ELECTION OPED — ‘ONE PROJECT, ONE TEAM, ONE CLOCK’: COUNCIL CANDIDATES CHALLENGED TO STREAMLINE EASIER, SPEEDIER MUSKOKA DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

STUART MORLEY — OPED Special to MuskokaTODAY

Ask anyone trying to build homes or expand a business in Gravenhurst about municipal approvals and you will probably hear the same frustration: it is not just always one unreasonable rule that causes the problem.

It is navigating two governments and numerous departments.

The town controls matters such as zoning, site planning and building permits.

The District of Muskoka controls or influences subdivisions, its district roads, water and wastewater services. Each has legitimate responsibilities, but the applicant is left coordinating the governments.

There is a better way.

Gravenhurst and the district should introduce a 12-month pilot:

I suggest they call it “One Project, One Team, One Clock.”

Every significant housing or business project would receive one joint pre-consultation meeting involving all relevant town and district departments.

Projects large and small, like this one at Hale Muskoka in Gravenhurst, could be streamlined a lot faster and produce results more in line with what developers have long asked for from the upper and lower tiers of local municipal governments. FILE PHOTOS Mark Clairmont MuskokaTODAY.com

The applicant would receive one consolidated list of requirements, one approval timetable and one project manager, responsible for moving the application through both governments.

Departments would review applications concurrently rather than waiting for one another.

Straightforward projects should receive decisions within 60 days and more complex projects within 120 days after a complete application is submitted.

If another report or study is demanded after the requirements have been established, a senior official should have to explain why new information makes it necessary.

Progress should be reported publicly: number of applications, homes proposed, investment attracted, average approval time and reasons for delays.

‘This would not mean weakening building, engineering or environmental standards.

‘It would mean coordinating government so that applicants do not have to do it themselves.’

A new computer portal by itself will not solve the problem. It could simply digitize the same fragmented process. The essential change is clear accountability: one person responsible for moving each project across the finish line.

The goal should be to reduce approval times by 50 per cent while maintaining appropriate safeguards.

With municipal elections approaching, which candidates will promise more housing,

better jobs and a stronger tax base?

Those outcomes require more than good intentions.

They require a municipal system capable of making timely decisions.

Gravenhurst could become the easiest community in Muskoka in which to invest — not by lowering its standards, but by making government work as one team.

The guiding principle is simple: Government — not the applicant — should be responsible for coordinating government.

Will any of our new municipal councillors implement this?

“The guiding principle is simple: Government — not the applicant — should be responsible for coordinating government,” writes Stuart Morley.
Across Muskoka moving ahead requires cooperation and while some communities grow and excel, others lag overcome by unco-ordinated levels of bureacracy laments Morley. Huntsvillle seems to have more success in these departments as seen this month during their Main Street Fall Harvest Fest after Labour Day.
Huntsville, Muskoka’s largest community, is thriving relative to its sister towns and villages. Last year’s elimination of some parking spots in the core that opened space for sidewalk cafes has contributed to that.
As seasonal pedestrian traffic slows, all roads are leaning toward Huntsville adding to its draw and demand for larger hospital services and entertainment services at the thriving Algonquin Theatre.

Resident Stuart Morley is a Gravenhurst-based business consultant who helped launch Muskoka Founders Circle and the Parry Sound Area Founders Circle. He is a former executive director of the Parry Sound Muskoka Community Network (PMCN), former president of Gravenhurst Minor Hockey, former director of Gravenhurst Chamber of Commerce, currently a director of Muskoka Lakes Chamber of Commerce, former board member of Muskoka Family Focus and Children’s Place and former board member of Community Living South Muskoka. He and his wife, Theresa Morley (a CPA owns Morley Accounting Services in Gravenhurst and Barrie) have five grandchildren in Muskoka.