Rocky View County (RVC) council has decided to put an end to the Municipal Planning Commission.
Administration was given instructions to draft proposed motions and bylaw amendments to facilitate the dissolution of the County’s Municipal Planning Commission (MPC), as well as the appropriate delegation of authority for subdivision and development applications.
According to the motion brought forward at the Jan. 25 council meeting, administration will take the role of the Subdivision Authority for determining subdivision applications. The applicant can request the application to be determined by council instead, and any application facing public objections will also be brought before council for decision.
County staff will also be the development authority for determining all development permit applications, except development permit appeals and when a regulation or provision within a direct control bylaw determines council is the determining authority.
Division 5 Coun. Greg Boehlke first stated during the Jan. 25 meeting that the development authority or subdivision authority should be council, and that he doesn’t view a switch to administration taking over those roles as a big improvement to customer service.
In response, Division 1 Coun. Kevin Hanson said that shifting authority over to administration would reduce red tape for applicants and improve efficiency.
Larger applications in the past have received significant opposition and those would automatically come before council, noted Dominic Kazmierczak, from RVC’s planning department.
After more discussion, Boehlke agreed the new system would improve efficiency, but he wanted to be clear that people have the right to appeal, which would bring the decision before council.
The proposed motions and bylaw amendments will come back to council within a report prior to April 1.
According to the agenda report for the Jan. 25 meeting, MPC came into effect in 2020 as the principal Subdivision and Development Authority for the County. The commission provided council with the opportunity to have greater involvement in managing growth and development by determining subdivision and development permit applications.
Prior to the creation of MPC, development permit application decisions were delegated by council to RVC’s administration, with some exceptions. Subdivision applications, meanwhile, were previously largely determined by council, with some delegation to administration.
The MPC Bylaw shifted council’s role as principal subdivision authority to MPC and maintained the delegation order for more minor applications to be determined by administration.
In 2020, MPC determined 49 of the overall 71 subdivision applications received by the County and 184 of the 455 development permit applications they received; these figures increased in 2021, with 59 of 87 subdivision applications and 194 of 438 development permit applications being presented to the commission, administration’s report stated.
Administration noted that efficiencies would be made by incorporating MPC applications into existing council and administration processes.
The removal of bi-weekly MPC meetings would lessen the burden on administration in preparing competing agendas and attending MPC meetings.
Scheduling applications for MPC increases timelines over decisions made by administration due to additional review and lead-in times, the report added.
According to Kazmierczak, administration can still achieve the same objectives if MPC is dissolved.
