Planning committee members seek clarification on new process

By Mike Fleming ^[1]

BELLEVILLE – Citizen members of the planning advisory committee ^[2] expressed concerns Monday night about a series of changes recently passed by the Ontario government regarding public input into planning and development.

Much of the discussion at the meeting centred on provincial-government-ordered changes in how the advisory committee functions. Committee members said they want to ensure members of the public have the ability to voice their concerns over development and other planning issues.

David Joyce and John Baltutis, two of the citizen members on the committee, raised the issue to clarify when the public would be able to speak for or against any development application. 

In the past, public comments and changes to development proposals were made at the committee level and would then be forwarded to the council for final approval.

Under the new legislation, the timelines for decisions are being extended. Proposals will come before the committee, receive public comment and then go on to city staff to create a final report. Staff’s final recommendations will come back to the committee one more time before going on to council for approval or denial.  

The committee members were concerned about how the public’s input would be integrated into the process. 

“So tonight’s meeting is the only night that the public can come forward to voice their opinions?” Baltutis asked city staff. 

“We’ve always had the public meeting, it’s always been the first part, now it’s really the only part where (the public) can provide input,” Joyce said, trying to clarify the changes from his previous time on the committee.

Stephen Ashton, the city’s manager of policy planning, assured members that the public’s input would be integrated into the process. Ashton said that the extra meeting would ensure city staff was able to make recommendations that included public input.  He clarified that the reason for the change was to ensure public opinions factor into the final recommendations made by staff. 

At the same meeting, Coun. Paul Carr was named the new chair of Belleville council’s planning advisory committee Monday night.

Carr was the lone nominee for the position and assumed the chair for the committee’s first meeting of the year. He said he’s excited to lead the committee for the four-year duration of its term.

“It’s nice to be able to lead a group of councillors and citizens that are interested in the planning process in the city,” he told QNet News, adding that he hopes to facilitate communication between applicants for developments and the public.

Coun. Pat Culhane was named vice-chair of the committee.

As chair, Carr was also automatically named to the brownfields ^[3] subcommittee, which oversees the handling of potentially contaminated lands within the city that are currently unused.