Policy P7 Notice to Applicants & General Public Attendance at Board Meetings

     Policy P-7

Central Coast Regional District

Policy: Notice to Applicants and General Public Attendance at Board Meetings

Preamble: Applicants and members of the general public have been confused about procedure regarding the opportunity to speak to the regional district board about rezoning or official community plan applications.  Therefore, it is advisable to have a policy that sets out the procedure as governed by legislature.

Policy:
1) Amendments to an Official Community Plan or Zoning Bylaw require a process of four readings.  The public hearing is held after 1st and 2nd readings, and prior to 3rd reading.  The general purpose of each reading is as follows:

1st reading ..................to receive the application;
2nd reading .................to review staff and agency comments to determine if it is in the  community's interest to proceed with the public hearing;
holding of the public hearing;
3rd reading ..................to consider the results of public hearing; and
4th reading ..................final adoption.

The Central Coast Regional District Board only meets once per month, therefore 1st and 2nd readings are conducted jointly to reduce overall time requirements for the process of applications.

2) Applicants attending board meetings for review of applications prior to 1st and 2nd readings will be provided with an opportunity to give a presentation on their proposal, to respond to questions from Board members, to explain their application and provide clarification.  It will be the board's discretion

3) Applicants attending the board meetings for consideration of 1st and 2nd readings will be provided with the opportunity to respond to questions from board members, to provide further clarification on details of the application.

4) The general public's opportunity for input on applications is at the public hearing stage prior to 3rd reading.  Members of the public attending board meetings for consideration of bylaw readings prior to or after the public hearing will not be provided the opportunity to speak or make any presentations at these meetings.

5) Once a public hearing has been completed, no further information may be presented and no details may be discussed with any board members, except for presentation of the results of public hearing and clarification of technical details with staff.

6) Following 3rd reading, most applications require approval by the Minister of Municipal Affairs (except zoning amendments which comply with the applicable Official Community Plan) prior to 4th reading.