It was a nail biter, that's for sure! Like sudden death overtime in Game 7 or a three-pointer at the buzzer, the vote could have gone either way. I had an idea of how it may have panned out and my calculator app was working in overdrive after listening to the directors' speeches.
The Metro Vancouver meeting and vote on the Southlands proposal last week was very interesting indeed. As we all know by now, Metro staff put forth a recommendation to vote against the amendment to the Regional Growth Strategy the week prior.
As a longtime supporter of the vision of the Southlands proposal, I was naturally disappointed with staff 's recommendation. As bureaucrats, they were essentially toeing the line within Metro's Regional Growth Strategy. That is what they are paid to do. Only the directors can vote to amend the Urban Containment Boundary and the Regional Growth Strategy.
Some people are suggesting the outcome was a heavy win for the proponent but that was not the case. The vote required a two-thirds weighted vote majority. The votes are assigned to each municipality within Metro based on population.
For instance, Delta, and the majority of municipalities do not carry the vote weight of Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby. It might seem like 93-31 is a big win, but 86 votes were required for approval. So, it was a squeaker.
As director after director spoke, it became apparent the majority of speakers favoured the proposal but weighted votes showed that it was going to be close.
Mayor Lois Jackson gave an eloquent and detailed speech that certainly would have helped the undecided glean valuable information to make an informed decision. Probably the most dramatic speech, however, came from Mayor Derek Corrigan of Burnaby.
I had pegged Burnaby as being against as its council had put forth a no vote recommendation to Metro.
Corrigan's surprising support of the proposal, a difficult personal decision as he described, ultimately gave 12 votes for the yes side that tipped the scales in favour of the Southlands application. As the Vancouver block mostly voted against, the Burnaby and Surrey votes vote sealed the deal.
Corrigan also delivered a key statement for the Southlands development and probably for any other major development of this scale in Metro when he described the Regional Growth Strategy as a "living document."
There is a process in place to apply for an amendment to the document and this is how the framework of it is "living." The same can be said for community plans. Applications to amend bylaws are just that, applications. They have to be looked at carefully on a case-bycase basis.
I am personally happy the majority of directors carefully considered the application.
When you think about it, these frameworks have to be subject to change otherwise nothing would ever happen... ever. I know there are lots of people that think that is good, but history shows that evolution requires change.
I am hopeful our community can move on now and file this one.
I am looking forward to seeing the vision for a market square and a community built around agriculture.
