It wasn't easy but it's done.
Coquitlam council's battle to bring checks and balances to the region's new growth strategy ended this week when it agreed to terms that were being disputed in a resolution process with Metro Vancouver.
The four meetings with Metro staff and directors this and last month started acrimoniously with one of the two facilitators quitting. That set the tone for the next three meetings, said Mayor Richard Stewart, who represented the city at the table with councillors Selina Robinson and Mae Reid.
In the end, Metro agreed to a review annually showing the 24-member municipalities how the regional body is achieving its goals under the 30-year document that covers everything - in broad, sweeping terms - from housing and transportation to land-use planning and air quality.
The five objections for Coquitlam - the only city to hold out approval of the Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) - centred on: Metro's oversight in local land-use planning; the lack of legal, administrative and financial costs; the lack of clarity in the dispute-resolution process; the need for more consistency in land-use designations; and the lack of definition around the term "regional significance."
Robinson said Coquitlam didn't get all of its questions answered during the four, four-hour sessions that were observed by regional mayors on Metro's intergovernmental committee (who were paid $330 per meeting).
Still, "I actually think that we gained a fair bit," she said, "given where we were at the beginning and what we came out at the end."
Metro municipalities can now bring forward proposed amendments to the RGS; Metro will publicly review the RGS every five years to measure its performance; and a Metro committee will give further study to the meaning of "regional significance."
Robinson called the negotiations "time well spent" but said she has concerns with the amount of money Metro spent on its side for the discussions. She asked Coun. Lou Sekora, one of Coquitlam's two Metro directors, to raise the topic at its next board meeting.
Sekora, who on Monday voted against the so-called Implementation Agreement for the RGS along with Coun. Doug Macdonell, said he also isn't happy with how the Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club lands are being classified in the document.
Several Plateau residents have urged the city to ensure that property - as well as other green spaces - remain as conservation/recreation.
Jim McIntyre, Coquitlam's general manager of planning, said many Metro municipalities have made last-minute pitches to Metro to make land-use changes to the RGS; they will be incorporated in a subsequent "omnibus" resolution, likely within the next two years, he said.
City manager Peter Steblin said Metro has assured the city the golf club lands will remain as council has intended them in the official community plan. "I don't think you have to worry," he said.
Macdonell said the negotiations with Metro soured his views of the regional authority. "We've all seen the appalling disregard by Metro Vancouver to the cities throughout this process," he said. "I witnessed a verbal attack on one of the process facilitators right here in this chamber. It was so severe and so disrespectful that he resigned."
He added, "That's one of the problems with Metro Vancouver: It's an old boys' club and it excludes some cities on committees and rewards others with plumb, high paying committees. If your city isn't part of the inner circle then your city is under-represented on those decision-making committees. There's too much bullying behaviour.
"That's why I don't trust them when they say they'll look at the five-year breakout clause that Coquitlam's put forward," Macdonell said. "They say they will, but it hasn't been added to the RGS yet, and I hope they will but I won't be surprised at all if the end result is watered down and ineffective."
Meanwhile, Coquitlam city council is expected to formally endorse the RGS at next Monday's council meeting.
jwarren@tricitynews.com
