Peachland's planning department not keeping up with community's growth

Photo: Porchlight Development

Development proposed on Beach Avenue in Peachland

Peachland is being buried by development and planning applications and change is needed.

That was the conclusion reached through an external process review of Peachland's planning and development department.

Changes proposed include a streamlining of some of the processes, and additional staffing to work through a glut of development and building permit applications that have descended upon the municipality over the past few years.

According to the report, 31 development applications are presently in-stream which will, if the trend continues, eclipse the normal 30 to 40 applications the municipality has received on average over each of the past five years.

It's also led to a wait of up to a year for some basic applications to roll through the system.

"I think the most important element from that 35-page report is the recognition that, as a small town, we are under resourced for the level of development we are seeing," said planning and development director Darin Schaal.

The report suggests over the past few years staff turnover has left "several vacancies, and the need to train and onboard new staff."

"The vacancies gave resulted in capacity challenges, resulting in a backlog of development applications and slower processing times," the report stated.

Schaal says council recognized the need for more resourcing through the just completed 2022 budget process, approving the hiring of a planning manager and a second building inspector.

"One of the other things I took from the report is recognizing we have a commitment to continually improving our processes," he said.

One of those, he says, is continually working with developers at the pre-application stage, especially with those who are new to the valley or new to the province to ensure they properly understand the requirements and the process, allowing applications to move more quickly through the system.

"We are looking at anything and everything we can to help with that streamlining," said Schaal.

Our communications is one area where we will be focusing on next in terms of how we can keep some of our limited resources working on reviewing and processing applications instead of just responding to inquiries. Every application starts with a general inquiry, and if we can improve some of our communications and answer those questions before they take resources...even if it's a small amount, it will help us."

Council, during a discussion around the report, requested a workshop to better understand implications around changes to the public hearing process made by the province in 2021.

These changes include a process where public hearings are no longer necessary when a zoning application is aligned with the Official Community Plan.

A comparative analysis of development application fees which looked at four specific scenarios also found Peachland charged less than similar sized communities such as Tofino, Revelstoke and Pemberton across the board.

It was suggested those fees be increased to bring them more in line.