Land use contracts

The Local Government Act was amended in 2014 to address the LUC issue. Municipalities were provided a second method of cancelling LUCs: termination. LUC terminations provide the ability for municipalities to cancel LUCs without the owner’s consent, as stated in Section 548 of the Local Government Act.

Discharging and terminating both have the same process, except that Land Use Contract terminations (unlike LUC discharges) don’t apply as soon as Council adopts the bylaw. Terminations require a one-year grace period as outlined by the Local Government Act. Furthermore, the municipality must send additional letters after the one-year grace period is complete to inform the property owners of the new land use regulations that apply to their properties.

Property owners are allowed to appeal LUC terminations to extend the length of time the LUC is in force beyond the required one-year grace period. To appeal an LUC termination, the owner would approach the Board of Variance and explain that terminating the LUC one year after Council adoption would cause hardship. The Board of Variance would then decide whether to grant the extension. If the extension is granted, the LUC will be terminated after the extended period with no opportunity to extend again. The application to the Board of Variance must be received within six months after the LUC Termination Bylaw has been adopted by City Council.

According to the Local Government Act, as of June 30, 2024, all land use contracts will be terminated. Therefore, land use contracts will remain in force until that date unless terminated early by the municipality. However, by June 20, 2022, local governments must have appropriate zoning regulations to replace land use contracts upon their termination as not all properties have the appropriate underlying zoning.

According to Council Notification Policy #367 and Development Application Procedures Bylaw #10540, when a LUC termination that doesn’t require a rezoning is processed, notices such as mailouts will only be sent to affected properties. However, when a rezoning is required, properties within 50 metres of the LUC termination and rezoning will receive notices. If the termination impacts 10 or more properties, this isn’t required. In addition, all LUC terminations will require notification signage as per Section 9.14 Notice of Termination in the Local Government Act:

Local governments must provide notice to each owner that the termination of land use contract is occurring and must provide notice of what the new zoning regulations apply to the land. The notice must state the bylaw becomes “in force” one year following the date of the bylaw adoption, and inform the owner of their right to apply to the Board of Variance for an extension of the “in force” date.