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City of Port Coquitlam | Board of Variance Bylaw, 1997
No. 3105 Page 1 of 5
CITY OF PORT COQUITLAM
BOARD OF VARIANCE BYLAW, 1997
Bylaw No. 3105
Whereas the Council of the City of Port Coquitlam has adopted a zoning bylaw, and
whereas pursuant to the Local Government Act, RSBC, 2015, Div. 15, as amended, (the
"Act"), Council for the City of Port Coquitlam (the "Council") shall establish, by bylaw, a
Board of Variance;
Now therefore the Municipal Council of The Corporation of the City of Port Coquitlam, in
open meeting assembled, enacts as follows:
1.
CITATION
This Bylaw may be cited for all purposes as the "Board of Variance Bylaw, 1997,
No. 3105".
2.
ESTABLISHMENT
Pursuant to section 537 of the Act, a Board of Variance (the "Board") is hereby
established. The Board shall consist of those persons appointed in accordance
with the Act and the members of the Board shall elect one of their members as
"Chair".
3.
DEFINITIONS
In this Bylaw:
Appellant means a person who has filed a Board of Variance application with the
Secretary;
Board means the Board of Variance members appointed for the Corporation of the
City of Port Coquitlam;
City means the Corporation of the City of Port Coquitlam;
Chair means the Chair of the Board of Variance, elected by its members; and
Secretary means the Secretary to the Board of Variance.
City of Port Coquitlam | Board of Variance Bylaw, 1997
No. 3105 Page 2 of 5
4.
BOARD MEMBERS
a)
A board member must abstain from voting in respect to an application where
they have a conflict of interest (ie. they are the applicant or a neighbour of the
property stated in the application).
b)
Board members not present (either in person or participating electronically)
during a hearing must not participate in the decision with respect to an
application (ie. no proxy vote).
c)
A board member who abstains from voting will be shown in the minutes as
voting in the affirmative.
5.
SECRETARY
The Corporate Officer or the Corporate Officer's designate shall be Secretary to
the Board. The responsibilities of the Secretary are:
a)
to receive notices of application made pursuant to the Act;
b)
to determine whether the Applicant seeks an order of the Board which would:
i.
be in conflict with:
-
a covenant registered under Section 24(a) of the Land
Registry Act RSBC 1960, c. 208, before the repeal of that Act
or Section 215 of the Land Title Act; or
-
Section 27 of the Heritage Conservation Act.
ii.
deal with a matter that is covered in a land use contract or a permit
under division 5 of the Act; or
iii.
deal with a flood plain specification under Section 969(2) of the Act.
If the application deals with any of these matters the Board has no
jurisdiction and the Secretary shall so notify the Applicant.
c)
to notify the Chair of the Board of the receipt of the application if the
application is within the Board's jurisdiction;
d)
to ensure that proper notification is given in compliance with this bylaw;
e)
to keep proper records of the Board proceedings, and;
f)
to maintain a record of all decisions of the Board and make it available
to the public in the civic office during normal business hours.
City of Port Coquitlam | Board of Variance Bylaw, 1997
No. 3105 Page 3 of 5
6.
HEARING SCHEDULE
a)
The Chair shall determine the meeting schedule for the Board.
b)
The Board shall be convened by the Chair on the date of Hearing and at the
time and place set out in the notice.
c)
The Board shall hear all representations made to the Board.
7.
BOARD OF VARIANCE APPLICATION
a)
Any person desiring to apply to the Board for an order shall file a written
application with the Secretary of the Board in a form approved by the
Secretary. The application shall state clearly the grounds on which the
application is based and the relief sought and shall give an address to which
all notices respecting the Hearing of the application (the "Hearing") may be
mailed.
b)
The application will be accompanied by the application fee as determined in
the City's current Fees and Charges Bylaw. The application fee will be non-
refundable if a review of the application has been initiated.
c)
Where the application is made pursuant to the Act, the application shall be
filed with the Secretary of the Board within thirty days from the date of the
determination made under the Act by the Building Inspector.
d)
The Secretary shall send by mail or otherwise deliver, not less than ten days
prior to the date of the Hearing, notice of the Hearing to:
i.
the members of the Board;
ii.
the Applicant;
iii.
the registered owners as shown on the last revised assessment roll
and all occupiers of the subject property and all real property located
immediately adjacent to the parcel which is the subject of the appeal;
iv.
the Building Inspector, if the appeal is under their determination of
which is being appealed.
e)
The notice of the Hearing shall state the date, place, and time of the Hearing
and shall state the subject matter of the application.
f)
The Secretary shall upon receipt of any notice of application or of any
written evidence entered before the Hearing including staff reports, permit
the same to be inspected at the Secretary's office during regular office
hours.
City of Port Coquitlam | Board of Variance Bylaw, 1997
No. 3105 Page 4 of 5
8.
CONDUCT OF HEARING
a)
A quorum for the Hearing is three members. If the Chair is absent for a
Hearing, those present may appoint an Acting Chair for the duration of that
Hearing.
b)
Any person or body with interest in property within the municipality is entitled
to be heard at the Hearing, and is entitled to be represented by a solicitor or
by an agent duly appointed in writing.
c)
Any person represented, in accordance with subsection 8(b), whether or not
also attending in person, shall be deemed to be a party attending the
Hearing.
d)
Evidence at a Hearing may be given orally or in writing.
e)
The Board shall not hear oral evidence, except at a regularly constituted
Hearing of the subject matter of that evidence.
f)
The Applicant shall be afforded the first opportunity to present his evidence
and arguments, and thereafter, evidence and arguments shall be presented
in such sequence as the Chair may direct until all parties to the application
have been afforded an opportunity to present their evidence and arguments.
g)
The Board may view the property affected by the application and
surrounding properties. The Board may adjourn the Hearing from time to
time, and may reconvene without further published notice if the time, date,
and place of reconvening is announced at adjournment.
h)
If the Applicant or other persons notified do not appear at the Hearing or any
adjournment thereof, and have not advised the Secretary in advance that
they wish to be heard at another date, the Board may proceed to decide the
appeal in his absence.
10.
DECISION
a)
The decision of the Board shall be by a majority of those members present
and made within seven days of the Hearing.
b)
The Secretary shall, within seven days of a decision, send by mail or
otherwise deliver the written decision of the Board to the Applicant, all
persons who made representation at the Hearing, and the local government
Building Inspector.
c)
The Secretary shall, within seven days of the decision, enter that decision in
the record maintained at the local government office.
City of Port Coquitlam | Board of Variance Bylaw, 1997
No. 3105 Page 5 of 5
d)
The Board must not re-hear an appeal covering the identical grounds or
principles up which the Board has previously rendered a decision.
e)
A decision of the Board is final, and may only be over-turned by the
Supreme Court of Canada, as permitted under the Act.
11.
SEVERABILITY
If any part, section, subsection, clause or sub-clause of this Bylaw is for any reason
held to be invalid by the decision of a Court of competent jurisdiction, such a
decision does not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Bylaw.
12.
REPEAL
The "Board of Variance Bylaw, 1982, No. 1919", is hereby repealed.
Read a first time by the Municipal Council this 14th day of April, 1997.
Read a second time by the Municipal Council this 14th day of April, 1997.
Read a third time by the Municipal Council this 14th day of April, 1997.
Reconsidered, finally passed and adopted by the Municipal Council of The
Corporation of the City of Port Coquitlam this 28th day of April, 1997.
L.M. TRABOULAY
SUSAN RAUH
Mayor
Corporate Officer
Record of Amendments
Bylaw 3735
Fee Changes
2011 03 28
Bylaw 4356
Various Housekeeping Updates
2024 05 14