The Cariboo Regional District (CRD) has been selected to be part of a two-year pilot project that will reduce the timeframe for processing many land use applications.
Beginning April 1, the CRD board will have the authority to adopt specific land-use bylaws without requiring ministerial approval.
CRD chair Al Richmond says it takes some of the “red tape” out of land-use bylaw approvals.
“It streamlines it and means that [the CRD] is just like a municipality now because municipalities can do this without it, so we'll be able to do the same thing.”
Until 2013, the board could only advance these bylaws to third reading, and then seek the approval of the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development before adoption.
This includes the bylaws that amend zoning and Official Community Plan (OCP) changes, he explains.
The CRD was approved for the pilot due to its practices for First Nations engagement and responding to issues raised by government agencies in land-use referrals, along with 11 (of 27) other regional districts in British Columbia.
Richmond estimates a time savings of at least one month for specific land-use applications.
“We won't have that three-to-four week, or maybe even longer, pause before we can adopt these and move forward. We will be able to give people an answer with more certainty, sooner.”