The Mayor responds to a planning procedural concern.
I have been made aware of a procedural concern regarding Council’s consideration of the 180 Gordon application on Monday Feb. 6. As explained to staff, the concern is that Council is holding the Statutory Public Meeting for the proposed Official Plan Amendment on Monday night and this will be the first time that the public will have an opportunity to comment on the OPA. Council is also being asked to approve the OPA the same night and the concern is that Council will not therefore have sufficient time to consider any public comments on the OPA before making a decision.
To this concern our staff respond as follows:
– The zoning by-law amendment application has been considered by the public on 3 occasions: an introductory public meeting on May 3, 2011; a statutory public meeting on October 3, 2011; and a community meeting on November 10, 2011
– It was determined following the October 3 public meeting that an OPA was required to reduce the river setback
– The development proposal has not changed since the October 3 public meeting
– Public concerns regarding the proposal, including potential impacts to the river and on Marianne’s Park have been well voiced at the previous public meetings and thoroughly considered by staff
– The OPA is a technical matter – it does not change the substance of the proposal and does not create any new concerns, therefore asking Council to make a decision the same night as the Statutory public meeting is reasonableThis is all explained in the staff report but I thought it might be helpful for you to be aware of this in advance of the meeting.
Mayor Farbridge