Development applications will keep chugging through the City of North Vancouver’s planning department and coming up for approval by council, even though the public may not be in the room.
Council voted unanimously Monday night on some new protocols to keep developments on track despite COVID-19 making it impossible to hold public hearings.
When the province declared a state of emergency in March, it gave the municipalities the power to meet remotely and to waive public hearings for developments that do not require an amendment to the official community plan.
The city had effectively put developments on hiatus, but now projects will begin coming forward for council votes while the municipality waits for new provincial guidelines to follow when it comes to digital public hearings in the age of social distancing.
Mayor Linda Buchanan said construction is too important to the local economy and to the city’s finances to be left waiting.
“There are things that we can be doing and steps we can be taking now to look at our local economy and support and sustain it through this crisis,” she said, noting the city estimates there are about 5,200 people working in construction jobs in the municipality. “Many [of those workers] live right here and spend their dollars at our local businesses and contribute to the overall prosperity of our city.”
Buchanan added she hoped the temporary ban on large gatherings would lead to permanent reforms for the ways cities do consultation, which she said was 100 years old an antiquated.
“It is a very conflict-driven process. It doesn't help build community,” she said.
Coun. Holly Back agreed, saying she didn’t want to see any developments held up – especially ones with rental suites.
“If people want to get a hold of us, they've never had any problems in the past, so I don’t think the public hearing is actually the end-all,” she said.
Coun. Don Bell reluctantly supported the motion, after reminding council of the good that comes from having everyone gathered in one room to hear what neighbours have to say about a project.
“A lot of the projects that come in have impacts on their neighbourhood. And those impacts need to be softened. Council’s been pretty good at doing that over the years in terms of height issues, in terms of sightlines, in terms of access points,” he said.
There are currently about 10 development applications ready to come to council for a vote on first reading, which normally triggers a public hearing. About half of them are for projects with four units or less.
The City of Vancouver and the City of Surrey have both already begun doing public hearings via phone and the province is expected to update municipalities later this week on what would satisfy the legal requirements for consultation going forward.
Whether or not there will be a stampede of developers looking to get new applications filed is yet to be seen. But Hesam Deihimi, principal of North Vancouver-based Milori Homes, said he doesn’t foresee COVID-19 halting demand for homes over the long term.
Deihimi predicted the pandemic will result in a wave of Canadian expats coming home and looking for places to rent.
“We have very low vacancy rate and we have a robust economy and a diversified economy. I think the fundamentals support the development applications that are in the queue right now,” he said. “I haven't lost confidence in the market whatsoever, especially when it comes to purpose built rental.”
In a post-COVID world, Deihimi said cities should better understand the importance of having workforce housing for critical frontline staff of all kinds closer to where they work.
Not everyone though is eager to see the rules change.
East Fourth Street resident Melissa McConchie wrote to council saying she and her neighbours are facing the prospect of a six-storey building adjacent to their single-family homes and want to have their concerns heard.
“I strongly feel that council should wait until such time that in-person town hall meetings and public hearings can be convened to obtain meaningful input from our community. This development will have a huge impact on our neighbourhood, and my neighbours and I are entitled to have a full discussion with city staff and council to share our views on the application,” she wrote.
