City Must Pay Costs In Haldi Road Court Challenge
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 3:27 PM
Prince George, B.C.- The City of Prince George has been ordered to quash the zoning amendment bylaw which set the stage for the development of a recovery centre for women in the former Haldi Road Elementary School.
City Manager Derek Bates says the bylaw was ruled invalid “because it was inconsistent with the City’s Official Community Plan and therefore contrary to the Local Government Act.”
The City has also been ordered to pay the court costs of the petitioner, but how much the City will have to pay has yet to be determined. Typically, the amount is about one third of the actual costs incurred by the petitioner.
“As a consequence of this, the amending bylaw for zoning has no effect, therefore the property zoning is as it was, prior to the amendment bylaw” says Bates.
The project proponent has applied for a building permit, which Bates says cannot be used for the proposed land uses “This project cannot proceed with the land use and building requirements that would be required.”
Acting Mayor Dave Wilbur says Council and the Mayor have not yet had an opportunity to get together to look at the court’s ruling and make a decision on whether or not to appeal “The bylaw is quashed, we need to get together, but I don’t believe there is an appetite to revisit the decision.” He says the matter could be dealt with as early as Monday, when there is a regular meeting of Council scheduled.
When asked if the City had received any advice on whether it should proceed with the court action or advice on the chances of winning the court challenge in the first place, Wilbur replied “That was a discussion between Council and their lawyers” which would mean no information with regard to that discussion could be released because of solicitor-client privilege.
The lawyer for the petitioner, Roy Stewart, says “This is , I think , a victory for powerless people who are pushed around.” Stewart says this case sends a message to municipal governments “it does indicate to local governments that they have to be more careful when dealing with issues that are sensitive to people who are being seriously affected, this is a message to be more considerate.”
Comments
Sad, this would have helped a lot of women.
NIMBY
Ha. The city`s former solicitor wins one against the very city he used to do a ton of work for. Way to go Roy!
Lots of issues now in play.. Does this ruling mean staff in the planning department at the city can`t even interpret the very plan they develop.
I also assume mayor greene won`t be commenting on the ruling or participating in any discussion by Council (or future rezoning attempt) seeing that she declared a conflict of interest(conveniently after the public hearing) on this rezoning. if she did would that break her oath of office.
Now that we all know how tight she is with the guy leading the project (Marshall Smith) who was in fact one of those leading her election campaign, I am sure she will step aside. It is going to make it more difficult for her to return a favor to the special interest group that organized and funded her campaign.
The next chapter on this story should be very interesting.
Thanks Roy, for all your hard work on behalf of your client. Ms. Sevin, thanks for picking the correct lawyer and fighting for your community.
Roy Stewart is correct, this is a message to local Governments to back off with their high handed BS.
We pay the City Manager, and other Managers huge dollars to run the City. Are we to beleive that they did not know that they were circumventing the intention of the zoning bylaw. Of course they knew. What they tried to do was get it through as quietly as possible, however they got caught on this one.
They tried the same BS on the River Road dike, but were stopped, however they were able to have three separate Alternate Approvals on the Police station, which was not exactly how that system should work. This allowed them to borrow $11 Million on
the first AAP, $12 Million on the second, and $13 Million on the third, for roughly $36 Million and change.
If they just had one AAP for the $36 Million there is a good chance they would have lost.
Smoke, mirrors, hyperbole, and BS, seems to be the order of the day at City Hall, however it seems people are starting to wake up and realize that they, not the City pay the bills, and therefore the City had better come to grips with just who they work for.
If they try to appeal this ruling there will be hell to pay.
Those women will still get the help they need Porter so don’t worry.
Isn’t the internet great Palopu? It enlightens those that once were sheltered and never knew just how much those in power were screwing us over. Sites like 250 are awesome!!!
Correct me if I am wrong but was the Casino not also in contradiction of the OCP? So we can now stop any developments we choose that the city has not already planned for?
It is a real sad day when one has to take their government to court. Bravo to the Haldi Road residents for sticking up for their neighbourhood. Again with Mayor Green at the helm the tax payers of Prince George pay and pay and pay. Yet roads are crumbling, parks are being neglected, grass on meridians is not being mowed. The City is starting to look like a dump! Yet we want to be recognized a BC’s Northern Capital…yikes what a pipe dream…..
I have written on here repeatedly that BC needs a Municipal Board so that these things do not have to go to the expense and time restraints of courts.
To me, this was the correct and very obvious decision. This City has a very poor record of dealing with zoning and circumventing the intent of both the OCP and the zoning bylaws. Until the Buiding Code Appeal Board was created, this City as well as several others also lorded over what was allowed and what was not allowed, even though the building codes were quite clear.
I suggest it is time for everyone who has anything to do with the OCP and Zoning and probably building codes as well go back to attend some serious, good quality, continuing education courses so that they can carry out their duties as professionals should be able to do.
Congratulations to the Haldi road group for leading the way with your gut feeliong that something was amiss.
Now, if the Hollandia group could do the same. Just because the building is under construction does not mean it is too late. I forget the details of the case. I do know that the property had to be rezoned from residential and I thought that the OCP indicated that the area was maxed out for commercial use.
As I also mentioned several times on here, several decades ago they tore down a high rise apartment building under construction because the City of Hull rezoned a park to residential and the Quebec Municipal Board ruled that the City did not have the authority to do that in the fashion in which it was done.
NIMBY … ??? no Denaljo … LAW
The OCP is required by the province. It is to lay out the orderly growth of the cities in BC and be transparent to the people who live there as to what will happen to it in general, especially in areas they are interested in and invest in, both financially and socially.
I have watched this City over decades flaunting the OCP. It is not just the current or previous mayor and council who are responsible for those kind of actions.
BTW, if the facility is needed, it can be located elsewhere easily enough.
According to the HQPringegeorge.com website Bates was quoted” “City Manager Derek Bates says this means the Northern Supportive Recovery Centre is on hold for now.”
But in this article it says:”City Manager Derek Bates says the bylaw was ruled invalid âbecause it was inconsistent with the Cityâs Official Community Plan and therefore contrary to the Local Government Act. As a consequence of this, the amending bylaw for zoning has no effect, therefore the property zoning is as it was, prior to the amendment bylawâ says Bates.
So what is it Mr Bates? Why do you say something different in one media. Does the city not have a proceedure for media releases??
Why is this “on hold”?
It’s good to see Bates go. He did nothing for this city — couldn’t even conduct a core review — why pay the SOB? Bon Voyage.
“But in this article it says:”City Manager Derek Bates says the bylaw was ruled invalid âbecause it was inconsistent with the Cityâs Official Community Plan and therefore contrary to the Local Government Act.”
I could go to archived city council meetings records and determine what exactly transpired at the counil meetings in question, where the bylaw was discussed, voted upon and passed. It would be interesting to find out what kind direction and information was given to the mayor and councillors, such as the legality of the new bylaw.
Alas, I don’t have the passion to engage in this time consuming effort as there are other more important things in life, such as sitting in the sunshine under a tree and relaxing with a beer!
City Hall? Same old, same old. Clueless and without ideas in a safe rut.
Congratulations Haldi Road Committee and Roy Stewart for fighting City Hall and winning! For all those who said it couldn’t be done, even though you supported the reasons and rationale for proceeding, now you know. It can be done. Residents of PG, also know you don’t have to just sit by and let the government agencies do as they wish, even though you know in your heart and mind that it’s wrong and illegal. You can fight and win. We knew something was in the air when we noticed that the school was gutted of all it’s furniture, fireplaces etc. within the last month. Once again, the proponents seemed to know something that wasn’t even public yet. Interesting….but great. I have never had a concern about the women who would have stayed at the center, but I had many concerns about how this was done by City Hall and the proponents, and what potential problems this may have caused for the neighbourhood. I’m glad it’s done and the right decision has been made. Thanks to all the people who did such tremendous work on this project. Your efforts have paid off. Signed: Not so jadedandskeptical any longer…
gus: ‘I have watched this City over decades flaunting the OCP.’ I believe the word you meant is ‘flouting’.
No no, the word is ‘flogging’, the city ‘flogs ……..;)
metalman.
You can bet this is not over…….
You are right GIve more …. that is what was supposed to come from my computer ….
but, you know …. in a way the city may have been showing off the OCP as well.
I think they thought they had a well put togeher document. So well put together (says I, tongue in cheek) that no one really knew how it was to be properly used …. ;-)
“You can bet this is not over……. “
I advise Ciy Hall to quit spending my money on appeals. They have a very bad record of losing, at least the ones I am aware of.
It’s a no win.
I’ve been working for municipal governements for over 20 years. Residents complain that we don’t take on zoning issues, when we do, we get called Nazis. People complaint that we are overpaid but compared to companies that have the same size staff and responsibilities we are paid about 20% less. Then those same people complain that city hall is incompetant. You get what you pay for.
When someone wants a bylaw officer to show up about a barking dog, the dog owner complains that bylaw must have nothing better to do.
In my experience once city hall tries to solve a problem it almost always becomes a no-win situation.
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