Mayor Wayne Rowe said Tuesday he supported a motion to defer Gibsons’ official community plan (OCP) update bylaw until next year because it removed the critical document “from the crucible of an election campaign.”
In a special meeting Tuesday morning, council voted unanimously to rescind second reading of the OCP bylaw and cancelled the public hearing set for Oct. 21.
Council had voted 3-2 in favour of second reading on Oct. 7 after the majority voted against a list of proposed amendments brought forward by Coun. Dan Bouman.
At the Oct. 14 special meeting, Rowe said the motion to rescind had to come from a member of council who had voted in favour of second reading. Coun. Gerry Tretick said he was prepared to make the motion.
Tretick’s motion also asked staff to report back on the list of amendments “brought forward by Coun. Bouman at the 11th hour … so we can have a proper review of it,” and suggested staff present the report after the Nov. 15 election.
“In the new year,” Rowe specified, seconding the motion.
Bouman said he supported the motion.
“I think we’re definitely going in the right direction here, and I thank you for your motion,” he told Tretick.
The meeting ended after five minutes, with a smattering of applause from the gallery.
Corporate officer Selina Williams said later in the day that Bouman advised staff following the Oct. 7 council meeting that he believed there had been a breach in the procedures bylaw when his amendments were on the floor, but a legal opinion sought by the Town confirmed there had not been a breach.
“I can assure you there was no breach in procedures,” Williams said.
Tuesday’s special meeting, she said, had been called at the request of Bouman and Coun. Lee Ann Johnson, who had both voted against second reading of the bylaw.
In a statement provided later in the day to Coast Reporter, Rowe noted that at the beginning of the Oct. 7 meeting, without notice, Bouman had placed four pages of proposed revisions to the draft OCP bylaw before members of council.
“As I was of the opinion that the OCP amendment process was sufficiently complete and no issues were specifically raised on this topic at the committee of the whole meeting the previous week, I was not prepared to support the proposed revisions,” Rowe said.
After Bouman and Johnson requested the special meeting to rescind second reading of the bylaw, Rowe said he decided to support the motion.
“Upon reflection I felt that given the importance of this document, it was preferable to remove it from the crucible of an election campaign and defer it for consideration by fresh eyes subsequent to the election.”
Bouman’s amendments included nine items that some members of the OCP steering committee had recommended for inclusion in the draft plan. Responding briefly at the Oct. 7 meeting, director of planning Andre Boel disputed whether particular items had been removed or excluded from the plan or were significant omissions.
