Editor:
I'm noticing there are quite a few applications being presented to Delta council for subdivisions of properties that also include development variance permits. For example, at the public hearing of Jan. 10, four of the five applications for variance permits were associated with subdivisions.
On several previous occasions, I have heard our mayor state that council is required by law to consider every application by land owners who wish to develop their land. I did some research and discovered this is in fact true. However, there is no requirement that forces council to accept every application put forward.
In fact, if one looks at the Corporation of Delta website, one will find the following statement: "The primary functions of Municipal Council are to establish administrative policy, to adopt bylaws governing matters delegated to local government through the Community Charter and other Provincial statutes for the protection of the public, and to levy taxes for these purposes."
I would like to draw your attention to the words, "for the protection of the public." I would interpret this to mean the good of the general public comes before the good of development companies and individuals.
The Local Government Act states that any bylaws enacted must be consistent with the relevant community plan. We just finished adopting a community plan for Tsawwassen and that is the set of rules by which all development in our community must adhere to.
Variance permits should only be issued in rare cases where a landowner is faced with undue hardship because of existing buildings or new regulations that make it impossible to conform to the current rules.
In general, subdividing a property and putting new structures on the subdivided lots does not qualify as undue hardship. Any application for subdivision should be rejected unless it conforms with all current bylaws.
Any building permits requested for newly-created lots should also be rejected if they do not meet current bylaws. There is absolutely no reason to relax standards and allow variance permits for this type of construction simply to allow an individual to gain advantage at the expense of the general public.
The public needs to see that our council is doing its job of looking after the interests of the community as a whole and not pandering to the interests of developers. What is the point of making a community plan and having building bylaws and zoning restrictions if council ignores them and makes amendments for every application?
Paul Biedermann
