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Home > Committees > Land Use

Land Use Committee

How Rezoning Works: The Process

Committee Chair: Stephanie Hill

Step 1. A rezoning application and plans are submitted to the City of Victoria Planning Department who in turn make a recommendation (approve or decline). This recommendation is available the Friday before the Tuesday night Advisory Planning Commission (APC) meeting.

Step 2. Proposals are brought to the community by the developer in an open forum where the public can give their views. The exact date will be listed on flyers distributed around the development proposal site by the sponsoring community association. This community presentation is generally held before rezoning proposals go to the APC, however this does not always happen. Sometimes they come to the community after they have been to the APC.

Step 3. Review of the proposal by the APC. Presentation of a development proposal to the APC is an open meeting and the public may speak about their opposition or support of a project. After this, APC makes a recommendation to Council (reject the proposal or send it to public hearing). APC meetings are usually held on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM in City Hall Council Chambers, exact dates will be on orange signs posted at the development site 10 days in advance of the meeting date.

Step 4. The APC and Planning Department recommendation is then received by Council who make a decision on whether the proposal will go forward to a public hearing. This decision is made at a Council meeting following the APC meeting. Public input must take place prior to this Council meeting because members of the public are not permitted to address Council at this time. Their decision to send a proposal to public hearing is based on many things - correspondence they have received, viewpoints which have been expressed to them by neighbours, the planning department's report, APC's recommendation and discussions that individual councillors may have had with the developer or other interested parties.

Step 5. If a decision is made to send the proposal forward to a public hearing then the proposal will be slated for a public hearing at an upcoming Council meeting. The public hearing is an open meeting and the format is that City Council first hears from the developer and then neighbours or anyone concerned about the project can come forward to express their opinions. Before the public hearing letters should be sent so they can be read by Council members before the meeting. Council members can also be contacted personally in advance of the public hearing- by phone or by arranging an appointment. Anyone interested should attend the public hearing as this is a critical stage in the rezoning process. Council meetings are always held in Council Chambers at City Hall and are on Thursday nights at 7:30 PM with the public hearings being near the beginning of the agenda. Exact dates will be on yellow signs posted at the development site 10 days in advance of the meeting date. Public hearings are also advertised in the newspaper, posted at City Hall, and owner/occupiers within 22 metres of the subject property are given written notice. Note the public hearing is the final step in the rezoning process.

It is important for neighbours to express opinions about development proposals and if you have strong opinions about a proposal it is very important that you input at all the various stages. Means of input are letters, speaking at the public meetings and talking to individual members of council. Organizing neighbours, who share your views about a proposal, to support one another is also beneficial. Actually speaking at meetings is invaluable however even attendance, without speaking to a proposal, is very important. It would also be beneficial to have a hand-out copy of your speech or main points to give to the city clerk or Council/committee members at the public meetings.

Please note: If a proposal is turned down by Council the same proposal cannot be resubmitted for one calendar year, unless Council otherwise directs. This is very important to note as Council has, on several occasions, directed another public hearing be scheduled for a proposal that has been turned down at a public hearing. In this case, the proposal is not required to go through the process from the beginning. This can cause confusion with signage as yellow public hearing signs may be neglected to be removed after the first public hearing. If rescheduled for another public hearing yellow signs with a new date may replace the previous yellow signs. For this reason it is necessary to be aware of public hearing notices with new dates immediately replacing old public hearing notices that were not properly removed. Yes, it really is another date and they can (and do) do this.

Your comments or questions on this website are welcome.
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