WHEREAS The Saskatchewan Municipal Board (SMB), Planning Appeals               

Committee (PAC) is the authority to hear appeals with respect to disputes over important planning matters such as servicing agreements and development levy agreements; and

WHEREAS municipal councils are democratically elected and are in the best position to understand the priorities and financial realities of their community; and

WHEREAS the PAC has not identified a clear and consistent standard of review in its decisions; and

WHEREAS the PAC has accepted appeals submitted by appellants with little to no detail as to reasons for the appeal, making the submission from the municipality extremely difficult; and

WHEREAS PAC decisions are often based on precedent established in previous decisions which are not published in a data base available to municipalities;

BE IT RESOLVED that SARM lobby the Ministry of Government Relations to amend The Planning and Development Act and The Saskatchewan Municipal Board Act to clarify the procedures by which PAC hearings will be conducted and to clarify the standard of review which PAC will consider in making its decisions.

View response from the Minister of Government Relations