DBIA Process Under Fire
By 250 News
Friday, December 18, 2009 11:09 AM
Prince George, B.C.- Staff of the City of Prince George are looking at the possibility of special regulations on the placement of pawn shops and fast cash/ cheque cashing outlets. That’s the word from Councillor Cameron Stolz.
Speaking on the Meisner program on CFISFM this morning, Councillor Stolz says he and Councillor Shari Green have been working hard to see that there are similar regulations for pawn shops as there used to be for the placement of arcades, or that are currently in place for liquor licensing. Those regulations call for a certain distance between such outlets.
Council has just approved a reverse petition process for the establishment of a Downtown Business Improvement special tax levy. That means, in order for the plan to be quashed, 50% plus one of the property owners, representing 50% plus one of the assessed values will have to step forward and say they do not support the plan. If the levy is allowed to proceed, property owners can expect to pay an extra $1.65 per one thousand dollars of assessment to a maximum of $10 thousand dollars.
Speaking passionately about the need to clean up the downtown, Councillor Stolz says it’s about taking pride in the downtown and the City is spending $600 thousand dollars in providing extra policing for the downtown.
One of the issues around the reverse petition is that those who oppose the levy do not have the names or addresses of all property owners in order to contact them to state a case against the levy. The City says that is a matter that falls under the Protection of Privacy Act, and will not supply that information. DBIA President Kirk Gable says his group also does not have access to that information, but admits, over the years, the DBIA has built up a data base of members. That data base won’t include the properties to be added to the new DBIA area. The area to be covered is the downtown map which has been part of the City’s Official Community Plan for decades. Gable says this is a boundary everyone can recognize. Gable says he will be looking for volunteers to help gather letters of support. When pressed if his plan was to submit only letters of support Gable said, yes, “My intention was only to submit the “Yes” letters, but if people want to see both, sure, why not?”
It is expected City Council will approve the first two readings of a DBIA bylaw in early January. That will trigger the start of a 30 day window of opportunity for property owners to express their position on the proposed bylaw.
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Posted by: gus on December 18 2009 2:14 PM
Someone must send them property assessments, service charger notices, tax notices, etc. The ownership is also available through the land registry. Anyone can get that information, but a title search has to be paid for. In fact, that title search will yiled more information on the property such as liens and mortgage loans filed against the property.
Surely the City ought to do what is only equitable and democratic. If they are fettered by privacy laws, then the City simply has to step in as the liaison and send any notices on behalf of those who are trying to promote their point of view.
To think that in our time and place that there is a system that does not allow people access to those who are the ones being asked to vote is totally ludicrous. The City is not an impartial party in this matter.
It is time such referendums, which is waht they are, are handled in a democratic fashion.
I suspect some lawyer might want to take this up as a class action and bring it to the courts right up to the Supreme Court of Canada. I think this is a fundamental breach of human rights respecting the process of decision making. This is especially true since there is an easy remedy that the City seems to refuse to apply.