At a recent Municipality of Saint Andrews Council Meeting, Xander Gopen, a senior planner for the Southwest New Brunswick Service Commission made a presentation on the Community Planning Act and the roles of the Planning, Review and Adjustment Committee (PRAC) and the Assessment and Planning Appeal Board within the governing of a municipality. 

The presentation comes at a time when a group of Chamcook residents are in the midst of an appeal in the hopes of halting the construction of a lobster facility at the end of Old Saint Andrews Road due to their belief that it qualifies as a "heavy industrial" operation and therefore does not qualify for operational approval in the area. As Gopen is the planner, who originally gave the green light to the lobster facility in question, he was unable to comment on the specific case at the council meeting but hoped his overview of the Community Planning Act, the role of PRAC and the appeal process would shed light in general terms.

"I just wanted to hit that home that I know that there is a specific development that a number of people in the community are interested in. As well, I've had members of council approach me about it," said Mayor Brad Henderson before the presentation began. "I just wanted to again bring home that because this is a legal process. This is about the process and not the decision itself. So our planner will not be able to answer any specific questions about that this evening, and neither will council for that matter. But, Council, we will have a conversation, but it is a closed session item. With that being said, I think it is important to get the understanding of this, because we haven't had much in front of us on this, either the past council or this one."

Henderson then passed the floor over to Gopen, who reiterated that we could not speak to specific cases. "As someone who will be a potential witness for the Appeal Board, I really can't speak about that specific case at all. But I think it is very important for council to understand what their role [is], as well as roles of other people and bodies in the various municipal planning processes and legislation that happens," said Gopen. "So it's a good opportunity to review that. It's good for myself, and it's good for council. And I think while I can't speak about the case directly, it will hopefully help people feel like there is a process that is being followed. There is the opportunity for evidence to be heard, for all of these things to happen. It's just that that specific case is at the Appeal Board, so it's really not something that I can discuss outside of that. So I will try and explain the reasons for that as well."

Gopen went on the explain that the Community Planning Act is a piece of legislation in the province that governs land use planning and development in municipalities. The Act establishes a framework for municipalities to prepare and adopt official plans and zoning by-laws, and sets out a process for public consultation and engagement in the planning process.

"The province, both for planning and for many other matters, dictates what municipalities can and can't do. You may have heard the expression, municipalities are creatures of the province? That's very true in Canada, it's true in New Brunswick. What municipalities can and can't do is outlined in various provincial acts and regulation. The one that is most relevant for me is the Community Planning Act. That's what says municipalities can have municipal plans, zoning bylaws, subdivision bylaws, various other bylaws as well, including building bylaws," said Gopen. 

Under the CPA, municipalities are required to prepare and maintain an official plan, which outlines the vision, goals, and policies for land use and development in the community. The plan must be reviewed and updated regularly to ensure that it reflects changing community needs and priorities.

The Act also provides municipalities with the authority to adopt zoning bylaws, which regulate the use and development of land within the municipality. Zoning bylaws specify the permitted uses of land in different areas of the municipality, as well as the specific regulations and standards that apply to development in those areas.

The CPA requires that municipalities engage in public consultation and engagement in the planning process, to ensure that the community's needs and priorities are taken into account. This includes providing opportunities for public input on the development of the official plan and zoning bylaws, as well as on specific development proposals, he continued.

The CPA also establishes a process for appeals and reviews of planning decisions, to ensure that decisions made by municipalities are fair, transparent, and in line with the requirements of the Act.

"The province, through that act, dictates what can be in those various bylaws, and it also sets up processes for appeals. It sets up various bodies to deal with various matters, and it dictates a separation of power. A development officer is somebody like myself. We administer bylaws. Essentially, we look at the bylaw, and we look at the application. Does everything fit? Is every box checked? If it is, we give an approval. It goes off to a building inspector or as just an approval, we can do very minor variances in house. Again, those are dictated by the Community Planning Act. And typically there's something like a small dimensional variance where we know a neighbour is not concerned about it. Other than that, we don't make decisions, we make recommendations, and we make those recommendations to the other three powers involved in planning decisions."