Lifting delegated authority to clear the air
I'd like to expand on some tweets just in case my suggestion to Councillor Fleury to lift site-plan delegated authority on the 250 Montreal Road situation makes anyone think he's at fault for any of this. He's not. At all.
@odonnell_k @modalmom @vaniernow this would not have the desired effect. Frustrating but the zoning permits a parking garage on the lot.
— Mathieu Fleury (@MathieuFleury) October 30, 2012
@mathieufleury Suggestion to lift delegated-auth is so community can feel *heard* instead of shutout. I realize may not change outcome 1/2
— Kevin O'Donnell (@ODonnell_K) October 30, 2012
@mathieufleury 2/2 forcing planning committee to hang their shingle on this decision moves us towards long-term solutions.
— Kevin O'Donnell (@ODonnell_K) October 30, 2012
Councillor Fleury is entirely correct: if the current zoning allows for a parking garage then there is not much the city can do about it. Zoning trumps political winds at the OMB, no matter how fiercely a community might blow.
But there is a fall-out in the community when one set of plans are submitted early in a project's timeline, then altered significantly when it's time to put official plans together for approval by the city. Communities feel betrayed when their hopes for their community fall into the massive gap between a proponents initial idea for a development and the final site-plan that city staff have been given the authority to approve.
I should probably explain what delegated-authority means. In all municipalities, staff don't have the power to make decisions until Council gives them the authority. Some staff powers are one-time only, such as negotiating a contract. Others are continuous, as is the case with site-plan approvals. Instead of forcing planning committee to deal with every little detail (a collosal waste of time), city council has delegated the authority to approve site-plans to staff.
From an efficiency standpoint that's completely rational; we don't want our elected representatives tied up approving the nitty gritty details. We want them tied up debating the big issues and long term issues.
Which begs the question, why am I suggesting that Fleury use his discretion as ward councillor and lift delegated authority on this site plan? In short, it would be a harmless, minor, but invigorating act of democratic dissobedience. Council has created the scenario that allows developers to bait-and-switch on communities - but rarely has to face up to the community at site-plan approval time.
Councillor Fleury didn't create this situation but he has an opportunity to bring it to light. Forcing planning committe and then city council to be the approver makes accountability for this bad site-plan explicit. No more implicit hiding behind staff. They are not to blame. This is a chance to cast some light on who's finally responsible for the decisions: council.
Lifting delegated authority forces planning committee to recognize the gap our communities are falling into. Perhaps Councillor Fleury can't change the outcome on behalf of his community, but he can certainly show the community he's behind them 100% on making Ottawa more liveable, safer, and more walkable. The vote would then move to City Council as a whole, forcing them to recognize this gap in Ottawa's planning system.
I don't live in his ward, but I recognize the frustration his community feels. We can see it happen across the city. We can all recognize our own neighbourhoods in this story. Moving site-plan approval back to committee and council puts the onus on our elected officials (not just Councillor Fleury) to explain why this scenario plays out over and over across Ottawa, year after year.
Delegated authority makes sense when it's used to be efficient. When it's used to avoid talking about the long term land-use problems we have in Ottawa, it's a weakness.
Lifting it here would breathe a little air into the debate.
