Development Procedures Bylaw No. 730, 2009 – Development Notifications
Report reviewing the Town's public notification procedures for development applications compared to neighboring municipalities.
TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL
Planning & Development Report
TO: Committee of the Whole DATE: February 4, 2019 FROM: J. Chow, Senior Planner MEETING: February 12, 2019 FILE NO.: 3900-02
DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURES BYLAW NO. 730, 2009 – DEVELOPMENT NOTIFICATIONS
RECOMMENDATION:
That the February 4, 2019 report from the Senior Planner titled “Development Procedures Bylaw No. 730, 2009 – Development Notifications” be received for information.
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS:
I concur with the recommendation.
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES’ COMMENTS:
I concur with the recommendation.
PURPOSE:
To provide information on the Town’s development notification procedures in response to Council Motion C-04-18 on modifying the notification process for development applications.
DISCUSSION:
The Local Government Act (LGA) requires notification for:
- Official Community Plan bylaw amendments
- Zoning bylaw amendments (rezonings)
- Temporary use permits
- Variances associated with a development permit (form & character, environment, etc.)
- Development variance permits
- Board of Variance appeals
The LGA has specific requirements for newspaper notices of OCP amendments and rezoning bylaws. Development application notices (except Board of Variance appeals) must also be mailed a minimum of ten days before a Council decision; however, each municipality must set their own notification radius (distance from a subject property). The Town’s requirements are in Development Procedures Bylaw No. 730, 2009 (Attachment 1).
Neighbouring municipalities
Attachment 2 compares the Town’s standards to adjacent municipalities and City of Victoria.
Highlights: a. For most OCP amendments and rezonings, the Town has a large public hearing notification radius of 400m that exceeds the 60-100m radius in adjacent municipalities. The Town’s notification radius is 100m for institutional, transportation, park uses and 400m for residential, commercial, or industrial uses. b. For development permits with variances and for development variance permits, the Town’s notification radius is 100m compared to 50-75m in adjacent municipalities. c. For Board of Variance appeals, the Town has a large notification radius of 100m while other municipalities follow the LGA requirement to notify only the adjacent property owners and occupiers. d. While conducting the research, staff found that Colwood, Langford, and Esquimalt have delegated all development permits to staff for evaluation for development guidelines, with the respective Council’s role focusing on bylaw variances through development variance permits. In Victoria, development permits for heritage and in some areas form & character are delegated to staff. Similar to View Royal, environmental development permits are delegated to staff in Highlands and Saanich. “Minor” amendments for form and character are also delegated to staff in Saanich.
Other forms of notification
The Town provides additional opportunities for notification as follows: a. Notices of upcoming development applications are displayed outside the Town Hall. b. The public can sign up to receive e-mail notices (RSS feeds). c. Practices that are now common include on-site sign posting for rezoning and OCP applications and website notices.
There is no restriction on going beyond minimum requirements, but it does increase time, cost, and staff resources to the development process and may not result in better projects. Staff has found that the most effective practice is to encourage developers proposing land use applications to hold neighbourhood meetings and to work with neighbours so that community input can be considered early in the process.
CONCLUSION:
The minimum timing of development notification is prescribed by the Local Government Act, but municipalities can set the notification radius. The Town exceeds Local Government Act requirements and keeps residents engaged and informed about proposed development by notifying significantly larger areas than adjacent municipalities do.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the February 4, 2019 report from the Senior Planner titled “Development Procedures Bylaw No. 730, 2009 - Development Notifications” be received for information.
SUBMITTED BY: Jeff Chow, MCIP, RPP Senior Planner
REVIEWED BY: Lindsay Chase, MCIP, RPP Director of Development Services
ATTACHMENTS
- Development Procedures Bylaw No. 730, 2009
Attachment 2: DEVELOPMENT NOTIFICATION
View Royal and Surrounding Municipalities
| Application Type | Notification | LGA Requirement | View Royal | Colwood | Esquimalt | Highlands | Langford | Saanich | Victoria |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OCP, Rezoning | Sign Posting on subject property | None | Within 5 weeks of the application being submitted and not less than 10 days before the application is considered by the Council or any committee of the Council | not less than 5 days prior to consideration by the Advisory Planning Commission, Committee of the Whole, or Council. Rezoning only | Within 14 days of application | unknown | 10 days before public hearing | within 5 weeks of the application being submitted | 10 days prior to the date of the Council’s meeting |
| OCP, Rezoning | Newspaper notice | Two consecutive issues not less than three days and not more than ten days before hearing (s.463(4)(b) LGA) | |||||||
| Public Hearing for OCP, Rezoning*, or Temporary Use Permit | Mailout Timing | Mailed at least 10 days before hearing (s.466(4)(b) LGA) | |||||||
| Public Hearing for OCP or Rezoning* | Mailout Radius | Specify distance by bylaw (s.466(4)(b)LGA) | a) 400 metres for all residential (R), commercial (C), comprehensive development (CD) and industrial (I) land use applications; and b) 100 meters for all public use, institutional, transportation and park land (P) land use applications. | 75m | 100m | 60m | 100m | 90m | 100m |
| Public Hearing for Temporary Use Permit | Mailout Radius | Specify distance by bylaw (s.466(4)(b)LGA) | 400m (100m for public use, institutional, transportation and park land (P)) | 75m | 100m | 60m | 30m | 50m | Adjacent properties |
| Development Permit | Mailout radius | None (if no variances) | None (100m for variances like DVP) | None (DVP for variances) | None (DVP for variances) | None (DVP for variances) | None (DVP for variances) | 50m | Adjacent properties |
| Development Variance Permit | Mailout Timing | 10 days (s.499(4)(b)LGA) | |||||||
| Development Variance Permit | Mailout Radius | Specify distance by bylaw (s.499(4)(b)LGA) | 100m | 75m | 50m | 60m | 30m | 50m | Adjacent properties |
| Board of Variance mail | Mailout Timing before meeting | None specified (s.541 LGA) | 10 days | Upon application / scheduling | 14 days | 7 days | 6 days | 6 days | 10 days |
| Board of Variance mail | Mailout Radius | Adjacent properties only - s.541 LGA | 100m | Adjacent properties | Adjacent properties | Adjacent properties | Adjacent properties | Adjacent properties | Adjacent properties |
Feb-19
*Note:
- Mail notice is not required if more than ten properties owned by different people are the subject of the proposed bylaw (s. 466(7) LGA)
- A public hearing for a rezoning bylaw may be waived if the proposed bylaw is consistent with the Official Community Plan (s. 464(2) LGA), but notice is still required ten days before third reading (s.467 LGA)
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