kpb, I agree with a lot of your reasoning. I have been a member of a Subdivision and Developement Appeal Board and also a Municipal Planning Commission.
The MPC has the ability to grant a variance to the rules in many cases, as do provincial boards such as the NRCB.
I will give you an instance of where that variance recently was utilized to assist a property owner. The application was for a 5 acre subdivided parcel out a a quarter of land with a little draw running through it. The draw never had water running in it in the last 30 years, but the development officer had requessted a 100 meter environmental reserve all along the draw both on the subdivided parcel and the remaining 155 acres of the quarter.
One member of the planning commission lived a mile from the property in question and challenged the development officer to provide a reason for the request, the land owner was adamant that the ER was not necessary because there had never been water in the draw area during the years he had owned the quarter. The RULES ( Provincial ) said an environmental reserve should be added to the title in environmentally sensitive areas which makes sense. The development officr advised the MPC that they should make the ER a condition of subdivision but was over ruled. There was no need for the ER, it would have sterilized a lot of the farmable land on the 155 acres etc.
The farmer was very pleased with the decision by the MPC to grant a variance to the rules, as was the proposed owner of the 5 acre parcel.
Had the one member of the MPC not been aware of the property in question, and understood the area and spoke up to convince her colleagues the ER would likely been a condidtion of the subdivision. Now the MPC member has served as a county councillor in the past, and has lived in the area for years, she knows the rules and understands the ability to grant a variance....was she trying to wield her power, or doing the right thing ???
Unfortunately much of the planning and development decisions were downloaded to municipalities in the early 90's. There used to be Regional Planning Commissions where the decisions on planning were not made at the local level. Developers, private citizens and municipalities alike lobbied to do away with those commissions and allow each municipality to develop their own statuatory documents for planning. Certainly there is a lack of consistency as councils change, some are pro developemt, some are pro agriculture and some are afraid to make a decision because of the flak they will get from the public.
But, until there is a change on land use planning across the province local councils and planning commissions are the ones charged with making the decisions. If councillors aren't doing their job, it is up to the voters to make changes at election time. As for newcomers being afraid to take on an incumbent, that is hogwash. If the majority of citizens in any electoral division are fed up with their councillor they will elect someone else. In the 2004 election in our county the Reeve and the majority of council were turfed because of self serving decisions they made the term prior. In fact an old boy that had served for 12 years on council and had retired six years prior ran against the Reeve and beat hime three votes to one. Is he the most effective Reeve in the province, no, but he is an honest, decent person who has brought some resemblance of stability back to our county and that is what he was elected to do.
The MPC has the ability to grant a variance to the rules in many cases, as do provincial boards such as the NRCB.
I will give you an instance of where that variance recently was utilized to assist a property owner. The application was for a 5 acre subdivided parcel out a a quarter of land with a little draw running through it. The draw never had water running in it in the last 30 years, but the development officer had requessted a 100 meter environmental reserve all along the draw both on the subdivided parcel and the remaining 155 acres of the quarter.
One member of the planning commission lived a mile from the property in question and challenged the development officer to provide a reason for the request, the land owner was adamant that the ER was not necessary because there had never been water in the draw area during the years he had owned the quarter. The RULES ( Provincial ) said an environmental reserve should be added to the title in environmentally sensitive areas which makes sense. The development officr advised the MPC that they should make the ER a condition of subdivision but was over ruled. There was no need for the ER, it would have sterilized a lot of the farmable land on the 155 acres etc.
The farmer was very pleased with the decision by the MPC to grant a variance to the rules, as was the proposed owner of the 5 acre parcel.
Had the one member of the MPC not been aware of the property in question, and understood the area and spoke up to convince her colleagues the ER would likely been a condidtion of the subdivision. Now the MPC member has served as a county councillor in the past, and has lived in the area for years, she knows the rules and understands the ability to grant a variance....was she trying to wield her power, or doing the right thing ???
Unfortunately much of the planning and development decisions were downloaded to municipalities in the early 90's. There used to be Regional Planning Commissions where the decisions on planning were not made at the local level. Developers, private citizens and municipalities alike lobbied to do away with those commissions and allow each municipality to develop their own statuatory documents for planning. Certainly there is a lack of consistency as councils change, some are pro developemt, some are pro agriculture and some are afraid to make a decision because of the flak they will get from the public.
But, until there is a change on land use planning across the province local councils and planning commissions are the ones charged with making the decisions. If councillors aren't doing their job, it is up to the voters to make changes at election time. As for newcomers being afraid to take on an incumbent, that is hogwash. If the majority of citizens in any electoral division are fed up with their councillor they will elect someone else. In the 2004 election in our county the Reeve and the majority of council were turfed because of self serving decisions they made the term prior. In fact an old boy that had served for 12 years on council and had retired six years prior ran against the Reeve and beat hime three votes to one. Is he the most effective Reeve in the province, no, but he is an honest, decent person who has brought some resemblance of stability back to our county and that is what he was elected to do.
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