As some Guardian followers may have seen, there’s currently a dispute underway between the residents of Southview Estates in West Royalty and the seven city council members who voted to approve a lot consolidation that would result in having all the traffic created by 60 proposed apartments (located on a piece of C2 highway-zoned land), flow through this well-established R1 neighbourhood.
Oddly enough, there is no bylaw in existence that requires council to inform the residents in an affected area that they will be discussing or voting on a lot consolidation even though the ramifications of such a vote could have a disastrous outcome for the neighbourhood in question. Furthermore, there is no mechanism in place that informs residents after a decision has been reached although the city would say that it’s all on their website. How ludicrous … are we all expected to read the city’s website every day of the year to see if there might be something happening that affects our homes?
On June 1, the planning committee met to entertain a motion to consolidate the lots in question. After discussion and review of pertinent material they voted 7-3 against recommending the proposal to city council. A mere seven days later, council chose to ignore that advice and voted 7-3 in favour of acceptance. This vote included that of one councillor who only one week earlier voted against the recommendation to council. What happened in seven days to change her mind? Coincidentally, a similar proposal was brought to council in 2019 at which time it was denied. What happened in 365 days to change their minds?
With the neighbourhood only finding out about these decisions on June 27, residents scrambled to see what options were open to the them to appeal a decision that would jeopardize public safety and add further congestion to Southview’s only exits on to Malpeque and Lower Malpeque roads. It was quickly learned that residents only had 21 days after council’s June 8 decision to submit an official Request for Reconsideration to the city and file a Notice of Appeal to the Island Regulatory Appeals Commission. Fortunately, these deadlines were met but due to the council’s lack of regard for the interests of residents in this neighbourhood, the entire matter was almost secretly swept under the carpet.
In the last number of days, residents have been reaching out to the seven councillors who voted in favour of this lot consolidation and the responses and lack of responses have been curious to say the least. One of the questions posed was whether or not any given councillor had a personal or professional relationship with any of the parties who would benefit from the decision. One councillor refused to answer any of the questions posed, stating he was insulted by the questions regarding any possible conflict-of-interest. Other councillors required as many as three followup contacts before they would even respond and when they did, some responses to the initial letter were terse, officious and even offensive.
There is something fundamentally wrong with our civic electoral structure. The ward system used for electing councillors results in those elected being responsible only to the people in their tiny constituency. In reviewing the results of our most recent municipal election, some of these councillors who are making major decisions on behalf of the entire city were elected with as few as 516 votes. While in principle they are supposedly looking out for the greater interest of our city, the reality is that in the political game, Job 1 is getting re-elected and you accomplish that by not offending the few people who live in your ward. Seriously, why would a councillor in Ward 10 really have any heartfelt or genuine concern for how their decision affects the good people of Ward 8?
I admit, I’ve not paid much attention to the goings on at City Hall and like most, it’s not really on one’s radar until you have a problem. However, as I find myself and fellow neighbours in the midst of this current traffic issue, I do want to warn residents in all wards that they need to keep a watchful eye on what may be planned in their neighbourhood and not to depend on the supposed good graces of their elected official to keep them informed.
John Barrett is a resident of Southview Estates.