Letter from Mayor David Screech to Min. Trevana regarding handyDART Facility

Re: File reference 286501 – handyDART Facility

As you are aware, the Town of View Royal Council considered a report regarding the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (the Ministry) and BC Transit’s proposed relocation of the regional handyDART facility to 2401 Burnside Road West, View Royal at its regular meeting held September 17, 2019.

At that meeting, Council reviewed the 2001 UBCM resolution concerning the Interpretation Act (B36) put forward by the District of North Vancouver. That resolution stated:

WHEREAS Section 14(2) of the Interpretation Act explicitly exempts the Crown and Crown Corporations from being bound by local bylaws regarding land use, development and improvements;

AND WHEREAS over the last three years the Provincial Government has made amendments to the Local Government Act promising the empowerment of local governments;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the UBCM petition the Provincial Government to amend the Interpretation Act to make Crown Corporations or their agents subject to municipal and regional district rules.

In response to that resolution, the Ministry of Community and Aboriginal and Women’s Services endorsed the following:

The Provincial Government has committed that crown corporations should abide by local zoning and land use bylaws. To this end, the Premier has written to the Chief Executive Officers of all crown corporations, requesting they honour this principle in their day-to-day operations. As well, the Premier has directed the Crown Agencies Secretariat to work with the crown corporations to address the implications of the commitment. This work is currently underway.

Also on September 17, 2019, Council contemplated the commitments in the September 18, 1996 “Protocol of Recognition” between the Province of British Columbia and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities. That document enshrined the Province’s recognition of “local government as an independent, responsible and accountable order of government” and stated that in “matters where local governments are responsible, they should have adequate authority and independence to fulfill their responsibilities.”

It is clear that the Ministry’s push to develop 2401 Burnside Road West as a handyDART facility is entirely inconsistent with these two Provincially supported and documented commitments. As such, I am sure that you can understand Council’s deep concern with the Ministry’s desire to proceed with the handyDART relocation initiative and to utilize section 14(2) of the Interpretation Act to achieve that end.

At the September 17, 2019 Council meeting, the following motion was passed:

THAT the Mayor write the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure to reject the imposed siting of a BC Transit handyDART facility at 2401 Burnside Road West. However, if the Province is going to over-ride the expressed wishes of View Royal residents and Council, it should not proceed until such time as the following issues are addressed by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and BC Transit in consultation with Town staff to the Town’s satisfaction:

• noise;
• tree retention and landscaping;
• site concept;
• form and character;
• compliance with Contaminated Sites Regulation;
• community consultation;
• traffic/transportation and circulation;
• on-site parking;
• environmental impacts on Craigflower Creek and compliance with Riparian Areas Regulation;
• air quality as a result of diesel emissions;
• servicing and infrastructure needs, including frontage improvements;
• Community Amenity Contributions;
• transit improvements in the Chilco area;
• annual grant in lieu of taxes; and
• membership on the Victoria Regional Transit Commission.

Sincerely,

Mayor David Screech

cc. The Honourable John Horgan, Premier of British Columbia The Honourable Selina Robinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing Ms. Mitzi Dean, MLA Esquimalt-Metchosin Ms. Erin Pinkerton, BC Transit Town of View Royal Council