Development Applications

Applicants are strongly encouraged to have a Preliminary Meeting with Planning Services staff before they file an application, especially for the following applications:

• Official Plan Amendment
• Plan of condominium
• Plan of subdivision
• Zoning by-law amendment
• Site Plan Control

This will ensure that the Town understands the purpose of the application and that the applicant knows what information to provide to support the application and what to expect from the planning process in Newmarket. The application is circulated to relevant internal departments and external agencies for preliminary review and comments. A more in-depth review of the application will be conducted at the pre-application submission stage.

In order to request a preliminary meeting, submit application and track the progress and status, please click the button below:

Submit and track planning application

Please see the Preliminary Meeting Application Form [PDF/914KB] as a guide. A fee of $1546.50 applies in accordance with the Town’s Fee Schedule.

In accordance with the Pre-Application Submission By-law (PAS By-law 2023-49 [PDF/2.1MB]), a full, in-depth review of all submission materials is conducted prior to accepting a formal application submission. The application will be recirculated to relevant internal departments and external agencies (i.e. LSRCA, York Region) for commentary. No application fee is applied at this stage. Please note that applications typically go through multiple pre-application submissions in order to allow any design issues to be addressed, before moving on the Formal Submission. The PAS By-law outlines the applicant's and the Town's responsibilities during this part of the review process.

Once the concept design has progressed through the pre-application stage, Planning Services staff will advise when it’s ready to proceed to formal submission. At this stage, all applications must be submitted in full, including the application form, fees and drawings prior to processing by the Town of Newmarket. To be considered a complete application under the Planning Act, specific documentation, information and/or reports are required to be submitted with the completed application form and the receipt of applicable fees for Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment or Draft Plan of Subdivision approval. This information will be determined at the preliminary meeting. Application fees are set by Council yearly through the Fees and Charges By-law.

Once the application is deemed complete, the fees will be processed.

In accordance with O. Reg. 545/06 of the Planning Act, a Notice of Public Meeting will be given as part of the complete application process. In accordance with the Planning Act requirements, Notice of the Public Meeting is sent by regular mail to property owners located within 120 metres of the subject lands and a sign is posted on the subject lands. Notice will also be published in the Town’s local newspaper.

A statutory public meeting as required by the Planning Act will be held in a hybrid setting. At this meeting, the applicant will present their application and members of the public will have a chance to speak and ask questions. Anyone who wishes to attend may do so in-person in the Council Chambers at 395 Mulock Drive or via the live stream available at newmarket.ca/meetings. Meetings related to Zoning By-law amendments and Official Plan amendments are often held on Mondays.

Please note that the purpose of this meeting is to provide information on the application to members of the public. No decisions are made at this meeting.

Following the statutory public meeting, the Planner assigned to the application will prepare a report to Committee of the Whole addressing the application and the comments provided by commenting bodies and from the public. The report will provide a recommendation, either to approve, defer or deny the amendment application. If approved, at a subsequent meeting, Council will pass a by-law which will be circulated to give interested parties the chance to appeal.

Following approval of a Zoning By-law Amendment application, a Site Plan Approval process may begin (if applicable). A summary of this process can be found in the Site Plan Application Process flowchart [PDF/64KB]. More information can also be found in the Site Plan Approval Process page. For a simplified description, please refer to our Easy Explanation on Site Plans [PDF/2.3MB].