DRAFT PRIVATE DOCK DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES PUBLIC CONSULTATION PLAN

PRIVATE DOCK DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES PUBLIC CONSULTATION PLAN

PURPOSE

This document provides a comprehensive public consultation plan (the ‘Plan’) for private dock development guidelines and shoreline regulation for the Esquimalt Harbour portion of the Town of View Royal. It provides a background of the issue, a description of the audience it wishes to reach, a vision, a set of goals the Plan wishes to achieve, the methodology by which the Town will achieve these goals, and the Plan’s timeline and implementation strategy.

BACKGROUND

In November 2011 two reports were brought forward to Council in response to Council’s concerns over a lack of guidelines associated with private dock development. The first report presented draft private dock development guidelines; the second addressed the broader measures the Town may wish to take in regulating shoreline development within the Town of View Royal (eg zoning of the surface of the water).

The Plan addresses public consultation for private dock guidelines.

The majority of existing and anticipated shoreline development exists on the Esquimalt Harbour side of the municipality; current Provincial and Federal regulations prevent development within a great deal (and possibly all) of Portage Inlet due to the shallow and sensitive marine environment along that shoreline. As a result, the Plan will be only applied to the conditions along the Esquimalt Harbour portion of the Town’s shoreline and coincides with the areas administered by DND as shown on the attached map; any reference to waterfront owners or users will refer to Esquimalt Harbour only.

AUDIENCE

There are four primary audiences for the Plan:

• Impacted external agencies; particularly DND but also DFO and Transport Canada.
• Waterfront landowners (including Portage Inlet Protection Society – PIPS)
• Waterfront users.

The Plan refers to the ‘public’ as a catch-all when considering consultation and this is primarily an act of convenience; while agencies are not generally thought of as the ‘public’ the Plan encompasses them. Interactions with external agencies will be considered as a staff-to-staff interaction and not a staff-public interaction; they have been included as an audience here as they need to be consulted with, but they will not be treated as a public stakeholder group. ‘Stakeholder’ will refer to landowners, users and any other special interest groups.

VISION

To create guidelines for sustainable shoreline development which meet the needs of affected agencies and stakeholders, and allow the enjoyable and responsible use of the shoreline for all residents of the Town of View Royal.

GOALS

The ultimate goals of a public consultation are to produce useful guidelines informed by the process; these are to be referred to as Implementation Goals. There are also Methodology Goals which should be identified in advance such that important process elements are not overlooked or diminished at any point, and that evaluation of the plan during its progress is clear and straightforward for stakeholders, agencies, facilitators and decision-makers alike.

Methodology Goals

• Educate agencies and stakeholders by clearly communicating the Town’s vision, goals and elements of the initial draft private dock guidelines, and the reasoning behind them.
• Generate discussion around shoreline development, encourage stakeholder and agency participation, increase awareness of the Town’s vision for shoreline development and reinforce the notions of transparency and accountability from the Town and the process.
• Build trust and support in the process among stakeholders and agencies during the process.
• Ensure productive public participation in decision-making by facilitating the input of creative ideas and knowledge, both expert and experiential, which will strengthen the information on which guidelines are generated.
• Build understanding between various stakeholders and agencies that have different opinions regarding shoreline development by hearing from different perspectives and providing opportunities for co-learning and conflict resolution.
• Provide a comprehensive record of the results of public involvement in a manner that can be of direct use in decision-making.
• Enable the Town to clearly demonstrate how input from consultation was used.

Implementation Goals

Provide comprehensive agency and stakeholder input for the development of a final set of guidelines which will:

• Be delivered in a timely manner as identified in the Work Plan and Implementation portions of the plan.
• Accommodate the regulatory and policy needs of affected provincial and federal agencies responsible for regulating docks and shoreline development in the marine waters within the Town of View Royal;
• Accommodate the needs of individual stakeholders and stakeholder groups;
• Accommodate the Town of View Royal’s existing policies and regulations;
• Create the framework for sustainable shoreline development which meets the Town of View Royal’s vision.
• Be easily understood and accessible for all affected agencies, stakeholder groups and affected members of the public.

METHODOLOGY

Public consultation is most effective when initiated early in a planning process such that experiential knowledge and values (which professional facilitators and decision-makers may not have a firm grasp on initially) will emerge before guidelines are drafted. Once professionals have an understanding of the local issues, values and goals they are better equipped to formulate informed guidelines which can then be reviewed and refined by all participants as the process continues.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: SWOT

An effective methodology for approaching a multi-faceted issue such as this is to approach the process in terms of a SWOT analysis: gaining an understanding of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats associated with the generation of private dock guidelines.

Strengths and weaknesses can be identified as existing conditions, whereas opportunities and threats can be seen as potential issues either arising or having the potential to arise through the course of the work plan.

Strengths: What are the strong or positive elements of the shoreline’s physical features, ownership, governance etc. which will aid stakeholders, agencies and the municipality in fulfilling the identified goals of the plan? How can these be used to the advantage of the process?

Weaknesses: What are the weak or negative elements of the shoreline’s physical features, ownership, governance etc. which will hinder stakeholders, agencies and the municipality in fulfilling the identified goals of the plan? How can these be overcome?

Opportunities: What opportunities exist for these goals to be achieved quicker or better than otherwise anticipated? How can these be captured or leveraged?

Threats: What elements exist that are active threats to the identified goals? How can these be diminished or avoided?

Participants in the process will be encouraged to look at the problems and conflicts in this light such that their input is more focused and better articulated. It encourages dynamic, strategic thinking from all stakeholders, and promotes awareness and empathy from conflicting points of view.

IMPLEMENTATION

The Work Plan identifies the stages and associated deliverables to be reached during the course of the public consultation program.

Communication Tools

During the course of the Work Plan various consultation tools will be used in its implementation. These may include (but may not be limited to):

• Email and telephone communication
• Newsletter updates
• Mail circulation
• Dedicated website for private dock guideline development
• Public open houses with presentation boards
• Agency meetings
• Public stakeholder advisory group meetings