Local residents attended many town council meetings, including a large-scale demonstration on Sep. 28 to protest the Clark-Medd development. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

petition

Legal action launched against District of Lanzville over large suburban development

Mar 17, 2021 | 7:01 PM

NANAIMO — Lantzville councillors are accused of intimidating residents during a public hearing about a substantial suburban development.

A petition to the BC Supreme Court by the Lantzville Community Association against the District of Lantzville was filed on Tuesday, March 16.

It claims the District contravened the Local Government Act and breached rules about procedural fairness in a Sept. 28, 2020 public hearing. It seeks an order quashing a zoning bylaw approved in November, 2020 granting increased density in the proposed Clark-Medd subdivision being developed in upper Lantzville.

Lantzville councillors “intimidated the public at the outset of the public hearing by adding a late ’emergency’ motion to the agenda to censure a resident of the District for mailing a letter to other residents setting out his opposition” the petition claims.

Coun. Karen Proctor is accused of naming a resident who’d written a letter of opposition to other residents and tried to have an emergency motion addressing “the disrespect show to the Council by sending a letter to the author addressing the issue.”

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“The fact the Public Hearing started with an emergency motion to publicly censure and identify a resident for voicing his opposition to the Clark/Medd Rezoning, intimidated certain speakers…from speaking freely at the hearing. They feared being singled out and censured for their opinions and comments,” the petition said.

Part of Proctor’s motion was to send a letter to the community clarifying what was deemed “misinformation.” The letter never went out.

The many letters of opposition sent to Lantzville leadership also form part of the legal action.

One person was allegedly told on the day of the public hearing to resubmit an edited version of their letter, adjusting mentions of other recent developments in the community, to be accepted on the record.

“It’s unknown how many other residents were directed to change their comments regarding the rezoning application or whether any submissions were excluded from the public hearing records for not being edited in time to meet staff’s standards.”

The Clark-Medd development was one of the most contentious issues Lantzville councillors have handled in recent years.

Protests outside District of Lantzville offices were loud and strongly attended while a petition against the process garnered hundreds of signatures.

At the heart of the legal action is Lantzville councillors approving the Clark-Medd development rezoning.

“Anything outside the range set out in the OCP requires a ‘clear and strong rationale’ to justify the change. [The company involved] did not provide the District with a ‘clear and strong’ rationale to justify double the number of dwelling units contemplated in the OCP. If such a rationale was provided by Lantzville Projects to the District, it was never disclosed to the public.”

During the public hearing, it became clear many see the large development as a betrayal of the small town atmosphere Lantzville has cultivated for many years, despite being on the edge of the ever-growing north Nanaimo.

The District of Lantzville has 21 days to respond to the petition.

None of the allegations have been yet proven or contested.

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