Casual Legal: Fairness in SDAB hearings
DISCLAIMER: This article is meant to provide information to Alberta Municipalities members only and is not intended to provide legal advice. You should seek the advice of legal counsel to address your specific set of circumstances. Although every effort has been made to provide current and accurate information, changes to the law may cause the information in this article to be outdated. This content is not intended for the general public.
By Shauna Finlay
Reynolds Mirth Richards Farmer LLP
Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Service Provider
A recent Court of Appeal decision considered the scope of a hearing before a subdivision and development appeal board (SDAB) concerning an appeal of a development permit.
Hearings before an SDAB are considered de novo hearings, which means the SDAB can consider the appeals without regard for the lower development decision. However, the issue raised in the appeal was whether an SDAB appeal allows it to consider all matters under a development permit afresh – even issues not raised on appeal. This was an issue because the developer had appealed certain conditions, but not others. However, the SDAB considered the validity of conditions which had not been appealed.
The Court of Appeal ultimately found that the SDAB had the jurisdiction to consider the development permit for the discretionary use in its entirety and re-exercise all the discretionary powers of the Development Authority.
That said, the SDAB had an obligation to ensure procedural fairness in its proceedings. This meant that parties had to be given an opportunity to address new issues to the parties, including the possibility that the development permit would be revoked.
This case reinforces the broad discretion enjoyed by SDABs considering appeals of development permits and the entitlements to procedural fairness enjoyed by parties that appear before an SDAB.
To access Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Helpline, Alberta Municipalities members can call toll-free to 1-800-661-7673 or casuallegal [at] abmunis.ca (email) to reach the municipal legal experts at Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP. For more information on the Casual Legal Service, please call 310-MUNI (6864) or riskcontrol [at] abmunis.ca (email) to connect with Alberta Municipalities Risk Management staff. Any Regular or Associate member of Alberta Municipalities can access the Casual Legal Service.
