Whereas the final authority to identify and approve development which is suitable to local government has historically resided in local governments; And whereas locally elected officials best know the needs and wants of the residents of their communities and are fully accountable to the electorate of those communities; And whereas locally elected officials are best able to balance the competing interests and values of the residents of their communities; And whereas the existing system for approving local development leaves the power and responsibility to do so with local governments: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM petition the government of British Columbia to leave the authority to approve all development within the said local government, and to make no changes to the fundamental principles embedded in the legislation and make no changes to the legislation which might have effect of doing so except in collaboration with local government.
Ministry of Housing The Province has established a framework which recognizes that local governments are democratically elected, autonomous, responsible, and accountable to their constituents for their actions. Accordingly, they have a high level of local autonomy within their jurisdictions, including broad powers over land use planning, of which development approvals are a part. In 2018, the Ministry began collaborating with UBCM, local governments, and stakeholders on exploring challenges with existing development approvals processes and to identify opportunities for improvement as part of the Development Approvals Process Review DAPR. Early actions under DAPR include amendments to the Local Government Act, which enabled local governments to conduct public hearing electronically; removed the default requirement for local governments to hold public hearings for zoning bylaw amendments that are consistent with official community plans; and enabled local governments to delegate decisions on minor development variance permits to staff. Currently, the Ministry is undergoing a thorough policy review of the Official Community Plan and zoning framework and development finance tools. Consultation on this work is underway, including engagements with UBCM, local governments, elected officials, developers, not-for-profits, First Nations, and Indigenous organizations. Government will continue to support local governments seeking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their development approvals processes. As DAPR continues, the Ministrys continued engagement and collaboration with local governments and other stakeholders will be critical to its success.