 | Friday, October 29, 2021
Reading this online? Sign up to get this delivered to your inbox every Friday. | | Jurisdiction over local land-use issues could become a more provincial debate | | |  | | | What does housing legislation in New Zealand and environmental legislation in British Columbia have to do with the future of cities?
More than you might think.
A couple of events happened this week that left people wondering if the B.C. government is considering inserting itself more into municipal business, particularly when it comes to land-use decisions.
The first was the introduction of “CleanBC Roadmap to 2030” which, among other things, makes a goal of reducing by 25 per cent the distances travelled in light-duty vehicles over the next decade.
“This can be achieved in part by supporting more compact urban planning in partnership with municipalities to increase active transportation and public transit,” the report states.
The second announcement was proposed changes to the Local Government Act that would remove default requirements for every city to hold public hearings for every rezoning application, so long as it is “consistent with the official community plan.”
It’s consistent with what the province has been saying for a number of years: they want municipalities to build more housing, closer to transportation centres, in higher numbers and with taller buildings than most cities are currently planning.
But to date, the government’s approach has been to encourage, to write letters, to offer incentives, to speak at public hearings, but not actually override municipalities that have a different philosophy than them.
Which is why the New Zealand government’s plan, announced last week, to override municipalities and end single-family zoning in big cities raised eyebrows in some corners of B.C.
If the province was really committed to acting on its rhetoric, could it take similar action, even if it risked a backlash?
“Local governments know their communities best and they understand the challenges that are before them,” said Municipal Affairs Minister Josie Osborne when we put the question to her this week.
“That being said … I hope we’ll set a signal and a tone for local governments that we expect to work together with them to speed up these approval processes.”
In other words, more legislation could come?
“I think we're really looking forward to seeing the feedback from municipalities and how they use these tools,” said the minister.
“The processes can be sped up and I think there'll be more to come.”
Governments hint at things all the time that may or may not take place. But if you’re interested in the relationship between different levels of government in this province (which you 99% likely are if you’ve read this far), this is one file worth keeping a closer eye on. | | |  | | | 1. Vancouver | | | The amendments to the Local Government Act around public hearings don’t apply to Vancouver (as the city is governed under a different charter), but B.C.’s largest city is developing its own official community plan at the moment, the first in more than 20 years. In somewhat related development news, a plan for the future of False Creek South was sent back to the drawing board, calling for more consultation.
Read more | | |  | | | 2. Chickens | There are some perennial local government issues that are often settled differently depending on the culture of the municipality. To wit: while Comox is about to have a public hearing on whether to make it legal to raise chickens, Port Moody just voted to ban the practice based on concerns about how they would attract the local bear population.
Read more in the Tri-City News | | | |  | | | 3. Decision 2022 | Former Saanich Coun. Dean Murdoch, who topped the polls among all council candidates in 2014, announced he would run for mayor, centring his campaign around walkability, climate change and affordability. Current mayor Fred Haynes also said he would run again, setting up a potentially interesting clash a year from now. Read more in the Times Colonist | | | | | |  | | | 4. Delta | Many municipalities in Metro Vancouver are at different phases of developing their town centre to become more appealing to young families, but what do you do when you don’t have a town centre? In Delta’s case, you choose one of your unique areas — in this case, Ladner — and start working on a host of measures, some of which are now coming to the public.
Read more in the Delta Optimist | | | |  | | | 5. Jumbo Glacier | In January 2020, the B.C. government said it was taking steps to formally eliminate Jumbo Glacier, which was given official designation as a municipality (complete with a mayor and council) back when there were plans to make it a ski community. The pandemic slowed down that process, but now the final steps are underway, lowering the number of municipalities from 162 to 161.
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