New directions for city’s planning department

Next month, Malcolm Hunt will retire as the City of Peterborough director of planning and development services, a post he has held with distinction for 24 years. Over that period, his leadership in the development and maturing of the city has been undeniable. I enjoyed my professional association with Malcolm and, like many others, admired his unique combination of outward calm and inward drive.

His departure presents an opportunity to look back on his many accomplishments, a task I leave to others. It also presents an opportunity to look forward to the future of urban planning practice in the city and the direction it should take under new leadership. I offer four such suggestions.

First, the planning and development services department has a very low turnover of professional staff. On one hand, this is a testament to the quality and stability of the workplace and perhaps the paucity of comparable professional jobs in the region. On the other hand, low staff turnover can create organizational inbreeding that inhibits a culture of innovation and experimentation and reinforces the behavioural mantra that “we do it this way because we’ve always done it this way.” The city has retained a Toronto search firm to find a new Director and this is a good sign. The department has reached a point in its development where it can benefit substantially from the introduction of outside perspectives.

Second, the department mandate currently includes a grab bag of responsibilities including property administration, building, housing, geomatics, industrial parks and the operation of the airport. This cluster has emerged fitfully over time, evidently in response to the particular talents of its retiring leader. It is timely to have a fresh look at the mandate with a view to finding a more logical fit of organizational responsibilities, such as the transfer of social housing to the community services department; the assignment of the airport to Peterborough Economic Development; and the creation of a new and distinct building department.

Third, the Official Plan is the policy document that sets out the long-term comprehensive framework for land use in the city. It provides certainty to neighbourhoods and landowners and sets policies on big issues such as growth and transportation. Provincial law requires that the Official Plan be updated ten years after it first comes into effect and every five years thereafter. Although it has had many amendments over the years, Peterborough’s Official Plan hasn’t had a completed comprehensive review since 1981 –a term that predates the birth of one of our city councillors. It is in obvious need of renewal and so too is the city’s zoning bylaw that implements it. Both need to be the recipient of a new sense of urgency.

Finally, department decisions have created uncertainty in relation to support for commercial development in the downtown. There are currently policies and incentives in place that promote downtown commercial development and these enjoy wide support. There is also a protectionist approach at work that discourages the location of certain commercial uses in suburban locations, forcing them to locate downtown. The problem has been that staff and councillors have undermined this protection through the recommendation and approval of a number of site-specific commercial rezonings outside of the downtown. There is a need for a healthy discussion on whether protectionism is the best way to support the downtown, but there is a more urgent need to give the current rules some clarity and to decide whether they are to be applied consistently or not. A new level of certainty will be beneficial to all investors and to the entire downtown community.