Planning Committee Meeting Minutes - June 5, 2001

Date:

Tuesday, June 5, 2001

Place:

Anderson Room

Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Malcolm Brodie, Chair

Councillor Bill McNulty, Vice-Chair

Councillor Linda Barnes

Councillor Lyn Greenhill

Councillor Harold Steves

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on Wednesday, May 23, 2001, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Tuesday, June 19, 2001, at 4:00 p.m. in the Anderson Room.

Councillor Brodie advised that a delegation of the Group Home Task Force was present and indicated that this matter would be dealt with as Item 6.

(Report: May 24/01, File No.: 8060-20-7104) (REDMS No. 412063,84490, 414540)

The Manager, Development Applications, Joe Erceg, reviewed the report.

Mr. Hogler stated that he had been under the impression that the Temporary Use Permit would be for a four year period which began at the point of his obtaining the business licence.

Mr. Erceg advised that the Local Government Act specifies that the time frame for the noted Permit commences from the issue of the Permit. It was further advised that it might be appropriate to review the rezoning requirements for this property prior to the lapse of the Temporary Use Permit.

It was moved and seconded

That the application from Harry Hogler for an extension to the Temporary Commercial Use Permit for property at 12751 Rice Mill Road be considered at the regular meeting of Council on June 25, 2001, and that the following recommendation be forwarded to that meeting for consideration:

"That Temporary Commercial Use Permit TU 98-153272 issued to Harry and Olga Hogler for property at 12751 Rice Mill Road be extended for a maximum two year period to expire no later than May 17, 2003".

CARRIED

(Report: May 7/01, File No.: 0100-20-CCDE1-01) (REDMS No. 382689)

The Manager, Policy Planning, Terry Crowe, introduced the report. Marg Picard, Social and Community Planner, then came forward, accompanied by Cathy Stossel and Nicki Buyers, and provided a brief summary of the report.

A discussion then ensued on the source of funds for the $25,000 required for the project. A request was made that the General Manager, Finance and Corporate Services, Jim Bruce, provide recommendations as to the source of funds by Monday, June 11, 2001.

It was moved and seconded

That the Child Care Development Boards proposal for a Needs Assessment (Option/Workplan 1) be supported as the method for undertaking this project.

CARRIED

(Report: May 30/01, File No.: 4057-04) (REDMS No. 359360)

The Manager, Policy Planning, Terry Crowe reviewed the report and congratulated the team responsible for the report for their excellent work.

During the ensuing discussion the Committee members noted their individual appreciation of the report and several suggestions were put forth, namely that (i) future project developments could include designated units for independent living; (ii) attention should be paid to ethnic and cultural backgrounds and needs; and (iii) the Affordable Housing Fund be built up.

It was moved and seconded

That the recommendations to encourage the development of affordable seniors supportive housing in Richmond as identified in Appendix A of the Manager, Policy Planning report dated May 30, 2001 be endorsed.

CARRIED

GROUP HOME TASK FORCE DELEGATION

Mr. John Wong, a member of the Task Force, referred to a letter of resignation, written by himself which had been previously submitted to the Chair and members of the Planning Committee, in which he had addressed three concerns. He then asked how the concerns would be addressed. The concerns expressed were (i) the selection process for the four at random members of the Task Force; (ii) the chronological events list, as it did not clearly evidence the public outrage and concern of area residents on the Turning Point home; and (iii) the hiring of one of the consultants (ie. Don Cameron Associates - research consultants), by the City, on May 11, 2001. Mr. Wong felt that the Task Force had lost its credibility and asked that it be revamped.

In response to questions put forth by Councillor McNulty, Mr. Wong said that credibility could be restored by (i) the use of a lottery ballot to select the random four citizen members as opposed to the random assessment roll selection; (ii) the replacement of Terry Crowe as the staff liaison; and (iii) the initiation of a tender process for the hiring of a research consultant.

The General Manager, Urban Development, David McLellan, the interim Chair of the Task Force, provided the information that the random selection of individuals from the Property Assessment Roll, a more accurate source than the Civic Voters list, had met the intent of Council. On the issue of the hiring of the consultant, Mr. McLellan said that although he now considered the engagement of a consultant, without input from the Task Force, a mistake, the motivation had been to save time. Mr. McLellan acknowledged the significant amount of staff support that had been required to date and noted that staff support would no longer be required. Mr. McLellan also suggested that, due to numerous other commitments of his time, that it would be preferred that a new Chair/facilitator for the Task Force be chosen. In conclusion Mr. McLellan noted that the Chronology of Events regarding the Turning Point group home would be updated for the June 6, 2001 meeting of the Task Force.

Mr. Alexander Kostjuk, Executive Chair, The Richmond Association of Homeowners, a member of the Task Force, asked for clear direction from the Planning Committee as to the procedures for the June 6, 2001 Task Force meeting as he had been one of the two members that voted against the hiring of the research consultant at the May 30, 2001 Task Force meeting. Mr. Kostjuk asked for a review of the process that had taken place.

Mr. Kostjuk said that he had been in contact, the previous evening, with Mr. Cameron, the hired research consultant, to ask Mr. Cameron his position. Mr. Kostjuk stated that Mr. Cameron was waiting for the Planning Committee recommendation.

Mr. Hanson Lau stated that from the citizens perspective a great lack of trust was evident. Mr. Lau had concerns about the process of hiring the Cameron research consultant and wanted to see the process done right.

It was also questioned whether a question/answer website on Group Home issues could be arranged.

A lengthy discussion took place on the various issues raised which resulted in the following comments from the Planning Committee:

(1)

that all votes should be recorded (those for and those against) and that there should be no abstentions. On this last point it was noted that a non-vote was considered to be for the prevailing side.

(2)

that Mr. Crowe had been reassigned to other duties, and Mr. McLellan would resign as Chair.

(3)

that the consultant hiring process was wrong.

(4)

that the intent of Council had been for a random citizen selection process; while the disadvantage in the change from the Civic Voters list, an outdated document, to the Property Assessment Roll, was the issue of process, the advantage was that the scope of eligible individuals was broadened to include non-voters.

(5)

that if the Task Force thought that more time was required, a request could be put forth to Planning Committee for consultation on the matter.

The discussion concluded with the Planning Committee noting that if the Task Force needed further comment it could ask the Planning Committee for such at any time.

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (6:02 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Tuesday, June 5, 2001.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Councillor Malcolm Brodie

Chair

Deborah MacLennan

Administrative Assistant