Terry Green quizzes council

Summerland resident Terry Green asked council three questions about the proposed Banks Crescent development that have been on the minds of many other local residents.

He prefaced his questions at Tuesday’s meeting by mentioning the numerous substantive reports and related matters dealt with by staff.

“How many person hours have staff put in?” “What are the associated dollar amounts?”

Green concluded by asking, “Does this put undue pressure on council to accommodate this rezoning application? Does it become self fulfilling?”

“Absolutely not! There is no bearing between amount of staff time and our decision,” Mayor Peter Waterman replied forcefully to the last question.

He further stated that he expects and appreciates the type of in-depth information staff is providing.

“Can we get an accounting of the hours?” Green responded.

Director of development services Dean Strachan explained that professionals other than district staff are responsible for preparing the reports and that staff’s role is to review and critique them.

Strachan said that application fees are collected for service and that the municipality does not subsidize the application process.

He also said that applications for small projects usually require little time which compensates for the greater number of hours required for large projects. “The fees reflect time,” he said. If a proposed project exceeds the estimated time required, council can adjust the fees he explained.