Opinion | Deck is stacked against citizens in Hamilton planning process – TheSpec.com

When a developer in Hamilton changes their mind about what they're building in a neighbourhood you would think that some of the first folks to know about it would be the neighbours the ones directly affected by the construction impact the development will have on their community.

In this city, it seems, the neighbours are the last to find out. Take the ongoing development at Main and Walnut. It was originally proposed as a mixed-use residential tower. Then, in February, after the developer applied for a minor variance (a one-storey addition) neighbours discovered that the building was now to be a hotel. And, they learned by their own digging, that the developer, Vrancor, had made that change sometime in 2019 but didn't tell the neighbourhood. Neither did the planning department, which also didn't even inform Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr. Why? Because the area is zoned to allow for a hotel, so there was ostensibly no need to share the change until the minor variation request was posted.

Now, consider another development, at King and Queen, by the same developer. Here, neighbours were told two years ago that a 10-storey hotel and a six-storey student residence were to be built in the Strathcona neighbourhood. Vrancor said it was also planning a 15-storey tower on a lot across Market Street on the old Greening Donald factory land. But at least a year prior, a letter from the city to the developer shows, Vrancor had been discussing an 11-storey residence and a 25-storey development for King and Queen.

When did Strathcona residents know about the intended 25-storey development? About a month ago, when a Vrancor representative revealed the "new" plans for the site at a Strathcona Community Council meeting. Nobody from the city had said word one. This, despite the fact that in December the developer had applied to make site-specific amendments to the Strathcona Secondary Plan and the Transit Oriented Corridor Plan, and is petitioning the city to change zoning so that more favourable downtown parking zoning would apply to its building currently outside downtown borders.

News of requests to change hard-fought and collaborative urban plans was not shared by the Vrancor representative at the community council meeting. Nor was it shared by anyone at the city. Like the folks in Corktown, we had to find out ourselves, by reading through dozens of lengthy documents the developer had to provide. City officials might argue that by advising residents of changes to the development they were letting the community know that the developer had also petitioned the city for site-specific plan amendments, but that assumes a level of the understanding of the planning process that is not held by most citizens.

And we know that planners and councillors are constrained by legal concerns from proactively sharing advice or information that they are not permitted by statute to divulge. But that only reveals that the system is fundamentally broken, not that it is best practice. From a citizen point of view, it looks like a developer gets all the help and support they need, while citizens get none.

I know city planners are hardworking and that their department is understaffed and handcuffed by legalities and regulations. I also applaud the city's desire to implement a "push notification" system that will give neighbourhoods an early warning of development changes. But, that doesn't alter the situation right now. And, right now the only advantage citizens have in a development process that seems slanted against us is trust and information. We would be naive to trust a developer to provide us timely information we're just a nuisance. But we should be able to trust the city to not see us as an irritant and to share vital changes to collaboratively forged plans promptly.

And, as importantly, I think the city needs to proactively engage in a public information campaign about the importance of these changes. Right now they are communicating, badly, only the information they must. And, that communication is not wrapped in any context or explanation of its import to the community. That's not helpful.

As community activist Cameron Kroetsch recently argued, the city's desire for inclusivity should embrace the inclusion of citizens in the processes and planning changes that shape our communities. There should be no development around us, without us. As citizens it seems the deck is stacked against us in our fight for livable neighbourhoods. In fact, engaged citizens feel that they spend years collaboratively developing secondary neighbourhood plans only to have to spend the following years defending that plan from developers.

This city needs to regain its citizens' trust. Transparency and inclusivity in the face of developers who take runs at hard-fought and collaborative urban planning would be a good start.

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Opinion | Deck is stacked against citizens in Hamilton planning process - TheSpec.com