Rhino’s Ramblings - Council To Ask For Planning Department Study
By Robert Thomas Opinion/Commentary
“You were right,” a local property developer told me as we had a coffee on top of the hill on Sunday.
It was quickly followed with a “they’re sure cowards and they need to get this done now.”
So what was he talking about that needs to get done now?
Well it all has to do with the ongoing problems at the Planning Department. You know that months’ long saga that has restricted and even stopped development in the city.
It’s all about a department that issues building permits and really doesn’t plan the future of the city but supposedly ensures development follows national, provincial and municipal codes and regulations.
You know the good people who issue you a building permit to build a new or upgrade an existing home for instance.
The thing is - according to developers - the system is broken whereas the City has largely turned over inspections and permitting to a third party contractor and everything is fine.
But if you look at the secret stuff that Council discussed at their October 26, 2026 Executive Committee it’s easy to deduce not everything is running so smoothly at the Planning Department.
At committee Council chose to instruct Administration to look into the possibility of having not one but two third party permitting companies working for the Planning Department.
It’s what was reported by this column on October 21, 2026 Rhino’s Ramblings - Council Rumoured Set To Take On Planning Department Woes part trois. Council was set to bring in a second third party permitting firm.
So what has brought all of this on?
Well it all has to deal with a rumoured 500 permit files that are being reviewed and how those reviews are identifying buildings that don’t conform or rather were (according to some) improperly granted.
So now you have developers and property owners on the hook for sometimes expensive repairs.
Permits to occupy buildings aren’t being issued after renovations or new construction is completed.
It’s a nightmare for developers to navigate and it’s massively slowed down development in the city.
It’s no fluke housing starts are so anaemic that they need a major transfer of iron to put at least some colour into their cheeks.
And here is what I can tell you is the developers have started to put pressure on City Hall as they view the third party permitting contractor as simply just too tough and there is no way they can meet requirements which never seem to end.
So Council is looking for a compromise.
At their last Executive Committee meeting Council secretly discussed the situation and then they themselves compromised.
We won’t be having two third party permitting firms working on city files for now but rather Administration will do a report looking into the mechanics, practicality and workability of employing two third party permitting contractors.
And yes you heard me correctly. It could well be the same people who recommended the “solution” we have now are being asked to report back with - hopefully - a better solution.
My guess is you won’t hear one word about any of this at Council later today but rather they will introduce the Minutes from the October 26, 2026 Executive Committee and when nobody on Council wishes to discuss them simply pass the motion in Council without public mention of the motion.
My guess is they’re hoping nobody is paying attention.