With Burnaby city council now a full month into remote, online operations, Mayor Mike Hurley says the city is anxious to find a solution that will allow them to hold public hearings.
Public hearings are largely held for zoning amendments, giving the local community a chance to speak in favour of, or against, a development. But with the city still operating under physical distance protocols, holding a potentially large gathering of people in one room is, at best, ill-advised.
While there hasn’t been much in the way of rezonings coming through regular council meetings this month, Hurley said the city has plenty of items teed up for the public.
“We’re very anxious to get it going. But it’ll be one that we have to do in consultation with the province,” Hurley said.
Council has continued to hold regular council meetings through digital participation, with only a handful of council members and staff physically in the building and streaming the video online. But public hearings are a vital function of city council – to shape the future of the city by determining which developments can go ahead and which cannot – and the show must go on.
The question is: how?
Some cities have pursued public hearings; Hurley notes Surrey has done so by having people call in. But that, he said, isn’t ideal for council.
“We don’t think it’s a very good answer for the public, for public consultation. We would like to find a way to do it, if possible, on Zoom or one of those … over the internet, if possible, and telephone,” Hurley said, referring to the video conferencing app that has skyrocketed in use during the pandemic.
“We just want to be sure to get it right and make sure the public has every (opportunity) to be part of it in whatever model.”
How cities operate are tightly regulated by the Community Charter and Local Government Act, and Hurley said he’s leaning on the province to come up with a solution to holding public hearings. The provincial government has said for a few weeks it would come up with some recommendations, and Hurley said the city is still waiting for options from the province.
The COVID-19 pandemic may even cause authorities to have another look at how public consultation is done. Public hearings have been contentious issues for the YIMBY movement – the housing activists’ reactions to those who oppose developments – with some saying the hearings don’t adequately represent neighbourhoods.
“There is plenty of research across many cities that has indicated that public hearings skew wealthier, whiter, older, and male,” said Abundant Housing Vancouver activist Jennifer Bradshaw. “AHV doesn’t have a silver bullet solution to this, but we are supportive of any measure that will help the process become more representative and equitable.”
Hurley said the pandemic will likely see a lot of the city’s processes getting another look for ways to improve, including public hearings and engagement.
“However, again, all those processes are laid out within provincial regulations in how you have to consult the public,” he said.
