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A city councillor and several community associations are speaking out against a new initiative that will give private developers an ambassador within the planning department.
As the Citizen reported Monday, staff members in the planning department were recruited this spring to act as “client relationship leaders” — a description for a role that appears to be equal parts problem solver, facilitator and concierge.
“The CRL is expected to discern what the issues are, communicate with the file lead, client, and management to determine next steps and what possible solutions may exist in order to bring a resolution,” says a document distributed to staff.
In some cases, the CRL will be able to override decisions by project managers or the city staff member previously tasked with overseeing a particular planning file.
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney posted a statement on her website Wednesday opposing the program and suggesting that what the city really needs is a program to “balance the scale for local communities living with increased development pressure and complicated zoning regulations.”
“Most development companies have the resources to hire experienced professionals and experts to do exactly what this program intends to do. Only now it will be an internal program, reducing the amount of time staff will spend on their regular duties,” McKenney’s statement says.
“What is needed is an ambassador program for communities. Support for community associations and residents who do not have the experience, resources, or expertise to navigate the complex planning process or understand the nuances in the Planning Act, our Official Plans, and Secondary Plans,” the statement said.
The acting head of development review services, Lee Ann Snedden, defended the initiative earlier this week, saying the purpose is to help the planning department “understand and become a little bit more knowledgeable about what our clients’ needs are” so the department can identify gaps in service and possible improvements.
But, she added, the only “clients,” at this point, are developers.
If the pilot program goes well, the city might explore ways to roll out a similar program for other stakeholders, such as residents and community associations. But that wouldn’t be until the fall or early next year.
In a joint statement, the leaders of three community associations slammed the new initiative.
“This speaks to the current attitude in the planning department at City Hall – that they work for the developers. Already developers are on a first name basis with City planners; they meet regularly and have informal chats about how different proposals should be crafted. Meanwhile, residents are left in the dark until the last minute, their voices are largely ignored and the City repeatedly shows its preference for development, whether good or bad, at the expense of the community.”
“This culture needs to change,” read the letter, which was signed by Chad Rollins (president of Action Sandy Hill), Liz Bernstein (president of the Lowertown Community Association), and John Dance (president of the Ottawa East Community Association).
The Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association has also voiced its opposition to the program.
“It puts communities on notice that the City has now tilted the planning process entirely in favor of Developers,” wrote Neil Thomson, the association’s president, in a letter to the Citizen.
Thomson further states whatever goodwill previously existed between community associations and the city “has been wiped out by not only this proposal, but the mindset that thought that this was the right direction for City planning.”
The city’s planning committee chair Jan Harder defended the initiative when details of the program were first revealed earlier this week.
The process to move an application through the city’s planning department is cumbersome and difficult, she said, and sometimes departments aren’t on the same page.
Planning staff will now have a chance to take on a leadership role and be the one person at city hall a developer can call when they have questions, instead of having to call around to several departments in search of answers.
As for residents and community associations, they won’t be left in the lurch, Harder maintained.
“The communities have ambassadors and they’re called councillors.”
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
As the Citizen reported Monday, staff members in the planning department were recruited this spring to act as “client relationship leaders” — a description for a role that appears to be equal parts problem solver, facilitator and concierge.
“The CRL is expected to discern what the issues are, communicate with the file lead, client, and management to determine next steps and what possible solutions may exist in order to bring a resolution,” says a document distributed to staff.
In some cases, the CRL will be able to override decisions by project managers or the city staff member previously tasked with overseeing a particular planning file.
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney posted a statement on her website Wednesday opposing the program and suggesting that what the city really needs is a program to “balance the scale for local communities living with increased development pressure and complicated zoning regulations.”
“Most development companies have the resources to hire experienced professionals and experts to do exactly what this program intends to do. Only now it will be an internal program, reducing the amount of time staff will spend on their regular duties,” McKenney’s statement says.
“What is needed is an ambassador program for communities. Support for community associations and residents who do not have the experience, resources, or expertise to navigate the complex planning process or understand the nuances in the Planning Act, our Official Plans, and Secondary Plans,” the statement said.
The acting head of development review services, Lee Ann Snedden, defended the initiative earlier this week, saying the purpose is to help the planning department “understand and become a little bit more knowledgeable about what our clients’ needs are” so the department can identify gaps in service and possible improvements.
But, she added, the only “clients,” at this point, are developers.
If the pilot program goes well, the city might explore ways to roll out a similar program for other stakeholders, such as residents and community associations. But that wouldn’t be until the fall or early next year.
In a joint statement, the leaders of three community associations slammed the new initiative.
“This speaks to the current attitude in the planning department at City Hall – that they work for the developers. Already developers are on a first name basis with City planners; they meet regularly and have informal chats about how different proposals should be crafted. Meanwhile, residents are left in the dark until the last minute, their voices are largely ignored and the City repeatedly shows its preference for development, whether good or bad, at the expense of the community.”
“This culture needs to change,” read the letter, which was signed by Chad Rollins (president of Action Sandy Hill), Liz Bernstein (president of the Lowertown Community Association), and John Dance (president of the Ottawa East Community Association).
The Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association has also voiced its opposition to the program.
“It puts communities on notice that the City has now tilted the planning process entirely in favor of Developers,” wrote Neil Thomson, the association’s president, in a letter to the Citizen.
Thomson further states whatever goodwill previously existed between community associations and the city “has been wiped out by not only this proposal, but the mindset that thought that this was the right direction for City planning.”
The city’s planning committee chair Jan Harder defended the initiative when details of the program were first revealed earlier this week.
The process to move an application through the city’s planning department is cumbersome and difficult, she said, and sometimes departments aren’t on the same page.
Planning staff will now have a chance to take on a leadership role and be the one person at city hall a developer can call when they have questions, instead of having to call around to several departments in search of answers.
As for residents and community associations, they won’t be left in the lurch, Harder maintained.
“The communities have ambassadors and they’re called councillors.”
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
