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Aurora mayor slams Ontario provincial government's More Homes Built Faster Act

'One-size-fits-all approach' not appropriate for Aurora, newly re-elected Mayor Tom Mrakas says

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 27, 2022
Melissa Wallace

Mayor Tom Mrakas argues that the Province’s More Homes Built Faster Act will have a devastating impact on Aurora, according to an Oct. 26 statement.

“While I applaud the Province for taking bold steps forward to address the housing crisis affecting communities across the province, I don’t agree that a one-size-fits-all approach is the way to achieve it,” he said. “Aurora is NOT Toronto, or Mississauga or Brampton

“We are a small community where these types of ‘as-of-right’ decisions will have a devastating impact on our community. Instead of giving municipalities the tools necessary to incentivize the building of attainable housing, we have instead found ourselves being bludgeoned with Toronto-centric planning legislation, yet again.”

The proposed changes outlined in the legislation being tabled include:

“With these new changes, local planners and municipal leaders -- those who understand the needs of their communities the best -- will have even less authority to affect meaningful change in local land-use planning,” said Mrakas.