During the public hearing for the Zoning Bylaw Renewal (ZBR), as well as in emails and calls that my office received, one of the main concerns that I’ve heard is about the level of public engagement.
At its core, public engagement enables residents to contribute to decision-making by City Council and Administration about the City’s policies, programs, projects, and services. In order for it to be meaningful, engagement needs to communicate back to the public how that input was collected and used in the decision-making process - here is that “What We Heard” report on zoning.
Public engagement for ZBR started in 2018 and was planned to come to Public Hearing in 2022. This timeline was extended by 1 year and then again in summer 2023, to allow for more engagement - and it really did help make the project better!
With this particular project, as with many, there was a tension between who is heard and what is acted on, especially with limitations due to legislation and technical requirements as well as a broad diversity of perspectives and voices. While, like many things there are lessons that can and must be carried over to other projects, the engagement with the bylaw did bring about consistent messaging on what people liked and what they wanted to see changed or were concerned about.
Thank you to everyone for lending your voice on this and projects such as District Planning going forward.
