Another lawsuit has been filed against the District of Sechelt for their handling of the Target Marine Hatcheries rezoning application.
"I think it's unfortunate, as I said a few weeks back, that there's clearly some strong feelings and emotional attachments to both sides of what was a very contentious topic. So that somebody's taken action is not surprising," said Sechelt Mayor John Henderson. "I wish it hadn't happened and I'd like us to move on, but everybody's entitled to take such action as they wish."
The petition was filed by Tillicum Bay resident Shirley Kuciuk on Feb. 14, and it alleges procedural issues with council's granting of zoning and official community plan bylaws needed for the application to proceed.
Kuciuk was one of the petitioners in a 2008 lawsuit against the District that alleged a similar type of mishandling. In that case the plaintiffs won their suit, and the decision of council was overturned.
"These kinds of challenges come out of the fact that municipal councils and regional district boards have very strict procedural requirements or specifications that they have to meet in dealing with zoning and official community plan bylaws," said Kuciuk's lawyer L. John Alexander. "Almost all challenges to these kinds of bylaws are based on an analysis of whether or not all of the required statutory procedures have been followed."
Henderson believes council followed procedure to the letter this time.
"We've taken a course of action that we believe was entirely proper and followed all the due process, and certainly the community has been strongly supportive since we took this decision, so I think we're on good ground," Henderson said.
In the 2008 lawsuit, Target Marine Hatcheries ended up defending council's actions when the District decided not to, but hatchery manager Justin Henry said it's too early to say if they'll get involved this time.
"We'll have to wait and see what the District does," Henry said, adding he also believes all the proper procedural requirements were followed.
District of Sechelt chief administrative officer Rob Bremner said the District is currently talking with their lawyers.
"Our lawyers are working on our response and I anticipate it being filed soon," he said.
The District has 21 days from the date the petition was filed to file a response.
If the court sides with the plaintiff, Alexander said council can pass the bylaws again.
"The result of striking out a bylaw like this says nothing about whether or not a council can or can't rezone a piece of land. It's just did they do it properly? And if the court decides they didn't do it properly, there's nothing stopping a council from going back and doing it properly," he said.
