Houskeeping Amendments to DP Board and Advisory Panel By-law

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: February 8, 2001
Author/Local: Rick Scobie/873-7399

RTS No. 01898

CC File No. 3104

Council: February 13, 2001

TO:

City Council

FROM:

Chair, Development Permit Board, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services

SUBJECT:

Housekeeping Amendments to the Development Permit Board & Advisory Panel By-Law, No.5869

RECOMMENDATION

That the Director of Legal Services be instructed to bring forward for enactment an amendment to Development Permit Board and Advisory Design Panel By-law No. 5869 which will change the person designated as the the Deputy City Manager’s alternate; permit the Director of Development Services to appoint a member or member’s alternate as the Chair of any meeting the Director of Development Services will not attend; establish the Chair as a voting member of the Board to break a tie if one of the three voting members must leave a Board meeting in progress or miss an adjourned meeting or if the substitute chair is a Board member; and clarify the role of the Development Permit Board Advisory Panel members, all as detailed in Appendix A.

CITY MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The City Manager recommends approval of the foregoing, noting that these minor housekeeping amendments will further improve the efficiency of the Development Permit Board.

COUNCIL POLICY

The composition and responsibilities of the Development Permit Board and Development Permit Board Advisory Panel are contained in By-Law No. 5869.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to present four (4) housekeeping amendments to further improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Development Permit Board procedures.

DISCUSSION

In late 1998, the composition of the Development Permit Board was revised. Recently, members of the Board met to reflect on the Board’s performance as a consequence of these changes. This review identified four areas in which further By-law amendments are recommended, as follows:

Alternate Member to the Deputy City Manager

The By-law presently establishes the Deputy City Manager as one of three voting members of the Board, and further specifies the General Manager of Corporate Services as the alternate to this member. The Deputy City Manager and General Manager of Corporate Services believe that the General Manager of Community Services would be a more appropriate alternate member. It is therefore recommended that Section 8(b) of the By-law be amended to delete reference to the General Manager of Corporate Services and insert in its place reference to the General Manager of Community Services.

Alternate Member to the Director of Development Services (Chair)

Presently, the By-law establishes the General Manager of Community Services as the alternate member to the Chair. This has functioned well, but is seen to be unnecessarily restrictive. The Board members believe it would be preferable to allow any member of the Board, or any member’s alternate, to perform the role of Chair in the absence of the Director of Development Services. It is therefore recommended that Section 8(a) of the By-law be deleted, and that a new Section 9 provide that the Director of Development Services may appoint any member of the Board or a member’s alternate to function as Chair, in the absence of the Director of Development Services.

Non-Voting Chair and Three Voting Members

The creation of three voting members on the Board and a non-voting chair has worked well in the last two years.However, the By-law does specifically state how many members consitute a quorum

The Board has yet to cancel a scheduled meeting because one of the three voting members (or a member’s alternate) was unable to attend. However, there have been occurrences where Board meetings have extended well into the evening hours and threatened to compromise unalterable commitments of a Board member in attendance. To date, no voting Board member has had to leave a Board meeting in progress, but were that to happen - for reasons of illness or otherwise - the question may arise as to whether the Board meeting would have to be adjourned. Board members believe this poses an unnecessary risk to the efficiency and effectiveness of Board meetings. Therefore, in the event of an unusual circumstance in which one of the three voting members must leave in the middle of a Board meeting or cannot attend an adjourned meeting, a suitable By-law amendment would enable the meeting to continue with only two voting members but with the Chair also becoming a voting member in the event the two regular voting members cannot agree on the decision to be reached regarding the application before the Board. The proposed change will necessitate a new provision modifying Section 4 of the By-law which presently establishes the Director of Development Services (Chair) as a non-voting member.

Advisory Panel Members

Clause 7 of the By-law outlines the function of the Advisory Panel and says that “all members of the Panel shall attend and participate in all meetings of the Board”. This wording was not intended to mandate but rather enable attendance and participation by Advisory Panel members at Development Permit Board meetings. In order to clarify this intent, a minor wording change is proposed to clause 7.

CONCLUSION

The housekeeping amendments described in this report will ensure that Development Permit Board meetings can be convened and conducted with greater flexibility in terms of composition and attendance. These changes will therefore assist in maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of the Development Permit Board process.

* * * * *

Comments or questions? You can send us email.


TO:	City Council
FROM:	Chair, Development Permit Board, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services
SUBJECT:	Housekeeping Amendments to the Development Permit Board & Advisory Panel By-Law, No.5869