New Winnipeg planning body could improve transparency, reduce accountability: study

A planning commission could make Winnipeg land-use decisions more consistent and better informed — but could also place too much power in the hands of a small number of unelected people, according to a background study prepared by the city.

Brian Pallister's Progressive Conservative government plans to introduce provincial legislation this spring that will provide some form of planning oversight for the City of Winnipeg and other Manitoba municipalities.

The provincial government announced in December it plans to create a new "quasi-judicial tribunal" to "hear a wide range of planning, zoning and permitting appeals from across the province," or expand the powers of an existing board to achieve the same goal.

At the time, Winnipeg's planning, property and development department was already examining a similar idea. For years, developers and residents have complained about the inconsistent application of city planning, zoning and permitting standards.

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In a study dated Jan. 6 — but only made public this week — Mike Lennon, a planner with the city's urban planning division, lists off the pros and cons of an overarching planning commission.

A single decision-making body made up of planning experts may do a better job than elected officials, especially in Winnipeg, where different committees of council oversee different types of land-use changes — and different councillors sit on an appeals committee every few months.

"A carefully constructed planning commission has the potential to produce informed and consistent decision reasoning by ensuring broad expertise in planning and development matters, and by having the same board members hold hearings on applications across the city," Lennon writes in his study. 

"This could help improve transparency in decision-making and certainty in expectations. Winnipeg is large enough as a city to have a broad talent pool to draw on for the required areas of expertise to make objective decisions."

Developers are upset, residents are upset [and] politicians are upset. It's all very unpredictable, so we need to replace that.- St. Vital Coun. Brian Mayes

A single planning authority could also reduce the balkanization of decision-making that occurs in Winnipeg, Lennon suggests. He writes he could not find any Canadian or U.S. planning authority that breaks down planning decisions into specific areas of a city the way Winnipeg does with its five community committees, each of which is made up of three councillors from one section of the city.

On the downside, Lennon writes it may be difficult to hold private citizens who sit on a planning commission accountable for their decisions, especially if they are not elected or are not members of a self-regulating profession, such as planning or law.

"Citizen members are not bound by professional standards or legislated conflict of interest rules. The harshest penalty such members face is removal from the commission," he writes.

He also concludes the commission may have unforeseen consequences, especially concerning the consolidation of power in the hands of a few people.

"Such a structure could provide a high level of decision-making authority to select individuals, and must be carefully planned and constructed in order to ensure the planning commission operates as envisioned and intended," he writes.

Council planning chair welcomes provincial change

St. Vital Coun. Brian Mayes, who chairs city council's property committee, called the timing of the report awkward because the province is working on legislation to create planning oversight for Winnipeg.

Mayes, however, said he welcomes changes to the way Winnipeg hears planning appeals.

"I do think we need some replacement for our current appeals committee, where the membership changes every two months and no one gives any deference to what a prior group has ruled," he said Wednesday in an interview.

"Developers are upset, residents are upset [and] politicians are upset. It's all very unpredictable, so we need to replace that."

The province has not elaborated on its plans for the city since December, when Municipal Relations Minister Rochelle Squires announced the government's intention to create a new oversight body for Manitoba municipalities.

Squires said in a statement more details will be revealed during the spring legislative session, which begins March 4.