“I am what you made me” – Charles Dickens Bill 185
It has been over nine months since Bill 185, Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024, (“Bill 185”) received Royal Assent. Among its more notable changes, Bill 185 restricted the appeal rights respecting zoning by-law and official plan amendments (collectively, “Planning Instruments”), whether privately or municipally initiated, to the Ontario Land Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) under subsections 17(24), 17(36) and 34(19) of the Planning Act.[1] These restrictions originally applied writ large, meaning that not only would third parties[2] not be able to appeal privately initiated Planning Instruments, but landowners whose lands were impacted by municipally initiated Planning Instruments would also be without appeal rights. However, as a result of stakeholder feedback, the version of Bill 185 that received Royal Assent made an exception for registered owners of lots where Planning Instruments “apply”. Put another way, a right of appeal exists under the Planning Act where Planning Instruments affect one’s property (i.e., for “second party appeals”), but not for third party appeals.