Does a municipality have to make only documents available to the public before council finds support?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Vancouver Island Community Forest Action Network v. Langford (City), 2010 BCSC 1357 (CanLII):

The respondents’ submission that procedural fairness requires municipalities to make available only documents before council finds support in Harrison v. Richmond (City) (1993), 14 M.P.L.R. (2d) 261 (B.C.S.C.), B.C.J. No. 826. In that case, the petitioners owned two golf courses in Richmond. The rezoning applicants owned farmland nearby, and had applied to the city to rezone their farmland and to amend the official community plan in order to develop a golf course. The petitioners applied to have the bylaws declared ultra vires because the city did not provide them with copies of all documents prior to a public hearing. The impugned documents included the minutes of the planning committee, and material considered by staff in advising council as to the effect of the bylaws.

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