Our team had the pleasure of working on a community engagement project in collaboration with the developers of a parcel of land at 2550 Ord Road on Kamloops’ North Shore. Although there were some challenges to work through, our advice in engagement activities is for our client to remove the emotion and employ common sense in the planning and implementation.
Here’s a sneak peek into what we did, why we think this project was approved, and how the development team were able to maintain their reputation as good community partners/developers.
Start On Site
There is honestly no substitute for being on-site of a proposed development to do a walk around. Standing on this parcel of land, we discovered there was a Nature Conservancy of Canada site called Rattlesnake Bluffs adjacent to the property. We also noted that right across the street was the Brock Estates Residences, a neighbourhood of community members to be engaged. And then there was the landscape – towering rock and silt bluffs – which would not be moved for development but might make it hard for people to comprehend how housing could be built without blasting rock and carting it away. With this information, we set out to develop a plan.
Engage Early and Often
Signage for the rezoning had gone up month’s earlier and this was something we wish we had known about earlier because without opportunities for people to learn more about the development, there were a number of concerns expressed to City Hall by residents who just saw the signage and no further information or communication. If communication had been done earlier, we could have mitigated some of the community’s early concerns by sharing information proactively.
We made plans to meet up with the Brock Estates’ residents first as those closest to the parcel of land and then expanded out from there, hosting a community open house for any Kamloops resident to attend. Several opportunities for engagement were provided, whether in-person events, an online survey, or a paper survey. We also went out to other organizations like the North Shore Business Improvement Association Board of Directors to provide insight into the proposed rezoning application and to hear their feedback. The information we got back outlined some of the challenges the rezoning application might face, which would come in handy in our proactive communications and at the public hearing.
Public Hearing Night
This can be a nerve-wracking event for most people, appearing before City Council to share what you are planning on doing and being asked the tough questions on camera, with media present, and in front of a large crowd. Fortunately, with engagement, we already knew what the tough questions and challenges were going to be so that the team could share the solutions they had developed in advance of the public hearing. Not only does this pre-work alleviate stress for our clients, but it also shows City Council and the community how thoughtful you are because you asked people for their concerns and came equipped with solutions, where possible, to some of those challenges.
There was a very large group of people who were in opposition to the project, many citing their challenges with what it will mean for wildlife in the area. Our Advice: be prepared for anything! My personal preference would have been to have these groups reach out to the developer who had their personal cell phone that was on the rezoning signage for 10 months prior to the public hearing. This just goes to show that no matter how well you plan, there may be those you miss engaging with because either they are not aware, or they’re not interested in engaging. In the end, after the rezoning project was approved, we were able to meet with some of these people and groups to chat about how we can connect in the future to collaborate, so it was a win-win at the end.
Why this was Approved
My personal thoughts on why this was approved are primarily because Kamloops needs more housing, but City Council isn’t just going to blindly accept any proposal. Then there was the engagement where challenges were shared, and real solutions offered through a report from a wildlife biologist, a traffic study to share the capacity of the road for increased traffic, fulsome communications, and other reports offering solutions. Explaining the discovered challenges shared by the community and the solutions you have can make a rezoning application or development permit application more appealing to decision makers because you’ve considered all the angles. Without this information, you may not have the quality answers to the tough questions which can lead to doubt.
Maintaining Reputation
Because of the transparency and collaboration of this team of developers, they were able to show they were good community citizens by taking the time to engage with the community in advance of the public hearing to listen and find solutions. Developers who don’t do this can run the risk of looking like they just don’t care, even if they really do.
Kudos for our Team
As always, in any stakeholder engagement project we do, we employ our core values of common sense, creativity, integrity, and flexibility. We also work with great people who have good intentions to engage well and create the best project or initiative possible. We will not try and ‘spin’ communications or work with someone who doesn’t have good intentions – it’s just not what we do.
"Thank-you Aleece and the entire Amplify Team! You have truly made a huge impact as part of this team and contributed greatly to the success of this rezoning approval. I have been in awe of how much help you have been in preparing our team and facilitating this process. You are a communications rock star." - Chris McNeil, HBAC Developments.
Thank you Chris, Brendan, Adil, and Hal for the opportunity to work in collaboration with you. We can’t wait to see what you intend to develop on this beautiful parcel of land, bringing that balance for housing needs and the environment into alignment, through great engagement and communication along the way.
Related News Stories
- “The developers hired a biologist to conduct a preliminary wildlife study.”
- “Chris McNeil, who was speaking for the developer, said the application has been 10 months in the making, compared to a “typical” zoning application that he said takes between three and four months”
- “We’ve taken our time with this. We’ve worked with city planners. At this time, we have eight consultants that we’ve worked with to produce studies,” McNeil said at a public hearing. “Its been a process but we’ve done it to ensure we can create a product that does make sense.”
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