Communities struggle with the ongoing development, update, and administration of the Official Community Plan (OCP). As well, the Zoning Bylaw (ZP) is linked to the OCP. An understanding of the OCP and ZP can be simple stated for most members of the community. In simple terms, the OCP and ZP can be understood in this way:
The Official Community Plan is the long-term guiding document, the policy framework, for elected officials (and staff alike) that gives context to the direction of the community. The Zoning Bylaw is the policy and implementation tool to guide the regulatory process to ensure that what members of the community do is not deleterious to their neighbour. In other words, the Zoning Bylaw is not there to limit or constrain property owners but to protect them from their neighbours activities that could harm or cause to harm their property and related elements of their well-being. Any variance to the Zoning Bylaw needs to be considered in the context of the impacts on the community, the property neighbours, and the fairness of its application. If an exception is granted for one case, it can soon become the norm; then, at what point does the Zoning Bylaw become meaningless. At what point does the exception become the rule?
The best metaphor for understanding the Zoning Bylaw is parenting: if a parent allows one child to have or do something, why shouldn't the others be allowed? It is a matter of fairness and equity. There has to be rules for children to live by and learn.
If the parent metaphor does not work, what about the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) rule? What makes it acceptable for some activity to exist in one person's backyard and not another's. If you are going to make an exception to do something in someone's backyard, you better be willing to do the same for the neighbour. Hence, the need for consistent and fair application of the Zoning Bylaw to support the direction of the community, the OCP.
If the implementation of the Zoning Bylaw cannot be applied consistently and with fairness, it means that the Official Community Plan needs to revisited to ensure that the direction of the community meets the needs of its members.
This is why, together, the Official Community Plan and the Zoning Bylaw provide the framework for the Municipal Council, the Administrative Staff, and the residential & commercial property owners to work together to protect everyone's interests, goals, and development of a safe, sustainable, community.
