The City of Victoria is in a housing crisis that is made a little worse because council and city bureaucracy have to waste time on minor decisions that could be dealt with by city staff, says one councillor.
Coun. Dave Thompson tweeted on Monday about council having to deal with a request to alter a backyard deck at a home on Washington Avenue – calling it “bad governance.”
The item is set to be before council that will include it going to a public hearing – a process that eats up both staff and council time that could be spent on more important housing issues.
Thompson said he wants to see reforms at the City of Victoria that will mean staff handle such issues without a public hearing. The Province of B.C. has put in place legislation to give cities more leeway in what items go to a public hearing.
“Thursday, Victoria council will hold a hearing on, and decide whether to allow, a back deck,” Thompson tweeted. “About same size as the adjacent townhouse deck. We shouldn’t be doing this. It’s bad governance. Decisions like this should be delegated to staff, and hopefully soon will be.”
One person asked Thompson on Twitter why this wasn’t being handled by the board of variance.
“The existence of a land-use contract currently requires that it go to council,” Thompson responded.
“Occasional reminder that we have a crisis-level housing shortage, a vacancy rate hovering around one per cent, wild market rent increases, etc,” Thompson tweeted. “And city staff and council are spending time on reports, hearings and decisions like this.”
Thursday, Victoria Council will hold a hearing on, and decide whether to allow, a back deck. About same size as the adjacent townhouse deck.
— Dave Thompson - Victoria Councillor, CRD Director (@DaveThompsonVIC) July 11, 2023
We shouldn't be doing this. It's bad governance.
Decisions like this should be delegated to staff, and hopefully soon will be. #yyjpoli pic.twitter.com/HrO1wRkVRI
A Twitter follower asked why doesn’t council direct staff to draft a delegation bylaw and Thompson responded that this is actually happening.
“Staff and the mayor have both been bringing forward governance reforms … And I’m hopeful we will eventually get to this one. There are others that are more important, eg because more frequently encountered.”
Others responded with cynicism about city hall in general.
“We have a bloated city hall that costs us over 54 per cent of the budget,” tweeted Lorraine Buckley.