Item - 2018.EX35.7

The Executive Committee referred the matter to staff with the following requests:

1. The City Manager, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and the Acting Director, Court Services, to request the Chair, Toronto Local Appeal Body to examine possible revisions to the Committee of Adjustment's appeal process and for this review to consider improved opportunities to resolve disputes prior to Committee of Adjustment's hearings that are fair and reasonable to neighbours directly affected by the variances and report to the Executive Committee by the first quarter of 2019, including an analysis of the comments provided by the Federation of North Toronto Residents' Associations (FoNTRA), and until this review is conducted, not continue with the Mediation Pilot Program.

2. The Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to review the Committee of Adjustment and related processes in order to better serve the public and enhance dialogue between applicants and the public and report back to the Executive Committee in January of 2019, and the review to include an examination of opportunities to further improve communication and strategies for enhancing informal engagement of residents.

3. The Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to report to the Executive Committee in January 2019, on recommended improvements to the Committee of Adjustment and related processes to address planning issues related to residential applications.

This report provides a summary and evaluation of the Committee of Adjustment (CoA) mediation pilot program (MPP), which ran for one year from February 2017 to the end of January 2018. 

The primary objective of the mediation pilot program was to determine whether mediation, as part of the Committee of Adjustment process, would reduce the number of appeals of minor variances and consent applications to the Toronto Local Appeal Body (TLAB). Staff also reviewed whether mediation reduced time and costs to the City and to other involved parties. The program was developed and administered by staff from Court Services, City Planning, Strategic and Corporate Policy, City Manager's Office and Legal Services.

The program ran in the Toronto and East York, Etobicoke York, North York and Scarborough Districts at a cost of $127,489. Mediation sessions were voluntary and at no cost to participants, and were conducted by third party professional mediators and planners.

Seventy-eight mediations took place as part of the mediation pilot program. Initially, mediations were scheduled to a future date, resulting in applications taking longer to be heard by a Committee of Adjustment panel. The low number of initial participants (8) was attributed in part to this additional time commitment.  Adjustments were made to provide for same day mediation sessions, which generated greater interest in the program.

Approximately 10 percent of the mediated applications were appealed to the Toronto Local Appeal Body. This appeal rate is generally consistent with the average appeal rate of Committee of Adjustment applications. Given the relatively low number of mediations conducted under this program, there is insufficient data to conclude whether or not a permanent mediation program would ultimately result in fewer appeals.

Although the response to the program was relatively low, surveys of both the vendors and participants in the program demonstrated some positive feedback on the benefits of mediation for improving communication between parties and educating parties on land use planning and decision making processes at the City.

Given the low response rate and the costs associated with the program, staff are not recommending that the mediation pilot program continue. However, vendors and the parties that responded to a survey encouraged creating opportunities for dialogue between parties early in the process, and investing in enhanced education and communication on the City's land use planning decision-making process which may result in greater benefit than a formal mediation program.

There have been ongoing improvements made to Committee of Adjustment including additional staffing resources to help process a growing number of applications; implementation of testing of livestreaming panel hearings in the Toronto and East York District, and e-service improvements and active applications access through the Committee of Adjustment website. Further investing in these improvements would better build upon the positive results of the mediation pilot program, rather than implementing a permanent mediation program as part of the Committee of Adjustment process.