STAFF REPORT: PUBLIC NOTIFICATION BYLAW NO. 1106, 2023

PUBLIC NOTIFICATION BYLAW NO. 1106, 2023

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated November 15, 2023, from the Community Planner titled “Public Notification Bylaw No. 1106, 2023” be received for information.

PURPOSE:

To introduce Public Notification Bylaw No. 1106, 2023 for consideration of first, second, and third reading.

TIME CRITICAL:

The consideration of Public Notification Bylaw No. 1106, 2023 is not time sensitive.

BACKGROUND:

In 2021, the Province adopted Bill 26 – Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2021 (the Bill), which amends the Community Charter and Local Government Act to improve communication and reduce processing times for rezoning applications and minor variances. The changes allow local governments to establish alternative methods of notification that are specific to their community and its needs. The amendments also allow local governments to give, by bylaw, delegated authority to staff to approve minor variances. Furthermore, the Bill also gives a local government an option to waive the requirement for a public hearing if the rezoning proposal is consistent with the Official Community Plan (OCP).

At the Council meeting on November 26, 2021, Council passed a motion to have a report prepared by staff in response to the Bill. On July 12, 2022, staff presented an update to the Committee of the Whole (COW) on the Town’s current notification methods, notification distances, public hearing process, as well as the potential to delegate authority to staff for minor variance approval. The Committee reviewed these items and recommended that staff return with a report and draft bylaws for consideration. Following this meeting, the municipal election occurred in October 2022 and the introduction of the bylaws were delayed until the new year.

On June 13, 2023, staff presented another update to the COW detailing proposed changes to notification distances, notification methods and the public hearing process. The Committee passed the following motion:

THAT the Committee recommend to Council that Development Procedures Bylaw No. 730, 2009 be updated to ensure that the public hearing procedures are consistent with the Local Government Act.

AND THAT a new public notification bylaw be drafted that includes the following notification requirements:

• direct notice mailout;
• posting the notice in the public posting place; and
• uploading information to the Town’s website and social media.

AND FURTHER THAT the delegation of minor variances be further explored and a follow-up report provided to Council.

DISCUSSION:

Development Procedures Bylaw No. 730, 2009, Amendment Bylaw No. 1107, 2023

The proposed amendment bylaw was administrative in nature to help establish a clear understanding of the public hearing process for Council, staff, and members of the public. Specifically, the proposed amendments were to clarify that public hearings were no longer required by legislation, but that Council could still hold a public hearing if they felt that there was interest in a file from members of the community.

However, in preparation of the amendment bylaw, staff received legal advice and it was determined that the amendments are not necessary for the following reasons:

1. the Bill made amendments to the Local Government Act, which regulates all municipalities and their process to conduct public hearings;
2. the Act overrides all municipal procedures; and therefore, amending the Development Procedures Bylaw for the purpose of providing administrative clarity is redundant when staff and Council can refer to the legislation that governs this process; and
3. further amendments to the Local Government Act or other Acts concerning public hearing procedures and requirements could result in contradictory procedures in Town bylaws, resulting in potential misinterpretation or failure to comply with legislation.

For the reasons noted above, in addition to the legal advice provided by the Town’s legal counsel, staff recommend that there is no benefit to the Town to amend the Development Procedures Bylaw at this time.

Public Notification Bylaw No. 1106, 2023

As per the Committee’s motion on June 13, 2023, and in accordance with Section 94.2 of the Community Charter, staff have prepared Public Notification Bylaw No. 1106, 2023 for consideration by Council for first, second and third reading. The bylaw includes, in addition to the mandated public posting to a public posting place, the following methods of notification:

a. Direct Delivery of Public Notice to persons and businesses in the area affected by the subject matter of the notice; b. Posting to the Town’s Website; and c. Posting to the Town’s Social Media Platforms.

The above notification methods are required for all notification requirements, including land sale and elections. Public notifications will no longer be made via newspaper advertisement, as per the Committee’s motion, which was ratified by Council at its June 20, 2023 meeting (motion C-85-23).

SUSTAINABILITY/CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS:

The continued use of direct mailouts requires further greenhouse gas emissions to be emitted in the preparation of paper notices and their delivery to people and businesses. The significant notification distance of 400 m for rezonings and 100 m for other development applications require a significant number of notices to be printed and delivered to people and businesses in the community, who would also be notified by the other notification methods identified in the proposed bylaw.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

At the June 13, 2023, COW meeting, the Committee had requested that staff review the fees for development applications to ensure that there is cost recovery for notice mailouts.

For applications with variances, staff can confirm that applicants do not pay a direct fee for notice mailouts, rather, certain applications such as a rezoning or official community plan amendment require a ‘public hearing deposit’ in the amount of $2500. This fee has been used to cover the cost of advertisement and the Town may require increments of $500 beyond this amount in accordance with the Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 958, 2016.

Other development applications such as a development permit or development variance permit do not have a public hearing deposit collected for direct mailouts. Where a municipality provides a service, the service can only be charged at cost recovery, or otherwise the service would be subsidized by the municipality if there is no fee associated with the service. In View Royal’s case, the cost of preparing public notice is a subsidized service, because even when the deposit is collected, the cost of staff time and resources is not factored into the total cost. In other instances where a deposit is not collected (i.e. a development permit or development variance permit), the direct mailout process is fully subsidized by the Town. Postage costs for direct delivery mail notice is approximately $0.95 per notice. Review of the Town’s Fees and Charges Bylaw with respect to development applications may be an appropriate task in 2024. Table 1 below summarizes the Town’s development applications that are capable of recovering direct notice mailout fees.

Table 1 - Public Hearing Deposit Summary

ALTERNATIVES:

THAT Council decline Public Notification Bylaw No. 1106, 2023.

CONCLUSION:

Should Council adopt the new Public Notification Bylaw, the Town will have new methods of notifying the public to foster more effective means of communication and modernize existing municipal processes. A Public Notification Bylaw will affect all Town business that is subject to public notification requirements under the Local Government Act and Community Charter. Staff recommend that Council give first, second and third reading to Public Notification Bylaw No. 1106, 2023.

The Bylaw has been added to the agenda for consideration.

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Public Notification Bylaw No. 1106, 2023