Raise the Hammer

Yes, I assure you I am serious. And please note that I support the Pearl Company as an organization and as individuals, including their use of public media to assert their case. The Lansdale neighbourhood is vastly underserved by the city. And I stand corrected if, as stated in Cooke's Spec column, building department pressure is now being applied on the owners to immediately comply.

But my first point was that changes to the rules should be made by elected officials, not by the bureaucrats. As noted there has already been too much of the latter, and we don't like it (not enforcing building permits.) Establishing zoning rules are how consumers and communities are protected. Ignoring them is like throwing out the baby and keeping the dirty bathwater.

Secondly, city council can and has waived things like parking requirements. They can change the zoning bylaws too. Bureaucrats should not. But even if a new and more accommodating zone category were created it seems probable that The Pearl Company will have to apply to have their building zoned for the new designation, fee attached. If this does not make sense to you, understand that the city, for all its foolishness, is also a non-profit, public body. Revenue comes from fees and taxation. When we pay such fees we're paying ourselves. Not perhaps an ideal system, but one that has worked fairly well over the long run. But here again, if we want more imagination applied to the solution then we need to bring it to city council, not the bureaucrats.

I doubt those bureaucrats are as venal or stupid as they've been depicted. It is city councillors who so frequently have local builders and developers among their election campaign contributors. I can easily envision city councillors visiting the building department and demanding on behalf of their contributors to loosen the system, red tape etc. being the bane of attracting business and so on, a popular political cry. That's just idle speculation, not a whiff of truth to it, of course. But does anyone seriously suggest that the public interest is served if bureaucrats are allowed to waive the rules at their own discretion? Do we believe ignoring the building code has been a good thing?

As for raising the $7000, my bad. It's annoying. A real bother. Too much trouble. Waste of effort. Easier to put a rant into Raise The Hammer, and get on to the next whine. Easier for city councillors to dismiss rants too.