue a building permit in the absence of a stamped drawing. 4.9. The decision to issue a building permit shall rest with the CBO of Pickering or Whitby as applicable, and such decisions will be made in accordance with the Building Code Act, 1992. - 6 - 5. TERMINATION 5.1. This MOU may be terminated prior to the end of the Term on the mutual consent of the parties. In the event the MOU is terminated, Pickering and Whitby will ensure that any Designs for which a Design professional has been retained to complete are completed and payment provided as though this MOU were still in effect. No additional Designs shall be requested following the date of termination. In the event that Pickering or Whitby requests further Designs from a Design Professional following the termination date of this MOU, the requesting party shall enter into a separate retainer agreement with the architecture firm. 6. INDEMNIFICATION 6.1. Each party, together with its members of Council, directors, officers, employees and agents shall not be liable for any injury or damage including death, property, loss, or damage sustained by the other party, together with its members of Council, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, subcontractors, volunteers or any other third party that is in any way attributable to anything done or omitted to be done by the other party in the performance of this MOU. 6.2. Each party shall at all times defend, indemnify and save harmless the other party, together with its members of Council, directors, officers, appointees, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, demands, losses, damages, actions, costs or expenses (including but not limited to legal fees, disbursements and taxes on a solicitor-client basis), suits or other proceedings by whomsoever made, sustained, brought or prosecuted is in any way attributable to the negligence or wilful misconduct of the other party, its members of Council, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, subcontractors, volunteers in connection with this MOU. 6.3. This indemnity shall survive the termination or expiration of this MOU. 7. GENERAL 7.1. The parties will cooperate and communicate openly with each other on any matter relating to the administration of this MOU and will meet as required. 7.2. This MOU constitutes the entire agreement between the parties pertaining to the administration of the Program and supersedes all prior agreements, understandings, negotiations and discussions, whether oral or written, of the parties, and shall not be amended, supplemented or modified except in accordance with this MOU. - 7 - 7.3. This MOU may be amended, supplemented or modified on the mutual agreement of the parties. Where the parties agree to amend, supplement or modify this MOU, such agreement shall be in writing and signed by the parties. 7.4. All notices required or permitted to be given under this MOU shall be in writing and either delivered personally or by pre-paid courier or transmitted by email, to Whitby at: 575 Rossland Road East Whitby, Ontario L1N 2M8 Attention: Melissa Weatherbie e-mail: weatherbiem@whitby.ca and to Pickering at: One The Esplanade Pickering, Ontario L1V 6K7 Attention: Paul Wirch e-mail: pwirch@pickering.ca or to such other address and email address as either party may notify to the other from time to time. A notice sent by email shall be deemed to be received on the day and time at which it is sent. If such notice is sent after 4:30 pm on a Business Day or on a Holiday, the notice shall be deemed to have been received at 8:30 am on the next Business Day following the sending of the notice. A notice sent by regular letter mail or registered mail shall be deemed to be received five (5) days following delivery. 7.5. The failure of either party at any time to require performance of any provision shall not affect the right to require performance at any other time, nor shall the waiver by either party of a breach of any provision be a waiver of any succeeding breach or a waiver of the provision itself. 7.6. If any provision of this MOU is declared illegal, void or unenforceable for any reasons, such provision shall be severed from the balance of this MOU and the remaining provisions hereof shall continue in full force and effect. 7.7. Words importing the singular number only shall include the plural, and vice versa. Words importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine gender, and vice versa. Words importing persons shall include firms and corporations and vice versa. 7.8. The headings used in this MOU are included for convenience only and shall not affect the interpretation hereof. - 8 - 7.9. This MOU shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. 7.10. This MOU may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which together shall be deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument. If the signature is delivered by fax transmission or by email delivery of a scanned data file (Adobe PDF or otherwise), such signature shall create a valid and binding obligation on the party executing the MOU with the same force and effect as if the fax or scanned data file (Adobe PDF or otherwise) were an original thereof. IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties hereto have executed this MOU by their duly authorized officers in that behalf. THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF WHITBY Per: _________ Matthew Gaskell, Chief Administrative Officer Per: _________ Fuwing Wong, Commissioner, Financial Services & Treasurer THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF PICKERING Per: _____________________________________ Per: _____________________________________