@prefix vivo: . @prefix edm: . @prefix ns0: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix skos: . vivo:departmentOrSchool "Applied Science, Faculty of"@en, "Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of"@en ; edm:dataProvider "DSpace"@en ; ns0:degreeCampus "UBCV"@en ; dcterms:creator "Johal, Darshan Singh"@en ; dcterms:issued "2012-01-19T21:49:13Z"@en, "1958"@en ; vivo:relatedDegree "Master of Science in Planning - MSc (Plan)"@en ; ns0:degreeGrantor "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:description """Growth and development of a community may be hampered, not only by lack of planning, but also by a wrong approach to planning. Hence, in order to ensure proper growth and development of a community, it is necessary to examine the underlying structure of the community as well as the proper approach to its planning. An analysis of the current approach to planning shows that a long-range comprehensive master plan is thought to be highly desirable, if not essential, before any planning can be done in a community. The myth of the master plan has been accepted not only by most of the experts and legislators concerned with planning, but also by the people in general. Although the validity of this myth has never been clearly demonstrated, no one has seriously challenged its utility in relation to planning for small communities. An analysis of the political, economic and sociological structure of small communities in British Columbia shows that the master plan approach is neither necessary nor desirable for planning in these communities. This discovery should serve as a warning to those who confound "planning" with "plan making" and as a hope for those who are under the erroneous impression that before a community can do any planning, it must first have a master plan. The alternative approach to planning for small communities in British Columbia is described by the author as "The Community Development Approach". This approach recognizes planning as a continuous process; it places greater emphasis on community organization, community participation and community action. In short, it replaces the traditional motto of planners: "Survey, Analysis and Plan" by "Organization, Planning and Action.”"""@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/40184?expand=metadata"@en ; skos:note "AN APPROACH TO PLANNING FOR SMALL COMMUNITIES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA by DARSHAN JOHAL B . A . (hons.) , U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a Report on a P r o j e c t submi t ted i n l i e u o f a t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f the r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r the degree o f MASTER OF SCIENCE i n the Department o f COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING We accept t h i s t h e s i s as con forming t o the s t a n d a r d r e q u i r e d from c a n d i d a t e s f o r the degree o f MASTER OF SCIENCE Members o f the Department o f Community and R e g i o n a l P l a n n i n g The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a A p r i l , 1958 i i ABSTRACT Growth and development o f a community may be hampered, not o n l y by l a c k o f p l a n n i n g , but a l s o by a wrong approach t o p l a n n i n g . Hence , i n o r d e r t o ensure p r o p e r growth and d e v e l -opment o f a community, i t i s n e c e s s a r y to examine the u n d e r -l y i n g s t r u c t u r e o f the community as w e l l as the p r o p e r approach t o i t s p l a n n i n g . An a n a l y s i s o f the c u r r e n t approach t o p l a n n i n g shows t h a t a l o n g - r a n g e comprehensive master p l a n i s thought t o be h i g h l y d e s i r a b l e , i f not e s s e n t i a l , b e f o r e any p l a n n i n g c a n be done i n a community. The myth o f the master p l a n has been accep ted not o n l y by most o f the e x p e r t s and l e g i s l a t o r s c o n -cerned w i t h p l a n n i n g , but a l s o by the p e o p l e i n g e n e r a l . A l t h o u g h the v a l i d i t y o f t h i s myth has never been c l e a r l y dem-o n s t r a t e d , no one has s e r i o u s l y c h a l l e n g e d i t s u t i l i t y i n r e l a t i o n to p l a n n i n g f o r s m a l l communi t i es . An a n a l y s i s o f the p o l i t i c a l , economic and s o c i o l o g i c a l s t r u c t u r e o f s m a l l communit ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a shows t h a t the master p l a n approach i s n e i t h e r n e c e s s a r y nor d e s i r a b l e f o r p l a n n i n g i n these communi t i es . T h i s d i s c o v e r y s h o u l d serve as a warn ing to those who confound \" p l a n n i n g \" w i t h \" p l a n making\" and as a hope f o r those who are under the e r roneous i i i i m p r e s s i o n t h a t b e f o r e a community can do any p l a n n i n g , i t must f i r s t have a master p l a n . The a l t e r n a t i v e approach t o p l a n n i n g f o r s m a l l commun-i t i e s i n B r i t i s h Co lumbia i s d e s c r i b e d by the au thor as \"The Community Development A p p r o a c h \" . T h i s approach r e c o g n i z e s p l a n n i n g as a c o n t i n u o u s p r o c e s s ; i t p l a c e s g r e a t e r emphasis on community o r g a n i z a t i o n , community p a r t i c i p a t i o n and commun-i t y a c t i o n . In s h o r t , i t r e p l a c e s the t r a d i t i o n a l motto o f p l a n n e r s : \" S u r v e y , A n a l y s i s and P l a n \" by \" O r g a n i z a t i o n , P l a n -n i n g and A c t i o n . * * In presenting t h i s thesis i n p a r t i a l fulfilment of the requirements fo r an advanced degree at the University of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree that the Library s h a l l make i t f r e e l y available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of t h i s thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representative. It i s understood that copying or publication of t h i s thesis f o r f i n a n c i a l gain s h a l l not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Community and Regional Planning The University of B r i t i s h Columbia, Vancouver 8, Canada. Date May 9, 1958 i v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT PREFACE INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter I The Master Plan Approach to Planning 6 II P o l i t i c a l D i f f i c u l t i e s Faced by Small Communities i n Br i t i s h Columbia 23 III Financial D i f f i c u l t i e s Faced by Small Communities i n Br i t i s h Columbia 35 IV Sociological D i f f i c u l t i e s Faced by Small Communities in Br i t i s h Columbia 52 V Planning and Community Development 6 l BIBLIOGRAPHY 86 APPENDIX List of Small Communities i n Br i t i s h Columbia with population of 200-5,000 (in 1951 or 1956) 90 V LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS T a b l e Page I S i n g l e - e n t e r p r i s e Communit ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a w i t h name, main a c t i v i t y , p o p u l a t i o n and y e a r o f e s t a b l i s h m e n t 27 I I R a t i o o f m u n i c i p a l s t a f f t o p o p u l a t i o n s e r v e d f o r f i v e m u n i c i p a l i t i e s i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a 29 I I I A suggested d i v i s i o n between l o c a l and n o n - l o c a l f u n c t i o n s f o r s m a l l communit ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a 33 IV Compar ison f o r B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a m u n i c i p a l i t i e s , per c a p i t a tax l e v i e d a g a i n s t p r o p e r t y (not i n c l u d i n g the C i t y o f Vancouver ) 39 V Compar ison f o r B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a m u n i c i p a l i t i e s , c u r r e n t e x p e n d i t u r e s out o f c u r r e n t revenue and c a p i t a l e x p e n d i t u r e s out o f c u r r e n t revenue 40 VI Compar ison f o r average p e r c a p i t a c o s t o f sewage t rea tment p l a n t s i n communit ies o f v a r i o u s s i z e s 44 V I I Compar ison f o r B r i t i s h Co lumbia m u n i c i p a l i t i e s M u n i c i p a l T a x a t i o n as a pe rcen tage o f M u n i c i p a l Tax p l u s P r o v i n c i a l G r a n t s ( e x c l u d i n g s c h o o l g r a n t s ) 46 C h a r t I Suggested c o m p o s i t i o n and f u n c t i o n s o f a Community C o u n c i l f o r s m a l l communit ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a 80 v i PREFACE Most o f the p l a n n i n g e f f o r t s i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a have been d i r e c t e d towards l a r g e u r b a n c e n t e r s and v e r y l i t t l e a t t e n t i o n has been p a i d t o the p l a n n i n g problems o f s m a l l communit ies w i t h a p o p u l a t i o n o f l e s s than 5>000. The main purpose o f the p r e s e n t s tudy i s to d e a l w i t h t h e s e p r o b l e m s . What i s the s o l u t i o n t o the p l a n n i n g problems o f s m a l l communit ies i n B r i t i s h Co lumbia? There i s no s i m p l e answer t o t h i s q u e s t i o n and the w r i t e r makes no c l a i m t o p r o v i d e a complete answer i n the p r e s e n t s t u d y . R a t h e r , the main i n t e n -t i o n i s t o a n a l y s e some o f t h e s e p r o b l e m s , p a r t i c u l a r l y the problem o f l o n g - r a n g e comprehensive p l a n n i n g , and t o suggest an approach f o r s o l v i n g them. The w r i t e r i s g r a t e f u l t o the R e g i o n a l P l a n n i n g D i v i s i o n o f the Department o f M u n i c i p a l J i f f a i r s , Government o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , f o r g i v i n g him an o p p o r t u n i t y t o work i n s e v e r a l s m a l l communi t ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a l a s t summer. Thanks s h o u l d a l s o be extended t o s e v e r a l p r o f e s s o r s at the U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a who p r o v i d e d the background knowledge f o r the p r e s e n t s t u d y . Among these a r e : D r . R. M. C l a r k , D r . D. C o r b e t t , D r . J . F r i e s e n , D r . L . C . M a r s h , P r o f e s s o r R . I . Rugg les and M r . J . W . W i l s o n o f the Lower M a i n l a n d R e g i o n a l v i i P l a n n i n g B o a r d . Most o f a l l , I am t h a n k f u l t o my p r o f e s s o r s i n Community and R e g i o n a l P l a n n i n g : t o D r . H . P e t e r O b e r l a n d e r f o r a s s i s t i n g me i n the e a r l y s t a g e s o f the p r e s e n t s t u d y and t o P r o f e s s o r I r a M. R o b i n s o n f o r g i v i n g me c o n t i n u o u s h e l p throughout the p r e p a r a t i o n o f t h i s s t u d y . My thanks are a l s o due t o the s t a f f o f the U n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y , p a r t i c u l a r l y M i s s Dwyer, f o r h e l p i n g me t o f i n d m a t e r i a l i n the l i b r a r y . Darshan J o h a l U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , Vancouver 8, B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . May 9, 1958. \"The a r t i f i c i a l i t y and i n s t a b i l i t y o f a good d e a l o f p l a n n i n g e f f o r t d u r i n g the pas t twenty y e a r s i s l a r g e l y t r a c e a b l e t o i t s f e e b l e c o n t a c t s w i t h the l i f e o f the p e o p l e . . . . The r e s u l t s have been f r u s t r a t i o n f o r the p e o p l e and d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t among those who s u f f e r f rom c o n t i n u i n g waste and muddle . \" E . M. N i c h o l s o n INTRODUCTION No ideology has dominated the planning profession more than the one r e f l e c t e d i n the f a m i l i a r town planning concept, \"Survey, Analysis and Plan.\" This indeed has been the motto of almost a l l the planners, e s p e c i a l l y those who are concerned with planning at the municipal level.\"\"\" In recent years, t h i s ideology has led to the myth of the \"master plan\" which i s supposed to be a comprehensive document dealing with the long-p range planning problems of a community. Planning l e g i s l a t i o n throughout Canada and the United States suggests that the fore-most r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of the municipal planner i s to prepare a master plan. This attitude i s c l e a r l y r e f l e c t e d i n a recent resolution unanimously passed by the Community Planning Associa-t i o n of Canada: ... a l l urban and r u r a l municipalities should have a plan of t h e i r long-range o v e r a l l development prepared by t h e i r o f f i c i a l s and t h e i r planning boards and then approved by t h e i r c ouncil.^ One reason why the r e s o l u t i o n was passed unanimously and without any discussion i s perhaps that everyone present had his 1 Holford, W.G., i n APPR, Town and Country Planning Text Book, London, A r c h i t e c t u r a l Press, 1 9 5 0 , pp. V-IX. 2 See Chapter 1 . 3 Community Planning News, No. 6 , 1 9 5 7» p. 1 3 * own concept o f the \"master p l a n \" . But t h e r e i s a l s o the r e a s o n tha t the g e n e r a l i d e a o f the \"master p l a n \" has ga ined such u n q u a l i f i e d acceptance i n the p l a n n i n g p r o f e s s i o n t h a t to q u e s t i o n i t would have been indeed d a r i n g , t o s a y the l e a s t . Those w i t h a f a n a t i c a l b e l i e f i n the \"master p l a n \" would have l o o k e d upon such a q u e s t i o n as b e i n g p r e p o s t e r o u s . B e l i e f i n the master p l a n i s not l i m i t e d to e x p e r t s i n p l a n n i n g nor i s i t c o n f i n e d to l a r g e urban c e n t e r s . There i s a g e n e r a l b e l i e f i n a l l the s m a l l B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a communit ies w i t h wh ich the w r i t e r i s f a m i l i a r , t h a t a community cannot do any p l a n n i n g u n l e s s i t has a comprehensive l o n g - r a n g e master p l a n f o r i t s f u t u r e deve lopment . I t i s b e l i e v e d t h a t i n o r d e r t o do any p l a n n i n g , one must s t a r t w i t h s u c h a p l a n . H e n c e , some communit ies have h a s t i l y p r e p a r e d d r a m a t i c and s p e c t a c u l a r p l a n s t h a t have no hope o f b e i n g r e a l i z e d , w h i l e o t h e r s have postponed t h e i r development \" u n t i l a f t e r we have a master p l a n p r e p a r e d . \" I n e i t h e r c a s e , the r e s u l t i s t h a t v e r y l i t t l e p l a n n i n g has been a c c o m p l i s h e d . The b a s i c d i f f i c u l t y w i t h those who have a s t r o n g f a i t h i n the master p l a n i s t h a t t h e y have f a i l e d t o r e a l i z e t h a t p l a n n i n g i s not m e r e l y \" s u r v e y , a n a l y s i s and p l a n \" nor i s i t mere ly \" l o o k i n g a h e a d . \" A community can have a thousand p l a n s p r e p a r e d and i t can keep l o o k i n g ahead t i l l dooms d a y , but i f no c o n c r e t e a c t i o n has been t a k e n , no p l a n n i n g has been done i n the community. The i l l u s i o n tha t a community has -3-accompl ished some p l a n n i n g I f i t has p r e p a r e d a master p l a n i s s i m i l a r t o the i l l u s i o n e n t e r t a i n e d by a p e r s o n who t h i n k s t h a t he has done some t r a v e l l i n g i f he has bought a r a i l w a y t i c k e t . P l a n n i n g , as d i s t i n g u i s h e d from p l a n mak ing , t h e n , must be l o o k e d upon as a p a r t o f the p r o c e s s o f community d e v e l o p -4 ment. T h i s p r o c e s s need not be d e l a y e d because o f the l a c k o f means f o r o b t a i n i n g t h o r o u g h n e s s . F . F . G a r d i n e r , Cha i rman o f the T o r o n t o M e t r o p o l i t a n C o u n c i l , emphasized t h i s p o i n t when he s a i d , \"we found t h a t i f you wa i t u n t i l you have an o v e r a l l p l a n f o r e v e r y t h i n g , you w i l l wind up w i t h n o t h i n g . A s i m i l a r p o i n t o f v iew was e x p r e s s e d by H . N . L a s h when he s a i d t h a t a c c o r d i n g to h i s e x p e r i e n c e i n p l a n n i n g f o r s m a l l communi-t i e s i n A l b e r t a , i f s u c c e s s f u l p l a n n i n g means the c o n t i n u i n g i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f a complete \" g e n e r a l p l a n \" , t h e n p l a n n i n g has been s u c c e s s f u l i n o n l y f o u r o f the t w e n t y - f i v e towns f o r wh ich \" g e n e r a l p l a n s \" were p r e p a r e d by h i s depar tment . C o n t r a r y to the g e n e r a l b e l i e f , p l a n n i n g i n a s m a l l com-muni ty i s much more d i f f i c u l t a t a s k t h a n p l a n n i n g i n a l a r g e c i t y . Some o f the problems w h i c h he f a c e d i n s m a l l communit ies 4 See C h a p t e r V . 5 G a r d i n e r , F . F . , M e t r o p o l i t a n T o r o n t o , an address g i v e n t o the Annua l Mee t ing o f the F e d e r a l C i t y C o u n c i l , W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . Oc tober 8, 1956, p . 8. 6 L a s h , H . N . , \" P l a n n i n g A d m i n i s t r a t i o n i n S m a l l Towns,\" Com-muni ty P l a n n i n g News, No. 5» 1954, p . 6. - 4 -in Alberta were summarized by H.N. Lash in the following words: While our experience indicates that the planning survey can be done In a smaller place more accurately and at proportionately less cost than in a larger center, the latter has the advantage over the former when i t comes to the preparation of the plan. Except for the amount of time required, the preparation of the master plan is more difficult in the small center. This is due to the simple fact that i t is so difficult to predict popula-tion trends and developments In the small place ... data may be scarce or non-existent. Even with the precise data available, the small town is so much affected by migration, in and out, and so sensitive to fluctuations in the local and regional economy, no population predic-tion is very safe. We have seen towns grow at the rate of 20 per cent a year for several years, drop to a flat zero for a couple more, then pick up again to say, 5 per cent. This sort of wild variation doesn't occur in the larger centers.7 Difficulties for planning in small communities in British Columbia are much the same as they are in Alberta. These are discussed in detail in Chapters II, III and IV under the categor-ies of political, economic, and social, respectively. In view of the political, economic, and social diff i c u l -ties for preparing and implementing master plans, and In view of certain peculiarities of small communities in British Columbia, the present study concludes that a fanatical belief in the myth of the master plan must be abandoned. And a new approach, empha-sizing planning as a part of the community development process, must be adopted. Such an approach, described in Chapter V, will 7 Lash, H.N., \"Small Town Planning Problems,\" Planning 1955, Montreal, ASPO, 1955, pp. 178-79. -5-r e q u i r e much more o r g a n i z a t i o n and p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n p l a n n i n g t h a n e x i s t s at p r e s e n t , at the l o c a l l e v e l . I t w i l l p l a c e g r e a t e r emphasis on e d u c a t i o n than on l e g i s l a t i o n . C h a p t e r I The M a s t e r P l a n A p p r o a c h t o P l a n n i n g \"Any c i t y p l a n t h a t i s not d e f i n i t e , o f f i c i a l and d e t a i l e d w i l l not pe rmi t us to c o o r d i n a t e our i n d u s t r i a l b u i l d i n g , sewer l i n e s , p a r k s o r s c h o o l s as each o f t h e s e i s b u i l t . \" H . Bartholomew As p o i n t e d out i n the I n t r o d u c t i o n to the p r e s e n t s t u d y , p l a n n i n g i n r e c e n t yea rs has been dominated by the master p l a n idea\"*\" t o such a g r e a t e x t e n t t h a t the approach to i t may w e l l be c a l l e d \" the master p l a n a p p r o a c h . \" Almost u n i v e r s a l a c c e p t -ance o f the g e n e r a l i d e a of the master p l a n , however , does not mean t h a t t h e r e i s a u n i v e r s a l agreement on the p r e c i s e concept o f the master p l a n ; on the c o n t r a r y , i t means d i f f e r e n t t h i n g s t o d i f f e r e n t p e o p l e . S i n c e the u n d e r l y i n g t h e s i s o f the p r e s e n t s t u d y i s t h a t the master p l a n approach t o p l a n n i n g i s not 1 A c c o r d i n g to B a s s e t t the term \"master p l a n \" was f i r s t used i n a r e p o r t c a l l e d \"Recent New York L e g i s l a t i o n f o r the P l a n n i n g o f U n b u i l t A r e a s , R e g i o n a l P l a n o f New York and E n v i r o n s , 1926.\" ( B a s s e t t , E . M . , The M a s t e r P l a n . New Y o r k , R u s s e l l S a g e , 1938, p . 80.) The f o l l o w i n g terms have a l s o been used t o denote the g e n e r a l concept o f the master p l a n : town p l a n , c i t y p l a n , mun i -c i p a l p l a n , l o n g range p l a n , development p l a n , l o n g range com-p r e h e n s i v e p l a n , g e n e r a l community p l a n , community p lan ' , o f f i c i a l p l a n , o f f i c i a l c o m m u n i t y . p l a n , p l a n n i n g scheme and p l a n . I n C a n a d a , community p l a n and o f f i c i a l p l a n are p r e f e r r e d i n most o f the p r o v i n c i a l p l a n n i n g A c t s . A l t h o u g h the terms i n d i c a t e g r e a t e r emphasis on some a s p e c t s t h a n on the o t h e r s , t h e r e i s l i t t l e d i f f e r e n c e i n the g e n e r a l concept o r the i d e a o f the master p l a n . E m p i r i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f v a r i o u s p l a n s and p l a n -ming A c t s c l e a r l y b e a r s t h i s o u t . -7-a p p l i c a b l e t o s m a l l communities i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , i t i s neces-s a r y f i r s t t o a n a l y s e t h e concept o f t h e master p l a n : how i t d e v e l o p e d and what i t means t o v a r i o u s a u t h o r i t i e s concerned w i t h p l a n n i n g a t t h e m u n i c i p a l l e v e l . C oncepts i n s o c i a l s c i e n c e s are c o n s t a n t l y b e i n g r e v i s e d i n the l i g h t o f changing c i r c u m s t a n c e s . Take f o r example t h e concept o f \" t a x a t i o n \" . D u r i n g m e d i a e v a l t i m e s , the i d e a was t h a t o f a g i f t . The i n d i v i d u a l made a p r e s e n t t o t h e g o v e r n -ment. D u r i n g t h e second s t a g e , t h e government humbly i m p l o r e d o r prayed the p e o p l e f o r s u p p o r t i n o r d e r t o e n a b l e t h e g o v e r n -ment t o f u l f i l i t s r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . W i t h t h e t h i r d s t a g e we came t o t h e i d e a o f a s s i s t a n c e t o t h e s t a t e . The f o u r t h s t a g e brought out t h e i d e a o f s a c r i f i c e by t h e i n d i v i d u a l i n t h e i n t e r e s t o f t h e s t a t e . W i t h t h e f i f t h s t a g e , the f e e l i n g o f o b l i g a t i o n o r d u t y came i n t o e x i s t s n c e . I t i s not u n t i l t h e s i x t h s t a g e t h a t we meet t h e i d e a o f c o m p u l s i o n o r i m p o s i t i o n on t h e p a r t o f t h e s t a t e . F i n a l l y , t h e i d e a o f r a t e o r a s s e s s -ment f i x e d o r e s t i m a t e d was now i n t h e s e v e n t h s t a g e . The f u n c t i o n o f t a x a t i o n at each one o f t h e s e s t a g e s i s c l e a r l y r e -2 f l e e t e d i n t h e t e r m i n o l o g y t h a t was used t o denote t h e c o n c e p t . The u t i l i t y o f an i d e a , t h e r e f o r e , may be r e c o g n i z e d and the g e n e r a l i d e a may be a c c e p t e d w i t h o u t f i r s t h a v i n g t o formu-l a t e a c o n c i s e d e f i n i t i o n o f i t s c o n c e p t . I n t h e absence o f a 2 F o r more e l a b o r a t e d i s c u s s i o n o f the s u b j e c t see S e l i g m a n , E.R., E s s a y s i n T a x a t i o n , New Y o r k , M a c m i l l a n , 1 9 2 1 , pp. 5 - 6 . -8-r i g i d d e f i n i t i o n and o f f i c i a l c o d i f i c a t i o n the contents and f u n c t i o n o f a concept, on the o t h e r hand, might be changed from time t o time while the terminology denoting t h a t concept remains unchanged. Concept of the master p l a n today f a l l s i n t h i s l a t t e r c a t e g o r y . P l a n n i n g l e g i s l a t i o n throughout the world has made use o f the g e n e r a l i d e a denoted by the phrase \"master p l a n \" and yet there i s no u n i v e r s a l agreement as to i t s 3 p r e c i s e d e f i n i t i o n , f u n c t i o n or c o n t e n t s . As C h a r l e s Haar has r e c e n t l y p o i n t e d out, i n the absence of a p r e c i s e d e f i n i t i o n of the master p l a n , i t i s d i f f i c u l t to \" ... a p p r a i s e the a p p r o p r i a t e n e s s o f the l e g a l accommodation i t has r e c e i v e d . \" F o r the purpose o f the present study, how-ever, i t i s not necessary to go i n t o the d e t a i l e d a n a l y s i s o f the master p l a n concept, f o r our main concern i s w i t h the g e n e r a l i d e a and not i t s minute d e t a i l s which might be o f a g r e a t e r i n t e r e s t to the lawyer o r the p h i l o l o g i s t . I t would s u f f i c e , then, to have a b r i e f o u t l i n e o f what are u s u a l l y c o n s i d e r e d the main f u n c t i o n s of the master p l a n at the m u n i c i p a l l e v e l . The f o l l o w i n g c l a s s i f i c a t i o n i s intended to show some aspects o f the master p l a n which have been emphasized by l e g i s -l a t o r s and e x p e r t s i n p l a n n i n g . The c a t e g o r i e s are by no means 3 F o r f u r t h e r r e f e r e n c e see Haar, CM., \"Master P l a n ; An Impermanent C o n s t i t u t i o n , \" Law and Contemporary Problems. Duke U n i v e r s i t y S c h o o l o f Law, v o l . XX, No. 3> Summer 1955? p. 354, f o o t n o t e No. 4. 4 I b i d . , p. 354. - 9 -mutually e x c l u s i v e . For example, a master p l a n may be thought of as a reference as w e l l as a statement of the aims and objec-t i v e s of the community. But the r e l a t i v e importance attached to each of these f u n c t i o n s i s seldom the same. The a n a l y s i s does not f o l l o w a c h r o n o l o g i c a l sequence o f development stages i n the master p l a n concept. 1. The Master P l a n as a Reference According to E.M. B a s s e t t , who i s considered \" f a t h e r \" of the master p l a n concept, a master p l a n should be used o n l y as a re f e r e n c e . I t should c o n t a i n i n f o r m a t i o n p e r t a i n i n g to the f o l l o w i n g seven elements of the community: s t r e e t s , parks, s i t e s f o r p u b l i c b u i l d i n g s , p u b l i c u t i l i t i e s , p u b l i c r e s e r v a -t i o n s , harbour l i n e s and zoning d i s t r i c t s . Budgeting and f i x -i n g the time f o r beginning v a r i o u s improvements are not consid-ered to be the elements of the master plan.5 Furthermore, Bassett suggests that the master p l a n should never be adopted by any o f f i c i a l body w i t h the p o s s i b l e exception of the advisory planning commission. . I t s adoption by the l e g i s l a t i v e body i . e . , the mu n i c i p a l c o u n c i l , i s objected to on the grounds that i t becomes r a t h e r r i g i d and d i f f i c u l t to change. Bassett i n s i s t s t h a t the commission and not the p l a n should be the advisors of the l e g i s l a t i v e body and v a r i o u s muni-c i p a l departments. The f u n c t i o n of the master p l a n i s f u r t h e r 5 B a s s e t t , 0£. c i t . , p. 51• 6 I b i d . , p. 61. 10 limited i n that i t should only be concerned with publicly owned property. For example, according to Bassett, the master plan's functions should never be extended to include such f a c i l i t i e s as private parking. If the master plan i s to be used only for reference pur-poses, i t would appear that i t s main u t i l i t y i s that i t contains important data on various aspects of the community. The plan i s l i t t l e more than an inventory of the existing community f a c i l i t i e s or a comprehensive survey of the community — to be kept within the forewalls of the planning commission office. Such a limited concept of the master plan i s completely out of date and there are few planners today who w i l l agree with Bassett. 2. The Master Plan as a Guide 7 Concept of the master plan as a guide places a greater emphasis on the positive directional force of the plan and widens i t s scope to include private as well as public property. Prob-lems emerging from the \"inventory\" of the community's assets and l i a b i l i t i e s are recognized and solutions for these problems are discussed i n the day-to-day deliberations of the council and various municipal departments. In addition, the conclusions emerging from these discussions may themselves i n i t i a t e positive 7 Although this concept has not been clearly isolated and de-fined, Alfred Bettman's views seem to approximate this concept much more than that of any other authority. See Bettman, A . , City and Regional Planning Papers, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1946. - 1 1 -* p l a n n i n g a c t i o n i n the community. A c c o r d i n g t o Bet tman, who advocates t h i s v i e w : The master p l a n , when p r o p e r l y c o n c e i v e d , i s a p l a n s e t t i n g f o r t h the g e n e r a l l o c a t i o n o f the c i t y o r o t h e r u n i t f o r a c o n s i d e r a b l e p e r i o d o f t i m e . I t embodies the i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s between the d i f f e r -ent f u n c t i o n a l c l a s s e s o f p u b l i c improvements , s t r e e t s , p a r k s , r i v e r f r o n t , s t r u c t u r e s ; and l o c a -t i o n s o f r e s i d e n t i a l , b u s i n e s s and i n d u s t r i a l e t c . areas based on s t u d i e s o f the needs t h r o u g h a c o n -s i d e r a b l e p e r i o d o f t ime . . . g Bettman does not deny the u t i l i t y o f the master p l a n as a r e f e r e n c e . F o r example , a c c o r d i n g t o h i s c o n c e p t , whenever the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n department o f a m u n i c i p a l i t y p roposes t o b u i l d a s t r e e t , i t submits the l o c a t i o n to the p l a n n i n g agency * f o r a p p r o v a l . The p l a n n i n g agency checks i t a g a i n s t e x t e n s i v e p l a n n i n g d a t a t o determine the economic and s o c i a l j u s t i f i c a t i o n s f o r the proposed s t r e e t at t h a t l o c a t i o n . Then i t sends i n a r e p o r t t o the c i t y c o u n c i l o r o t h e r l e g i s l a t i v e body . The c o u n c i l t a k e s the r e p o r t i n t o account i n t h e i r a c t i o n . Up to t h i s p o i n t t h e r e seems t o be complete agreement between the v iews h e l d by B a s s e t t and those h e l d by Bettman on the concept o f the master p l a n . But a d i s t i n c t p o i n t o f d e p a r -t u r e i s reached when Bettman argues t h a t i n o r d e r t o make changes t o the p l a n , the c o u n c i l c a n o v e r r i d e the d e c i s i o n o f the p l a n -n i n g commiss ion o n l y by not l e s s than t w o - t h i r d s o f the v o t e s 8 Bet tman, p_p_. c i t . , p . 42 . - 1 2 -o f the e n t i r e membership o f c o u n c i l (and not mere ly a m a j o r i t y o f t w o - t h i r d s o f those who happen to be p r e s e n t on a g i v e n d a y ) ? B a s s e t t , on the o t h e r hand , r e j e c t s such a p r o v i s i o n on t h e grounds t h a t i t g i v e s the p l a n n i n g commiss ion a p o t e n t i a l power t o thwart the p o l i c i e s o f an e l e c t e d m a j o r i t y i n the c o u n c i l . D e s p i t e t h i s d isagreement w i t h B a s s e t t , Bettman does not go as f a r as s u g g e s t i n g tha t the master p l a n has to be adopted by the c o u n c i l . He s t a t e s t h a t \" . . . t h e r e i s no need f o r the master p l a n t o be ac ted upon by the l e g i s l a t i v e body and , i n d e e d , I t h i n k the b e t t e r p o l i c y i s t h a t i t be not so ac ted upon . . . . I t s f u n c t i o n i s t h a t o f b e i n g a gu ide . . . The use o f the master p l a n as a gu ide and i t s a p p l i c a t i o n s are made when s t e p s o f an a d m i n i s t r a t i v e o r l e g i s l a t i v e n a t u r e , i n t e n d e d to have l e g a l e f f e c t , come t o be t a k e n . Under the concept o f the master p l a n as a g u i d e , t h e n , the main emphasis i s s t i l l on the p r e s e n t and f o r e s e e a b l e f u t u r e needs o f the community. The r e s u l t s to be a c h i e v e d are determined m a i n l y by the f a c t o r s and f e a t u r e s o f the p r e s e n t community. The end r e s u l t o f the p l a n n i n g . a c t i v i t y i s not the g o a l s but the outcome o f the p l a n n i n g e f f o r t o f the community. H e n c e , t h i s outcome i s s u b j e c t t o change i f the s o c i a l , p o l i t i c a l , economic and o t h e r f a c t o r s and f e a t u r e s o f the community wh ich determine t h a t outcome, were t o be changed . 9 Bet tman, op., c i t . , p . 9» 10 I b i d . , p p . 4 2 - 4 3 . -13-I n a d d i t i o n to the f a c t o r o f t ime t h a t has been added t o the concept o f the master p l a n as a g u i d e , t h e r e i s another d i m e n s i o n t h a t has been added under t h i s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n . T h i s new d i m e n s i o n i s the comprehensiveness o f the p l a n . T h e o r e t i -c a l l y , i t i s p o s s i b l e tha t the na ture o f the problems a r i s i n g f rom the a n a l y s i s o f the community may r e q u i r e a comprehensive s o l u t i o n o r an o v e r a l l approach f o r s o l v i n g community p r o b l e m s . P r o v i s i o n f o r the b u i l d i n g o f a new r o a d , f o r i n s t a n c e , may s e t up a c h a i n p r o c e s s such as p a s s i n g s e t - b a c k r e g u l a t i o n s , c o n -t r o l l i n g s u b d i v i s i o n o f l a n d , c l o s i n g some o f the e x i s t i n g s t r e e t s and c o n s t r u c t i o n o f new community p r o j e c t s . In o t h e r words , a p r o j e c t may become f u l l y u s e f u l on the c o n d i t i o n t h a t s e v e r a l o t h e r p r o j e c t s are c a r r i e d out i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h i t . * H e n c e , the concept o f the master p l a n becomes a l i t t l e more complex under t h i s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n t h a n i t was i n the p r e v i o u s o n e . 3» Concept o f the M a s t e r P l a n as a Statement o f O b j e c t i v e s . The concept o f the master p l a n e n t e r s a c o m p l e t e l y new - e r a under t h i s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s i n c e the emphasis i s s h i f t e d f rom the p r e s e n t to the f u t u r e . As a statement o f o b j e c t i v e s , the master p l a n s e t s s p e c i f i c g o a l s at a d e f i n i t e t ime i n the f u t u r e . The need f o r such a s h i f t i s v a g u e l y r e c o g n i z e d by Bettman but he e x p r e s s e s i t w i t h extreme care and h e s i t a t i o n s In o r d e r t h a t p l a n n i n g may t u r n i n t o r e a l i t y we need a t e c h n i q u e o f some k i n d whereby the a c t u a l c o n s t r u c t i o n Is i n accordance not m e r e l y w i t h the n e g a t i v e n o n - d e p a r t u r e f rom the p l a n , but 14-a l s o w i t h the a c t u a l p o s i t i v e c a r r y i n g out o f the p l a n i n the course o f t ime i n accordance w i t h the c h r o n o l o g y which i s made p a r t o f the p l a n . n The c r e d i t f o r f u l l y d e v e l o p i n g the concept o f the master p l a n as a s ta tement o f o b j e c t i v e s must go t o R. G . T u g w e l l . A c c o r d i n g t o h i m , \" E f f e c t i v e n e s s c o n s i s t s o f b e i n g ab le t o d e f i n e 12 o b j e c t i v e s and ach ieve them.\" Almost a l l the master p l a n s (see b i b l i o g r a p h y ) t h a t have been s t u d i e d f o r the purpose o f the p r e s e n t t h e s i s \" . . . se t f o r t h at one p o i n t o f t ime the aims and g o a l s o f the c o m m u n i t y , ^ t o borrow a statement f rom a t y p i c a l example . The aims and g o a l s , o f c o u r s e , d i f f e r f rom community t o community but the g e n e r a l i d e a i s the same. In a l l c a s e s an e f f o r t i s made to v i s u a l i z e a d e s i r a b l e p i c t u r e o f the community i n the f u t u r e and t h a t image i s adopted as the g o a l o f the community. The more amb i t ious the g o a l s and the more p e r s i s t e n t i s the community, the more s t r e n u o u s i s the p r o c e s s t h r o u g h wh ich the community must go i n o r d e r to ach ieve t h e s e g o a l s . S e t t i n g o f the g o a l s , however , does not n e c e s s a r i l y p r e -c l u d e the p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t the g o a l s might be i n accordance w i t h 11 Bet tman, op., c i t . , p . 11. 12 T u g w e l l , R . G . , The P l a c e o f P l a n n i n g i n S o c i e t y , San J u a n , P u e r t o Rico. , P u e r t o R i c o P l a n n i n g B o a r d , 1954-, p . 20. See a l s o M i l n e r , J . B . , \" I n t r o d u c t i o n t o Mas te r P l a n L e g i s l a t i o n , \" The C a n a d i a n Bar Rev iew, v o l . XXXVI , No. 10, D e c . 1957» p . 11J47 13 Hayward, C i t y o f , Hayward P r e p a r e s a M a s t e r P l a n f o r F u t u r e Development , Hayward, 1953> P^ 4. -15-the desires and wishes of the community. Nor is the value of the preliminary surveys and community participation to be under-14 estimated. But the fact remains that the \"view\" of the future is constantly kept in mind, and a l l the subsequent developments within the community are evaluated with reference to the goals of the community. Any development which takes the community nearer to these goals is thought to be desirable and is encouraged by the community and any development which delays the achievement of these goals is thought to be undesir-able and is discouraged by the community. In a rather philo-sophical manner Tugwell states that the most important useful-ness of the \"development plan\" lies in the fact that ... i t establishes an operating harmony, a coordina-tive smoothness, a successfully functioning Gestalt in the present ... by picturing an objectively arrived at, meticulously examined, and generally agreed, view of the future. As new emergents are taken into account the view of the future shifts, and the new view is transmitted back as an influence on the present.15 Needless to say, excessive concentration on a \"view\" of the future will make the planner somewhat of a mystic — espec-ia l l y when his view of the future is not seen by most of the people. 14 Tugwell, R.G., A Study of Planning as Scientific Endeavour. Chicago, University of Chicago, 194-8, pp. 37-40. See also the following articles by R.G. Tugwell: \"The Directive,\" Journal of Social Philosophy and Jurisprudence, vol. VII, No. 1, Oct. 1941; \"The Fourth Power,\" Planning and Civic Comment, April-June 1939; \"The Superpolitical,\" Journal of Social Philosophy, vol. V, No. 2, January, 1940, pp. 97-114. 15 Ibid., p. 41 -16-Under t h i s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , t h e n , a new d i m e n s i o n e n t e r s the p i c t u r e o f the master p l a n — a v i e w o f the community i n the f u t u r e and a c o n s c i o u s e f f o r t t o m a t e r i a l i z e t h a t v i e w . In some c a s e s , t h i s may i n v o l v e d r a s t i c changes i n the communi-t y ' s way o f l i f e . I t may even i n v o l v e changes i n the b a s i c s o c i a l and c u l t u r a l v a l u e s o f the community. A u t h o r i t i e s d i s a g r e e as t o whether such fundamenta l changes f a l l w i t h i n the l e g i t i m a t e r o l e o f the p l a n n e r . A c c o r d i n g t o T u g w e l l , p l a n n i n g , t o be s u c c e s s f u l , must have d e f i n i t e g o a l s but a c c o r d -i n g t o another a u t h o r i t y i n p l a n n i n g . . . i t i s a fundamenta l m is take t o suppose t h a t the f u n c t i o n o f p l a n n i n g i s to s u p p l y , w i t h i n f i v e o r t e n y e a r s o r any t ime l i m i t , the i d e a l c o n d i t i o n s f o r l i v i n g e i t h e r f o r the town as a whole o r f o r any o f i t s c o n s t i t u e n t n e i g h b o u r h o o d s . The u l t i m a t e o b j e c t i v e shou ld be t o f o s t e r the growth o f a community which w i l l p o s s e s s the means t o get t o know and e x p r e s s i t s n e e d s , and t o d i r e c t the day t o day p r o c e s s w i t h i n i t so t h a t i t s purpose may be f i l l e d i n adequate m e a s u r e . ^ Whatever the case may be on the r e g i o n a l o r n a t i o n a l l e v e l , i t seems wrong t o suppose t h a t each community — even the s m a l l e s t v i l l a g e o r hamlet — s h o u l d se t i t s own g o a l s f o r the f u t u r e e s p e c i a l l y when i t has l i t t l e c o n t r o l o v e r the f o r c e s and p r e s s u r e s wh ich determine i t s f u t u r e . E x p e r i e n c e 16 U n i v e r s i t y o f L i v e r p o o l , Department o f S o c i a l S c i e n c e s , S o c i a l A s p e c t s o f a Town Development P l a n , L i v e r p o o l , U n i v e r -s i t y o f L i v e r p o o l P r e s s , 1951, p . 8. -17 -i n the p a s t has shown t h a t communi t i es , e s p e c i a l l y the s m a l l o n e s , have a t endency t o o v e r e s t i m a t e t h e i r r e s o u r c e s . Hence the g o a l s t h a t they s e t are f a r too a m b i t i o u s t o be a c h i e v e d w i t h t h e i r l i m i t e d means. Innumerable p l a n s i n the p a s t have f a i l e d t o a c h i e v e any r e s u l t s p r e c i s e l y f o r t h i s r e a s o n . Such p l a n s have not o n l y brought f r u s t r a t i o n to the communit ies whose dreams t h e y were supposed t o f u l f i l , but t h e y have a l s o earned the i g n o b l e t i t l e o f \"dreamers and v i s i o n a r i e s \" f o r the p l a n n e r s . 1 ^ 4 . Concept o f the M a s t e r P l a n as S c h e d u l e d Programme o f Development The l a t e s t s tage o f the master p l a n c o n c e p t , as r e f l e c t e d i n the Newfoundland Urban and R u r a l P l a n n i n g A c t o f 1953? i s '' i t s acceptance by the c o u n c i l as a programme o f development 18 o v e r a p e r i o d o f t i m e . A f t e r the p l a n has been approved by the P r o v i n c i a l Government, i t becomes \" . . . b i n d i n g upon the a u t h o r i z e d c o u n c i l and upon a l l o t h e r p e r s o n s , p a r t n e r s h i p s , a s s o c i a t i o n s o r o t h e r o r g a n i z a t i o n s whatsoever t o a l l i n t e n t s 19 and purposes . . . \" The Newfoundland A c t a l s o p r o v i d e s f o r s t r i c t z o n i n g and s u b d i v i s i o n r e g u l a t i o n s f o r the i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f a \" m u n i c i p a l p l a n \" . C a p i t a l b u d g e t i n g has been made an 17 W i l s o n , J . W . , \"The Layman i n P l a n n i n g , \" Community P l a n - n i n g News, No. 3, 1957, p . 4 . 18 Newfoundland, Urban and R u r a l P l a n n i n g A c t , 1953, S t . J o h n ' s , Queen 's P r i n t e r , 1953, S e c t i o n s 12, 13, 26. 19 I b i d . , s e c t i o n 27. -18-i n t e g r a l p a r t o f the p l a n i t s e l f . S p e c i f i c p r o v i s i o n s r e g a r d -i n g the na tu re o f the \" m u n i c i p a l p l a n \" are s t a t e d as f o l l o w s : ' E v e r y M u n i c i p a l P l a n s h a l l c o n t a i n p r o p o s a l s f o r such g e n e r a l development o f the M u n i c i p a l A r e a as c a n be f o r e s e e n f o r a p e r i o d not exceed ing t e n y e a r s from the date o f the c o m p l e t i o n o f the M u n i c i p a l P l a n and s h a l l be d e s i g n e d to c o o r d i n a t e the p u b l i c purposes o f the a u t h o r i z e d C o u n c i l t h a t bear upon urban development so as t o a c h i e v e the common w e l l - b e i n g o f the community and t o conserve the f i n a n c i a l and m a t e r i a l r e s o u r c e s o f the M u n i c i p a l A r e a and w i thout l i m i t i n g the g e n e r a l -i t y o f the f o r e g o i n g s h a l l c o n t a i n (a) a p l a n i l l u s t r a t i n g ( i ) the proposed network o f s t r e e t s s u f f i c i e n t t o c a r r y the volume o f t r a f f i c p a s s i n g o v e r them; ( i i ) the proposed d i s p o s i t i o n o f p u b l i c b u i l d i n g s ; ( i i i ) the proposed d i s t r i b u t i o n o f p u b l i c open s p a c e s ; and ( i v ) the expec ted use o f the s t r e e t s , b u i l d i n g s and open spaces r e f e r r e d to i n the subparagraphs from subparagraphs ( i ) t o and i n c l u d i n g s u b -paragraph ( i i i ) ; (b) a scheme f o r the use o f a l l l a n d w i t h i n the M u n i c i p a l A r e a i l l u s t r a t e d by a p l a n showing i n d e t a i l the g e n -e r a l l a n d use and a schedu le s e t t i n g f o r t h i n d e t a i l the use o f the l a n d and the e x i s t i n g r e g u l a t i o n s gov -e r n i n g the development of l a n d i n the M u n i c i p a l A r e a ; (c ) a proposed program o f p u b l i c works r e l a t i n g t o s t r e e t s , p u b l i c b u i l d i n g s , p u b l i c open spaces and u t i l i t i e s wh ich shou ld be under taken by the a p p r o p r i a t e a u t h o r -i t i e s d u r i n g the p e r i o d covered by the M u n i c i p a l P l a n i n o r d e r to implement the M u n i c i p a l P l a n and a t ime t a b l e i n d i c a t i n g when such p u b l i c works shou ld be completed and an e s t i m a t e o f the c a p i t a l c o s t t h e r e o f ; (d) a program s e t t i n g f o r t h the o r d e r i n wh ich any p a r t o r p a r t s o f the development p r o v i d e d f o r i n the M u n i -c i p a l P l a n i s t o be c a r r i e d out and the o r d e r i n wh ich any d e s i g n a t e d p a r t s o f the a r e a i n c l u d e d i n the M u n i c i p a l P l a n i s t o be s u p p l i e d w i t h l i g h t , water and sewerage, s t r e e t s , t r a n s i t and o t h e r f a c i l -i t i e s ; and -19 -(e) a p r o p o s a l showing i n d e t a i l the method o f f i n a n c i n g any works and expenses to be i n c u r r e d i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h o r I n c i d e n t a l t o the c a r r y i n g out o f the d e v e l o p ment contempla ted i n the M u n i c i p a l P l a n . ' 2 0 Whether t h i s type o f l e g i s l a t i o n c o n c e r n i n g the master p l a n w i l l p rove s u c c e s s f u l i n Newfoundland o r n o t , o n l y t ime w i l l show, but the s u c c e s s o f s i m i l a r l e g i s l a t i o n i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a i s h i g h l y q u e s t i o n a b l e . I t must be remembered t h a t Newfoundland was, u n t i l 1949» a B r i t i s h C o l o n y and i t s p l a n n i n g l e g i s l a t i o n i s s t r o n g l y i n f l u e n c e d by the B r i t i s h Town and P l a n -n i n g A c t o f 1947. H i s t o r i c a l l y , s m a l l communit ies i n Newfound-l a n d have always r e l i e d on the c e n t r a l (now p r o v i n c i a l ) g o v e r n -21 22 ment more t h a n i n any o t h e r p r o v i n c e . Extreme p o v e r t y o f the p r o v i n c e has a l s o made i t n e c e s s a r y t o c o n t r a l i z e g o v e r n -menta l f u n c t i o n s at the c o s t o f l o c a l autonomy. A c c o r d i n g t o the D i r e c t o r o f Urban and R u r a l P l a n n i n g , the t e c h n i c a l p l a n n e r s at p r e s e n t work ing i n Newfoundland are a l l B r i t i s h and were t r a i n e d i n the U n i t e d K ingdom. T h e i r b a s i c approach to p l a n n i n g problems i n Newfoundland i s a lmost i n v a r i a b l y based upon U n i t e d Kingdom p r o c e d u r e and m e t h o d s . 2 3 f o r these r e a s o n s , the concept 20 Newfoundland, Urban and R u r a l P l a n n i n g A c t . 1953, s e c . 13. 21 C.W. P o w e l l s t a t e s t h a t \" . . . t h e a t t i t u d e s o f the p e o p l e o f Newfoundland toward m u n i c i p a l government has been founded on the f i r m c o n v i c t i o n t h a t the p r o v i n c i a l government i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r l o c a l s e r v i c e s . . . \" (See P o w e l l , C . V / . , i n \" P r o c e e d i n g s o f the F i r s t A n n u a l C o n f e r e n c e o f P u b l i c A d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f C a n a d a , 1949,\" P. 1710 22 A l t h o u g h the s tandard o f l i v i n g has improved c o n s i d e r a b l y s i n c e c o n f e d e r a t i o n , pe r c a p i t a income o f the p e o p l e i n Newfound-l a n d i s s t i l l a p p r o x i m a t e l y h a l f o f what i t i s i n B r i t i s h Columbia . 23 D i r e c t o r o r Urban and R u r a l P l a n n i n g i n Newfoundland i n a l e t t e r to the w r i t e r da ted O c t o b e r 31, 1957. - 2 0 -o f the master p l a n as a scheduled programme o f development i s much more r e a d i l y a c c e p t a b l e to the peop le o f Newfoundland t h a n the p e o p l e o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a * U n f o r t u n a t e l y , the t endency towards an approach t o p l a n -n i n g i n most o f the C a n a d i a n p r o v i n c e s i s towards t h i s approach t o p l a n n i n g . N e a r l y a l l the A c t s o f our P r o v i n c i a l l e g i s l a -t u r e s , tha t s p e l l out the p l a n n i n g d u t i e s o f l o c a l c o u n c i l s , put at the top o f the l i s t , the making o f what i s u s u a l l y c a l l e d \"The O f f i c i a l P l a n . \" 2 4 The master p l a n i s t e n d i n g t o become a \"Maste r\" o f the community i n the l i t e r a l sense o f the w p r d . 2 ^ The new M u n i c i p a l A c t o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a d e f i n e s a \"community p l a n \" q u i t e b r o a d l y , as \" a p l a n f o r the f u t u r e p h y s i c a l development o f a m u n i c i p a l i t y , whether e x p r e s s e d i n d r a w i n g s , r e p o r t s , o r o t h e r w i s e , and whether complete o r p a r -t i a l w i t h r e s p e c t t o the development o f any a r e a o f the m u n i c i -26 p a l i t y , \" And an \" o f f i c i a l community P l a n \" i s d e f i n e d as i n c l u d i n g \"any community P l a n , whether complete o r p a r t i a l , 27 which has been adopted under t h i s D i v i s i o n . \" ' But once an 24 A r m s t r o n g , A l a n , i n Food f o r Thought . C a n a d i a n A s s o c i a t i o n f o r A d u l t E d u c a t i o n , F e b r u a r y 1953, P« »• 25 In Newfoundland, B . C . , Saskatchewan and O n t a r i o , no d e v e l -opments c o n t r a r y t o the p l a n are a l lowed to take p l a c e once i t has been d u l y approved and a d o p t e d . 26 B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , M u n i c i p a l A c t . 1957. V i c t o r i a , Q u e e n ' s P r i n t e r , 1957, s e c . 692. 27 I b i d . , s e c t i o n 692. -21-o f f i c i a l community plan has been adopted the council has no authority \"... to proceed with the undertaking of any project except i n accordance with the procedure and restrictions l a i d 28 down — therefor by this or some other Act.\" To summarize, then, the concept of the master plan shows an increasing tendency towards becoming a scheduled programme of comprehensive long-term development to be completed i n a period of ten or twenty years. Essentially, the master plan visualizes the desirable picture of a community at some time in the future and strives to mold the community i n that image. The philosophy behind such an approach Implies that the future does not only exist but that i t can be created. It assumes that the future of a community can be predicted with reasonable accuracy. But predicting the future is of l i t t l e use unless steps could be taken to change i t . Hence, the exponents of the master plan are forced to make a second assumption: Communi-ties have substantial control over their predictable future and i t i s within their power to change that future. Is the master plan apprpach, as outlined above, suitable 29 for planning i n small communities i n Br i t i s h Columbia? If i t 28 British Columbia, Municipal Act, 1957, section 696. 29 Obviously, It i s impossible to say when a community is small and when i t becomes big. For the purpose of this study, generally speaking, a l l B.C. communities with a population of less than 5>000 are considered small. No attempt has been made to differentiate among the communities that might be \"small\" on the basis of population but \"big\" according to some other c r i -t e r i a such as economic status, physical growth, degree of urban-ization, etc. A l i s t of these communities i s given i n Appendex I. - 2 2 -i s not s u i t a b l e under the p r e s e n t c o n d i t i o n s , what a l t e r n a t i v e t o the t r a d i t i o n a l master p l a n concept might be adopted i n o r d e r to a r r i v e at a more s u i t a b l e approach? The answer t o the f i r s t q u e s t i o n w i l l depend on a c r i t i c a l a n a l y s i s of the p o l i t i c a l , economic and s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e o f s m a l l communit ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . Such an a n a l y s i s i s made i n the S e c o n d , T h i r d , and F o u r t h C h a p t e r s o f the p r e s e n t s t u d y . On the b a s i s o f t h i s a n a l y s i s we s h a l l be i n a p o s i t i o n to answer the second q u e s t i o n . C h a p t e r I I P o l i t i c a l D i f f i c u l t i e s F a c e d by S m a l l Communit ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a \"A t h o r o u g h l y o b j e c t i v e a n a l y s i s o f the whole a r e a o f m u n i c i p a l government , i n i t s r e l a t i o n t o the o v e r a l l s t r u c t u r e o f government and the r e s o u r c e s and needs o f the community as a w h o l e , i s l o n g o v e r d u e . \" C h a r l o t t e W h i t t o n M u n i c i p a l i t i e s i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , as i n the r e s t o f the C a n a d i a n p r o v i n c e s , are the c r e a t i o n s o f the P r o v i n c i a l G o v e r n m e n t . 1 T h e i r powers and d u t i e s can be extended o r c o n -t r a c t e d at the w i l l o f the p r o v i n c i a l l e g i s l a t u r e . However, t h i s does not mean t h a t the m u n i c i p a l governments are mere ly the a d m i n i s t r a t i v e u n i t s o f the p r o v i n c i a l government f o r , d u r i n g the c o u r s e o f t i m e , c e r t a i n f u n c t i o n s have come t o be c l o s e l y I d e n t i f i e d w i t h the l o c a l government . Among t h e s e f u n c t i o n s are the c o l l e c t i o n o f p r o p e r t y t a x e s , p r o v i s i o n f o r e d u c a t i o n , garbage c o l l e c t i o n , l o c a l r e c r e a t i o n and c e r t a i n s o c i a l w e l f a r e s e r v i c e s f o r the peop le l i v i n g w i t h i n the m u n i c i p a l i t y . Any i n t e r f e r e n c e w i t h t h e s e \" l o c a l m a t t e r s \" by the s e n i o r governments i s s t r o n g l y r e s e n t e d . 1 The B r i t i s h Nor th A m e r i c a A c t , passed by the B r i t i s h P a r l i a m e n t on March 2 9 , 1867 , wh ich became e f f e c t i v e on J u l y 1 , I 8 6 7 , gave e x c l u s i v e powers t o the p r o v i n c e s t o d e a l w i t h \" M u n i c i p a l I n s t i t u t i o n s i n the P r o v i n c e . \" See B r i t i s h N o r t h A m e r i c a A c t , S e c t i o n 9 2 , s u b s e c t i o n 8 . - 2 4 -However, f o r some s t r a n g e r e a s o n , m u h i c i p a l i t i e s o f t e n take upon themse lves f u n c t i o n s wh ich are f a r beyond t h e i r l e g i t i m a t e r o l e . An extreme example i s the C i t y o f V a n c o u v e r , where a p e r s o n has to be a C a n a d i a n c i t i z e n b e f o r e he can v o t e 2 i n l o c a l e l e c t i o n s . E v i d e n t l y , the mot ive b e h i n d t h i s r e -quirement i s t h a t i t would i n d u c e p e o p l e t o become C a n a d i a n c i t i z e n s . But s u r e l y the purpose o f l o c a l government i s t o d e a l w i t h mat te rs which are p r i m a r i l y l o c a l i n c h a r a c t e r and not t o make more C a n a d i a n c i t i z e n s . S i m i l a r l y , i t i s l e g i t i m a t e to ask whether l o n g - r a n g e comprehensive p l a n n i n g s h o u l d be c o n s i d e r e d a f u n c t i o n o f l o c a l government i n s m a l l m u n i c i p a l i t i e s and whether t h e s e m u n i c i p a l i t i e s are i n a p o s i t i o n t o d i s c h a r g e t h i s f u n c t i o n . L e t us suppose tha t t h i s type o f p l a n n i n g s h o u l d be c o n s i d e r e d a f u n c t i o n o f the l o c a l government: What, t h e n , are some o f the d i f f i c u l t i e s t h a t the master p l a n approach i s l i k e l y t o f a c e i n s m a l l communit ies? F i r s t o f a l l , i t s h o u l d be p o i n t e d out t h a t more t h a n 99«4 per cent o f the p r o v i n c i a l t e r r i t o r y i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a i s 1 1 u n o r g a n i z e d . \" Such a huge p o r t i o n o f the p r o v i n c e i s under the d i r e c t c o n t r o l o f the p r o v i n c i a l government . I n the absence o f m u n i c i p a l government , a l l t h i s t e r r i t o r y i s l e f t u n a f f e c t e d i f the main r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o p r e p a r e and implement 2 B . C . , Vancouver C h a r t e r , V i c t o r i a , Queen 's P r i n t e r , 1953» s e c t i o n s 8-9. master p l a n s i s p l a c e d on m u n i c i p a l government . I t might be argued t h a t m u n i c i p a l i t i e s c o u l d extend t h e i r b o u n d a r i e s - a c c o r d i n g t o the p r o v i s i o n s o f the new M u n i c i p a l Act-* and thus take ca re o f some o f the u n o r g a n i z e d t e r r i t o r y . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , such an e x t e n s i o n i s not always easy because the M u n i c i p a l A c t r e q u i r e s consent o f at l e a s t \" t h r e e - f i f t h s o f the r e s i d e n t s of the a r e a sought to be i n c l u d e d i n the m u n i c i p a l i t y who are o f the f u l l age o f twenty-one y e a r s and who are owners o f l a n d i n the a r e a , \" as w e l l as consent o f t h r e e - f i f t h s o f the owner e l e c t o r s w i t h i n the m u n i c i p a l i t y . 5 Lower p r o p e r t y t a x e s , l e s s s u p e r v i s i o n and enforcement o f r e g u l a t i o n s and cheaper l a n d are a d d i t i o n a l f a c t o r s which p r e s e n t d i f f i c u l t i e s i n the e x t e n s i o n o f m u n i c i p a l b o u n d a r i e s . The c o m p l e x i t y o f problems f o r e x t e n d i n g m u n i c i p a l b o u n d a r i e s i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a are w e l l i l l u s t r a t e d i n a r e c e n t s tudy by D r . P e t e r O b e r l a n d e r and R . J . C a v e . L a c k o f m u n i c i p a l government i s e s p e c i a l l y s e r i o u s i n the s o - c a l l e d \" s i n g l e - e n t e r p r i s e communi t ies\" ( B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a has the l a r g e s t number o f s u c h communit ies u n i n c o r p o r a t e d i n Canada) where a company i s the e m p l o y e r , the l a n d l o r d , the 3 B . C . , M u n i c i p a l A c t 1957. V i c t o r i a , Q u e e n ' s P r i n t e r , 1957> V i c t o r i a , Queen 's P r i n t e r , 1957? s e c t i o n 21. 4 I b i d . 5 I b i d . . D i v i s i o n (2), P a r t V . 6 O b e r l a n d e r , H . P . and C a v e , R . J . , S h o u l d Kelowna E x t e n d I t s B o u n d a r i e s ? C i t y o f K e l o w n a , August 1957. -26-s t o r e keeper and the government o f the town. (See T a b l e I, p . 27» f o r examples o f s i n g l e - e n t e r p r i s e communi t i es . ) I n many o f these towns, the peop le t h i n k tha t p l a n n i n g i s a r e s p o n s i -b i l i t y o f the company. The company, on the o t h e r h a n d , f e e l s t h a t i t i s a l r e a d y do ing a f a v o u r to the p e o p l e o f the community by p r o v i d i n g employment. Hence , a f o r m a l master p l a n approach t o p l a n n i n g p r o v e s to be u n s u i t a b l e . S e c o n d l y , by i t s v e r y na tu re the master p l a n approach t r i e s to f o r e c a s t the f u t u r e needs and r e q u i r e m e n t s o f a commun-i t y . But the f u t u r e o f s m a l l communit ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a i s e x t r e m e l y d i f f i c u l t t o f o r e c a s t s i n c e i t depends more on developments i n the r e g i o n t h a n on developments w i t h i n the community. F o r example , i n o r d e r to f o r e c a s t the f u t u r e o f a community whose main economic base i s a p u l p m i l l , i t i s f a r more impor tant t o s t u d y the f u t u r e o f the p u l p i n d u s t r y , g o v e r n -ment p o l i c y towards i s s u i n g f o r e s t management l i c e n s e s w i t h i n the r e g i o n and the p o l i c y o f the company, t h a n the l a n d - u s e p a t t e r n o f the community o r i t s f u t u r e aims and o b j e c t i v e s . The f u t u r e o f s m a l l communit ies i s so much dependent on u n c o n t r o l l a b l e f a c t o r s t h a t even a r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l development such as the l o c a t i o n o f a h ighway, a r r i v a l o f a new i n d u s t r y o r the b u i l d i n g o f a b r i d g e c o u l d change the whole p i c t u r e o f the community. To ment ion j u s t a few examples : the v i l l a g e o f Keremeos was moved t o i t s p r e s e n t l o c a t i o n when the C a n a d i a n P a c i f i c R a i l w a y was b u i l t near the v i l l a g e i n 1908} M o r s s e y , C o r b i n , Anyox , Cambourne, C a s s i d y , M o y i e , P h o e n i x , S t a n l e y and H e d l e y became ghos t towns when the mines s u p p o r t i n g them c l o s e d -27-Table I.. Single-enterprise Communities i n Bri t i s h Columbia Year Name of Townsite Main Act i v i t y Population Established Blubber Bay Limestone processing mm mm 1908 Bralorne Gold mining 2,000 1931 Britannia Beach Copper mining 1,600 1900 Caycuse Logging 346 1927 Ceepeecee Fish packing 200 1926 Copper Mountain Copper mining 1,500 1923 Emerald Mine Lead-zinc mining 500 1947 Field National Park Admin. 375 1905 Gordon River Logging -- --Holberg Logging 300 1942 Honeymoon Bay Lumber 750 1943 loco O i l storage 320 1922 James Island Explosives 300 1915 Kitimat Aluminum smelting — 1953 Michel Coal mining 2,000 1898 Namu Fish processing 950 1893 Nickel Plate Gold mining 250 1904 Nitnat Logging • 250 1928 Ocean Falls Pulp and Paper 3,000 1919 Pioneer Gold mining 600 1928 Port Alice Pulp manufacturing 1,000 1917 Port Edward Fish processing 500 --Port McNeill Logging 400 1937 Port Melon Pulp manufacturing 222 1918 Powell River Pulp and paper 2,700 1910 Radium Hot Springs National Park Admin. 50 1927 Sparwood Coal mining 180 1939 Tadanac Ore smelting 479 1922 Torbit Mines Silver mining 150 1947 Tulsequah Copper-lead-zinc mining 274 1951 Wood Fibre Pulp manufacturing 850 1912 Youbou Sawmilling 2,025 1919 Zincton Gold mining 125 1941 S o u r c e : Queens U n i v e r s i t y , I n s t i t u t e o f L o c a l Government, S i n g l e - e n t e r p r i s e Communit ies i n C a n a d a , CM.H.C, 1953, Append ix I. NOTE: The above t a b l e does not i n c l u d e a l l the s i n g l e -e n t e r p r i s e communit ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . - - I n f o r m a t i o n not a v a i l a b l e . - 2 8 -down. Hence , t o p l a n twenty y e a r s ahead o f t ime f o r the f u t u r e o v e r wh ich a community has so l i t t l e c o n t r o l , i s i n d e e d a d i f f i c u l t t a s k . The impact o f a hundred new f a m i l i e s to a medium-s ize town was worked out as f o l l o w s by Dennis 0 ' H a r r o w , e x e c u t i v e d i r e c t o r o f the A m e r i c a n S o c i e t y o f P l a n n i n g O f f i c i a l s : To b e g i n w i t h , i t means about 450 new p e o p l e . They w i l l i n c l u d e about 100 c h i l d r e n , 67 i n grammar s c h o o l , 33 i n h i g h s c h o o l . T h i s c a l l s f o r 22 new rooms i n grade s c h o o l , 1.65 new rooms i n h i g h s c h o o l , whch w i l l c o s t about $120,000. F o u r new t e a c h e r s w i l l have t o be h i r e d . The 100 f a m i l i e s w i l l add about $30,000 a y e a r t o the s c h o o l b u d g e t . B e s i d e s t e a c h e r s , the c i t y w i l l need f o u r - f i f t h s o f a new employee i n the p o l i c e department and two-t h i r d s o f a new f i r e m a n , upping the p o l i c e budget by $4,510 and the f i r e department budget by $2,820. A l l s o r t s o f e x t r a jobs w i l l have t o be done , t o o , f rom c o l l e c t i n g t a x e s t o c o l l e c t i n g g a r b a g e . Add f o u r new c i t y employees at a t o t a l p r i c e o f $12,000 to $15,000. The water department must pump 10,000 g a l l o n s more each d a y . T r a f f i c w i l l be i n c r e a s e d by 140 c a r s and t r u c k s . And the c i t y may have t o add 500 new volumes t o the c i t y l i b r a r y , p a r t o f a v i s i t i n g nurse and a f r a c t i o n o f a c e l l i n the town j a i l . 7 Now, a l a r g e c i t y c a n absorb s u c h changes q u i t e e a s i l y , but not so i n a s m a l l v i l l a g e . T h e r e f o r e , when such changes o c c u r i n a s m a l l v i l l a g e , a master p l a n , no mat te r how good i t I s , would have to be c o m p l e t e l y d i s c a r d e d : a r e v i s i o n would not d o . 7 0 'Harrow, D . , Quoted by Marx , H . L . , Community P l a n n i n g , New Y o r k , W i l s o n , 1956, p . 79. -29-T h i r d l y , a l o n g - r a n g e comprehensive master p l a n r e q u i r e s c o n t i n u o u s s u p e r v i s i o n f o r i t s s u c c e s s f u l i m p l e m e n t a t i o n . But none o f the s m a l l m u n i c i p a l i t i e s i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a has a permanent p l a n n i n g s t a f f to p e r f o r m t h i s f u n c t i o n . As a mat te r o f f a c t , the t o t a l s t a f f o f most o f the s m a l l m u n i c i p a l i t i e s i s l i m i t e d t o a c l e r k and a m u n i c i p a l works s u p e r i n t e n d e n t . A s u r v e y o f 25 C a n a d i a n c i t i e s h a v i n g a p o p u l a t i o n o f 25,000 o r more showed t h a t f o r eve ry 81 r e s i d e n t s , t h e r e was one m u n i c i p a l employee, but i n s m a l l e r c e n t e r s (w i th everage p o p u l a t i o n o f p about 6,000) t h e r e was one f o r e v e r y 175. The f o l l o w i n g t a b l e i n d i c a t e s the shor tage o f m u n i c i p a l s t a f f i n some o f the B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a m u n i c i p a l i t i e s : ^ T a b l e I I M u n i c i p a l i t y P o p u l a t i o n No. o f Employees P o p . p e r employee P r i n c e Ruper t 9,800 119 82 Vernon 8,400 52 116 K i m b e r l y 6,100 22 277 R e v e l s t o k e 3,018 24 126 Duncan 3,000 14 214 A compar ison between the v i l l a g e s , d i s t r i c t s and c i t i e s a l s o i n d i c a t e s t h a t the s m a l l e r m u n i c i p a l i t i e s ( m o s t l y v i l l a g e s ) spend much l e s s p e r c a p i t a on g e n e r a l g o v e r n m e n t . ^ 8 Canada , R o y a l Commission on C a n a d a ' s Economic P r o s p e c t s , \"A B r i e f submi t ted by the C a n a d i a n F e d e r a t i o n o f Mayors and M u n i c i p a l i t i e s , \" Ot tawa, 1956, p . J6 . 9 I b i d . , T a b l e I I ( J ) . 10 U n i v e r s i t y o f B . C . , D e p t . o f E x t e n s i o n , E x t e n s i o n Course i n M u n i c i p a l A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , II Y e a r , V a n c o u v e r , Bes t Mimeograph, 1953, F i n . I I . -30-Municipality Median per capita expenditure on General Government Cities Districts Villages $6.05 per year $4.13 per year $0.86 per year Not only i s the competence of the municipal administra-tion inadequate i n many cases, but also the municipal council does not attract the ablest men of the community. Fourthly, several important municipal functions such as education, administration of justice, assessment of property, building and maintenance of main roads, are no longer under the exclusive control of the councils of small municipalities. Education i s under the control of the School Boards whose juris-diction extends over the whole School D i s t r i c t . With a few exceptions, the School District boundaries do not coincide with the municipal boundaries. According to the new Municipal Act the provincial government i s responsible for the administration 11 12 of justice, assessment of property i n a l l villages and local areas. The provincial government i s also responsible for the building and maintenance of main roads i n a l l municipalities with the exception of c i t i e s with a population of more than 13 15»000. But these are some of the most important elements 11 B.C. Municipal Act 1957. Part XX. 12 Ibid., sections 316-17. 13 It i s interesting to note that certain large urban dis-t r i c t municipalities (e.g., Burnaby, Oak Bay) do not have to pay for their main t r a f f i c arteries. Vancouver, Victoria, New Westminster and North Vancouver are the only c i t i e s i n B.C. which have a population more than 15>000. -31-which make up the master p l a n . In o r d e r to c a r r y out an e f f e c t i v e programme o f compre-h e n s i v e l o n g - r a n g e p l a n n i n g , the a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e s e b o d i e s must be c o - o r d i n a t e d . O b v i o u s l y , the powers and r e s o u r c e s o f the m u n i c i p a l c o u n c i l s are f a r too l i m i t e d to p e r f o r m such a c o - o r d i n a t i n g f u n c t i o n i n a f o r m a l way. The S c h o o l B o a r d s , f o r example, l i k e to t h i n k o f themselves as independent b o d i e s and s t r o n g l y r e s e n t any i n t e r f e r e n c e f rom m u n i c i p a l c o u n c i l s . Much has been s a i d on the s u b j e c t o f l o c a l autonomy and the p r e s e r v a t i o n of m u n i c i p a l government as a \"Bulwark o f Democ-r a c y . \" B u t , the h i s t o r y o f m u n i c i p a l government i n Canada c l e a r l y shows t h a t t h e r e i s n o t h i n g s a c r e d about the r i g h t s o f m u n i c i p a l i t i e s . The p r o v i n c e has d e l e g a t e d c e r t a i n powers and r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s t o them not because o f c o n s t i t u t i o n a l com-p u l s i o n but s i m p l y because c e r t a i n f u n c t i o n s c o u l d be b e s t a d -m i n i s t r a t e d at the l o c a l l e v e l . \" C o n v e r s e l y , i f at any t ime i t i s e v i d e n t t h a t a m a t t e r d e l e g a t e d t o the m u n i c i p a l i t i e s c o u l d be b e t t e r a d m i n i s t e r e d by the p r o v i n c e , the p r o v i n c e has 14 the r i g h t , i n d e e d the mora l du ty to r e s e r v e the power .\" Once i t i s c l e a r t h a t i n d i v i d u a l m u n i c i p a l i t i e s are not capab le o f c a r r y i n g out a f u n c t i o n which has somehow come t o be r e g a r d e d as a f u n c t i o n o f m u n i c i p a l government , t h e r e i s no r e a s o n why i t shou ld not be taken away f rom them and a s s i g n e d to a d i f f e r -ent l e v e l o f government which i s more c a p a b l e o f a d m i n i s t e r i n g 14 L a n e , W . T . , P l a n n i n g and the Law i n B . C . , V a n c o u v e r , U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 1952, p . 29. - 3 2 -i t . Speak ing about the l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s i n G r e a t B r i t a i n , W.A. Robson s t a t e s : I n s t e a d o f e v e r y t h i n g b e i n g l e f t to them, r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e i r c a p a c i t i e s and r e s o u r c e s , they s h o u l d be g i v e n o n l y those p l a n n i n g f u n c t i o n s w h i c h are t r u l y l o c a l . M o r e o v e r , l o c a l p l a n n i n g powers shou ld be c o n f e r r e d o n l y on those l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s whose s i z e , p o p u l a t i o n and r a t e a b l e v a l u e are s u f f i c i e n t l y l a r g e to g i v e them a r e a s o n a b l e chance . . . i n p l a c e o f the e v a s i o n , n e g l e c t and h a l f h e a r t e d at tempts which have c h a r a c t e r i z e d l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s ' e f f o r t s i n the p a s t , we may hope t o see a s u s t a i n e d t r i p a r t i t e e f f o r t w i t h a p r o p e r degree o f d i s c i p l i n e f rom below and gu idance f rom a b o v e . ^ The g e n e r a l r u l e f o r e n s u r i n g the s u c c e s s o f l o c a l g o v e r n -ment, t h e n , seems t o be t h a t i t shou ld be g i v e n o n l y t h o s e f u n c t i o n s wh ich i t can e f f e c t i v e l y c a r r y o u t . I n t h i s c a t e -gory are the f u n c t i o n s t h a t are o f d i r e c t and immediate c o n c e r n t o the p e o p l e l i v i n g w i t h i n the m u n i c i p a l i t y . I n d i v i d u a l p r o -j e c t s , such as the development o f a p a r k , b u i l d i n g of a m u n i c i -p a l h a l l , c o n s t r u c t i o n o f an a r e n a and the p r o v i s i o n o f s i d e -walks on a l o c a l road are some o f the p r o j e c t s that, a s m a l l community may c a r r y out w i thou t h a v i n g to wa i t f o r a complete master p l a n . A l t h o u g h i t i s d i f f i c u l t to draw a d e f i n i t e l i n e , T a b l e I I I may serve as a b a s i s f o r d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g between the l o c a l and n o n - l o c a l f u n c t i o n s . Some o f t h e s e f u n c t i o n s o f c o u r s e w i l l o v e r l a p and c o u l d be b e s t c a r r i e d out by the j o i n t e f f o r t 1 5 Robson, W . A . , quoted by M c C a l l u m , I . R . M . , P h y s i c a l P l a n -n i n g , L o n d o n , A r c h i t e c t u r e P r e s s , 1945» p . 5 8 . - 3 3 -T a b l e I I I A Suggested D i v i s i o n Between L o c a l and Non-l o c a l F u n c t i o n s f o r S m a l l Communit ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a L o c a l f u n c t i o n s N o n - l o c a l f u n c t i o n s L o c a l water d i s t r i b u t i o n L o c a l sewerage c o l l e c t i o n L o c a l s t r e e t s G e n e r a l l i c e n s i n g o f b u s i n e s s B u i l d i n g codes Garbage c o l l e c t i o n Tax c o l l e c t i o n D e t a i l s t u d i e s and d a t a c o l l e c t i o n S m a l l pa rks and f l o w e r b e d s . e t c . F i r e p r o t e c t i o n P laygrounds and community H a l l s C o - o r d i n a t i o n o f l o c a l and n o n - l o c a l f u n c t i o n s w i t h i n m u n i c i p a l b o u n d a r i e s Who lesa le water s u p p l y Who lesa le sewerage d i s p o s a l Ma in t r a f f i c a r t e r i e s E d u c a t i o n H e a l t h and w e l f a r e R e g i o n a l p l a n n i n g Mass t r a n s p o r t a t i o n Assessment f o r t a x p u r p o s e s Hous ing and slum c l e a r a n c e G r a n t s t o c u l t u r a l b o d i e s L i b r a r i e s and museums I n d u s t r i a l and t o u r i s t developments Smpke c o n t r o l C i v i l de fence I n s p e c t i o n o f f o o d p r o d u c t s P o l i c e Maintenance o f j u s t i c e P a r k s and r e c r e a t i o n C a p i t a l f i n a n c i n g -34-o f l o c a l and n o n - l o c a l b o d i e s . One such example i s parks and r e c r e a t i o n . Others such as l i b r a r i e s and museums c o u l d be more u s e f u l i f t h e y were e s t a b l i s h e d as branches o f l a r g e r l i b r a r i e s and museums l o c a t e d o u t s i d e these communit ies r a t h e r t h a n b e i n g independent and s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t i n t h e m s e l v e s . Such an arrangement would enab le s m a l l communit ies t o borrow books and p a i n t i n g s e t c . f rom the main l i b r a r i e s and museums, use them f o r a few months and then r e p l a c e them w i t h new o n e s . I f l o c a l autonomy i s t o be v a l u e d i n our s m a l l commun-i t i e s , i t s purpose and f u n c t i o n must be r e c o n s i d e r e d i n v iew o f the changing c o n d i t i o n s f rom t ime t o t i m e . The p r e s e n t r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s o f m u n i c i p a l government o u t r u n t h e i r f i n a n -c i a l r e s o u r c e s . Hence , f o r m a l p l a n n i n g cannot be expec ted to f l o u r i s h i n t h e s e communi t i es . In the next c h a p t e r an attempt w i l l be made to p o i n t out some o f the s e r i o u s f i n a n c i a l l i m i t a t i o n s o f s m a l l communit ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . C h a p t e r I I I F i n a n c i a l D i f f i c u l t i e s Faced by S m a l l Communit ies i n B r i t i s h Co lumbia Community p l a n n i n g i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a has been r e c o g -n i z e d as a f u n c t i o n o f m u n i c i p a l government .^ Hence , the main f i n a n c i a l b u r d e n f o r p r e p a r i n g and implement ing master p l a n s 2 f a l l s upon i n d i v i d u a l m u n i c i p a l i t i e s . W i t h the e x c e p t i o n o f a few l a r g e m u n i c i p a l i t i e s s u c h as V a n c o u v e r , West V a n c o u v e r , V i c t o r i a , R ichmond, Ke lowna , P e n t i c t o n , N e l s o n , T r a i l and P o w e l l R i v e r , l o n g - r a n g e comprehensive p l a n n i n g i s s t i l l l o o k e d upon as a l u x u r y . W h i l e d i s c u s s i n g the need f o r p l a n n i n g w i t h the o f f i c i a l s and employees o f s e v e r a l s m a l l ^ communit ies d u r i n g the summer o f 1957, the w r i t e r was c o n s t a n t l y reminded o f the c i t y e n g i n e e r who once wrote to S i r P a t r i c k Geddes r e g r e t t i n g t h a t \" . . . a s b o t h water and d r a i n a g e schemes are i n c o n t e m p l a -4 t i o n , the c i t y must deny i t s e l f the l u x u r y o f town p l a n n i n g . \" 1 The M u n i c i p a l A c t p r o v i d e s t h a t \" the M i n i s t e r may upon r e -ques t by a c o u n c i l f u r n i s h a d v i c e o r a s s i s t a n c e i n community p l a n n i n g m a t t e r s \" ( B . C . M u n i c i p a l A c t 1957, V i c t o r i a , Q u e e n ' s P r i n t e r , 1957, s e c . 697). But u n t i l now the r o l e o f the Reg -i o n a l P l a n n i n g D i v i s i o n wh ich d e a l s w i t h community p l a n n i n g m a t t e r s , has been l i m i t e d t o the p r e p a r a t i o n o f d r a f t zon ing b y l a w s , f u r n i s h i n g a d v i c e on boundary changes and s p e c i f i c mat-t e r s o f d e t a i l . No comprehensive master p l a n s have ye t been p r e p a r e d by the R e g i o n a l P l a n n i n g D i v i s i o n - . 2 B . C . M u n i c i p a l A c t 1957, P a r t X X I . 3 A l t h o u g h no hard and f a s t l i n e can be drawn between l a r g e and s m a l l communi t i es , f o r the purpose o f t h i s e s s a y \" s m a l l com-munity\" means a community w i t h a p o p u l a t i o n o f l e s s than 5000. 4 B a u e r , C a t h e r i n e , \"Economic P r o g r e s s and L i v i n g C o n d i t i o n s , \" Town P l a n n i n g R e v i e w , v o l . X X V I , 1953-1954, p . 311. -36-Lack o f l o n g - r a n g e comprehensive p l a n n i n g , however , i s not e n t i r e l y due t o l a c k o f a p p r e c i a t i o n f o r p l a n n i n g on the p a r t o f m u n i c i p a l o f f i c i a l s . On the c o n t r a r y , the w r i t e r was s u r p r i s e d t o f i n d tha t t h e r e was a genuine d e s i r e \" to do some-t h i n g \" i n e v e r y community t h a t he v i s i t e d . The degree o f p l a n n i n g c o n s c i o u s n e s s t h a t s m a l l communit ies have a c h i e v e d d u r i n g the p a s t few y e a r s i s o f t e n u n d e r e s t i m a t e d by p r o f e s -s i o n a l p l a n n e r s . T h i s i s p r o b a b l y due t o the f a c t t h a t p l a n -n e r s have a tendency t o judge the p l a n n i n g c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f a community by the ex ten t to wh ich t h e i r p r o p o s a l s and recommen-d a t i o n s are c a r r i e d o u t . L i t t l e c o n s i d e r a t i o n i s g i v e n to the f a c t t h a t the f i n a n c i a l r e s o u r c e s o f s m a l l communit ies are so l i m i t e d t h a t i t would be v i r t u a l l y i m p o s s i b l e f o r many o f them t o c a r r y out master p l a n s . Many o f the f i n a n c i a l embarrassments o f l o c a l governments i n Canada , l a r g e and s m a l l , are due to the f a c t t h a t r e a l p r o p e r t y c o n t i n u e s t o be t h e i r major s o u r c e o f revenue whereas t h e i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s encompass much w i d e r spheres o f e x p e n d i -5 t u r e s today t h a n t h e y d i d at the t ime o f C o n f e d e r a t i o n . The problem i s e s p e c i a l l y acute i n s m a l l m u n i c i p a l i t i e s where the q u a l i t y o f s e r v i c e s r e q u i r e d by s e n i o r governments and demanded by the t a x p a y e r s i s f a r too expens ive to be f i n a n c e d by a l i m i t e d economic b a s e . T h u s , s m a l l m u n i c i p a l i t i e s f a c e an u n -f o r t u n a t e p a r a d o x : any attempt t o r a i s e l o c a l t a x e s d i s c o u r a g e s 5 C r a w f o r d , K . G . , Canad ian M u n i c i p a l Government , T o r o n t o , U n i v e r s i t y o f T o r o n t o P r e s s , 1954, p . 59. - 3 7 -new business and industry and, on the other hand, prospective industries give considerable weight to the extent and quality of municipal facilities available before deciding to locate in a particular municipality. In British Columbia there are several examples where industries chose to locate outside the limits of existing municipalities (thus avoiding municipal taxes which are often higher than those levied by the province), but depending on the municipality for services and fac i l i t i e s . To mention just a few, Trail, Fraser Mills, Prince Rupert, Powell River, Fort St. John, Campbell River and Cranbrook are some of the examples. The location of business and industry outside municipal boundaries, of course, distorts the balance between residential and non-residential assessment within the munici-pality in such a way that the proportion of residential assess-ment becomes much greater than the proportion of non-residential assessment. This has serious implications on the municipality concerned. According to a recent article by J.S. Brown, \" ... general belief in the investment circles is that the industrial and commercial categories should comprise at least 40 per cent of the total, i f an unduly heavy burden of taxation on residen-t i a l taxpayers is to be avoided.\"? Although no complete study 6 Robinson, I.M., Planning for Urban Development in British Columbia, (unpublished Ph. D. thesis). 7 Brown, J.S., \"Financial Planning for Capital Works,\" Community Planning News, no. 2, 1957» pp. 14-15. -38-has been made to determine the ratio of residential to non-residential assessment i n small British Columbia communities, i t i s obvious that the imbalance created i n a small community would be much greater than the imbalance created i n a large city i f a particular business decides to locate outside the municipal boundaries. Another trend of physical development which places small municipalities at a financial disadvantage i s the menace of sprawl in the \"fringe areas\" where a municipality has to supply services to the dwellings scattered at a considerable distance from the compactly built-up central area. Although a municipal-i t y does not collect revenues from these areas the cost of supplying services to these areas i s unusually high and repres-ents a severe drain on the local revenues. It can be shown that per capita tax levy i n small munici-Q palities (usually villages) i s lower than i n larger c i t i e s . But i t should be noted that despite a greater percentage increase in population, the percentage change i n per capita tax levy has been greater i n small municipalities between 1941 and 1951. 9 This is shown i n Table IV on the following page. In view of this greater increase, i t would be d i f f i c u l t for small munici-palities to increase their tax levy much further. 8 University of British Columbia, Department of Extension, Extension Course i n Municipal Administration, II Year, Vancouver, Best Mimeograph Co., 1953, Fin. 11-1.23-9 Ibid., p. 23. -39-T a b l e IV Compar ison f o r B . C . M u n i c i p a l i t i e s , Per C a p i t a Tax L e v i e d A g a i n s t P r o p e r t y (not i n c l u d i n g the C i t y o f Vancouver) Med ian computed f o r No. o f m u n i c i p a l i t i e s P o p . 1941 1 P o p . 1951 % P o p . i n c r e a s e % i n c r e a s e per c a p i t a t a x Median -C i t i e s 34 2322 3472 42 .8 48.4 D i s t r i c t s 27 4287 6701 61.7 87.2 V i l l a g e s 19 446 785 82.9 113.1 A n o t h e r l i m i t a t i o n on the c u r r e n t revenues i n s m a l l m u n i c i p a l i t i e s i s the amount o f p r o p e r t y exempt f rom l o c a l t a x a -t i o n . The median percen tage o f p r o v i n c i a l p r o p e r t y w h o l l y exempt f rom m u n i c i p a l t axes f o r the y e a r 1953 was as f o l l o w s : 1 ^ C i t i e s 2.09 D i s t r i c t s 16 V i l l a g e s 4.25 The m u n i c i p a l i t i e s tha t have a g r e a t e r p r o p o r t i o n o f p r o v i n c i a l p r o p e r t y have a d i s a d v a n t a g e not o n l y because they do not c o l -l e c t t axes f rom i t but a l s o because they have no c o n t r o l o v e r the use o f t h i s p r o p e r t y when i t comes t o z o n i n g o r s u b d i v i s i o n . 10 U n i v . o f B . C . E x t e n s i o n C o u r s e i n M u n i c i p a l A d m i n i s t r a t i o n . P . 25. 4 0 -On the other hand, the amount of property over which munici-palities have a greater control, i.e. municipally owned property, i s less i n villages than i n cities or di s t r i c t s as shown in the following figure s.1\"*\" Municipalities Median percentage of municipally owned property Cities 12.73 Districts 3.27 Village* 1.09 Limited as their current revenues are, i t i s not surpris-ing that village municipalities spend much less per capita, out of current revenues, on current expenditures, than either c i t i e s 12 or d i s t r i c t s . This i s shown i n the table below. Table V Current expenditures out of current revenue (median per capita) Cities $60.01 per year Districts 47.12 per year Villages 16.01 per year But per capita expenditures out of current revenue on capital 13 expenditures are greater i n small municipalities: 11 Univ. of B.C. Extension Course in Municipal Admin: p. 25. 12 Ibid.. Table A. 13 Loc. c i t . -41-T a b l e V ( c o n t . ) C a p i t a l e x p e n d i t u r e s out o f c u r r e n t revenue (median p e r c a p i t a ) C i t i e s . $4 .83 p e r y e a r D i s t r i c t s 2.42 p e r y e a r V i l l a g e s 7.40 p e r y e a r G r e a t e r p e r c a p i t a e x p e n d i t u r e out o f c u r r e n t revenues on c a p i t a l e x p e n d i t u r e s , however, does not mean t h a t v i l l a g e s are i n a b e t t e r p o s i t i o n t o implement l o n g - r a n g e comprehensive p l a n s w h i c h i n c l u d e major c a p i t a l p r o j e c t s . The r e a l r e a s o n why t h e y spend more i s t h a t m u n i c i p a l budgets must be b a l a n c e d e v e r y y e a r . They cannot o p e r a t e on a d e f i c i t b a s i s n o r can t h e y p i l e up s u r p l u s e s from y e a r t o y e a r . Funds sp a r e d from c u r r e n t revenues i n a s m a l l community are h a r d l y enough t o pay f o r the c o s t o f a major p r o j e c t . Hence, i t would be r e a s o n a b l e t o conclude t h a t g r e a t e r p o r t i o n s o f t h i s go e i t h e r as payment f o r a debt i n c u r r e d t o f i n a n c e a c a p i t a l p r o j e c t o r as payment f o r i n t e r e s t on t h e sum borrowed t o f i n a n c e a c a p i t a l p r o j e c t . One might argue t h a t i f t h e c u r r e n t revenues o f s m a l l communities are l i m i t e d , why don't t h e y borrow money f o r i m p l e -menting a comprehensive master p l a n ? But i t must be r e a l i s e d t h a t i n the l o n g r u n d e b t s have t o be p a i d t h r o u g h c u r r e n t r e v e n u e s , w h i c h i n t h e case o f s m a l l c ommunities, are v e r y l i m i t e d as e x p l a i n e d above. S e c o n d l y , t h e r e are s t a t u t o r y l i m i t a t i o n s on t h e b o r r o w i n g powers o f s m a l l m u n i c i p a l i t i e s . -42-Every money bylaw has to be approved not only by the owner electors but also by the p r o v i n c i a l government through the 14 Inspector of M u n i c i p a l i t i e s . According to the new B r i t i s h Columbia Municipal Act, a c i t y , town or d i s t r i c t municipality may borrow up to twenty per cent of the t o t a l of: (a) average assessed value of the taxable r e a l property within the municipality computed f o r three years immediately preceding the year i n which the debt i s created, and (b) value of the u t i l i t y systems and other municipal enterprises. A v i l l a g e municipality, on the other hand, i s allowed to borrow only up to ten per cent of: (a) average assessed value of taxable r e a l property within the municipality computed f o r the three years immediately preceding the year i n which the debt i s created and (b) twenty per cent of the value of the u t i l i t y systems and other municipal enter-15 p r i s e s . ' Thus, the v i l l a g e municipalities have a t r i p l e d i s -advantage under t h i s provision. F i r s t , t h e i r borrowing l i m i t i s lower (ten per cent); secondly, t h e i r t o t a l assessment i s lower; arid t h i r d l y , the amount of \" u t i l i t y systems and other municipal enterprises\" i s les s than i t i s i n the large c i t i e s . Borrowing f o r l o c a l improvements i n v i l l a g e municipali-t i e s i s likewise r e s t r i c t e d . For instance, the Municipal Act 14 B.C. Municipal Act, 1957, V i c t o r i a , Queen's P r i n t e r , 1957? section 253* 15 Ibid., section 246. -43-not only restricts the purposes for which a village munici-pality may borrow but i t also states that a village municipal-i t y may undertake local improvement projects on petition only. The council of a city, town or d i s t r i c t municipality, on the other hand, may do so on i t s own i n i t i a t i v e . Furthermore, even the local improvement bylaw has to be approved by the Inspector of Municipalities before i t can come into effect i n a village municipality. 1^ Looking from the investor's point of view, the small municipality i s again at a disadvantage when i t comes to long 17 term borrowing. ' F i r s t , small municipalities are relatively unknown to many investors. Hence, the market for their deben-tures i s very limited; whereas, larger c i t i e s may borrow from foreign markets at a lower interest rate. Secondly, from the investor's point of view, safer debentures are those which are used to finance a capital expenditure that w i l l earn a p r o f i t . Due to the i n i t i a l high cost of installation, a municipality has t6 be sufficiently large to be able to make profits on a project. A village of 400 people, for example, could not be expected to operate a $100,000 water system or a sewerage sys-tem. A' recent survey of the cost of sewage treatment plants showed that per capita costs increase rapidly as the size of communities becomes smaller. This i s well illustrated i n the 18 following table: 16 B.C. Municipal Act. 1957. sections 581 and 591. 17 Univ. of B.C. Extension Course i n Munlc. Admin. Fin. III. 18 International City Managers' Assoc., Municipal Public Works Administration. Chicago, 1957> p. 326. -44-Table VI Primary Treatment Secondary Treatment Plants Plants Population Served No. of plants surveyed Avg./capita cost No. of plants surveyed Avg./capita cost 1,000-2,500 36 $34.90 57 $66.70 2,500-5,000 22 31.80 37 44.80 5,000-10,000 16 29.70 37 35.40 10,000-25,000 12 19.30 22 22.30 25,000-50,000 3 14.10 8 35.40 50,000 • 1 11.50 4 40.60 Thirdly, the investor would prefer a sound, diversified economic base which he can depend on. This, however, is not the case with most of the small communities in British Columbia. Depend-ability on strike-prone, seasonal and uncertain economic bases such as mining, sawmilling, fishing, and heavy manufacturing industries, is anything but inviting for the incestors.^ One example of the difficulties created by large scale debenture borrowing is the village of Campbell River. Between September 1948 and July 1956, the village has borrowed $845,000 for water and sewer systems* At the end of December 1956, 19 Robinson, op_. ci t . -45-$737,500 was s t i l l o u t s t a n d i n g and w i t h i n t h a t y e a r , at 4 p e r cent i n t e r e s t r a t e , the v i l l a g e had to pay something l i k e $29,000 f o r i n t e r e s t c h a r g e s i D e s p i t e a l a r g e s a l e o f w a t e r , t h e r e was a d e f i c i t o f $2,005 on water works a l o n e ; the i n t e r -e s t on water works b e i n g $5,900 f o r the y e a r . A p p a r e n t l y , s i m i l a r d i f f i c u l t i e s f o r m u n i c i p a l bor rowing e x i s t i n o t h e r p r o v i n c e s , t o o . R e a l i z i n g t h e s e d i f f i c u l t i e s the p r o v i n c e s o f O n t a r i o , A l b e r t a and Nova S c o t i a have s e t up l o a n funds which enable l o c a l m u n i c i p a l i t i e s t o borrow f o r c a p i t a l improvements . The problem has been f u r t h e r a l l e v i a t e d i n some p r o v i n c e s ( i n c l u d i n g B r i t i s h Columbia) by p r o v i d i n g p r o v i n c i a l guaran tees on m u n i c i p a l b o r r o w i n g , but such g u a r a n -tees are u s u a l l y l i m i t e d t o water and sewerage s y s t e m s . The r e s u l t o f the l i m i t a t i o n s on bor rowing i s t h a t s m a l l communit ies c o n t i n u e t o draw on t h e i r c u r r e n t revenues f o r whatever minor c a p i t a l p r o j e c t s they f e e l a re most u r g e n t l y n e e d e d . Problems are s o l v e d as they come, w i thou t much thought f o t the comprehensive development o f the community. Hav ing c o n s i d e r e d c u r r e n t revenues and debenture bor row-i n g , l e t us b r i e f l y ana lyse another major source o f m u n i c i p a l r evenue ; namely , m u n i c i p a l a i d . P r o v i n c i a l s h a r i n g o f the c o s t s o f s e r v i c e s wh ich are t r a d i t i o n a l l y c o n s i d e r e d m u n i c i p a l 20 B . C . , Department o f M u n i c i p a l A f f a i r s , M u n i c i p a l St at i s t i c s , V i c t o r i a , Queen 's P r i n t e r , 1957* -46-v a r i e s f rom p r o v i n c e to p r o v i n c e . A c c o r d i n g t o a r e c e n t b r i e f 21 submi t ted t o the Gordon Commiss ion , i n assuming 80 pe r cent o f the e o s t s o f s o c i a l a s s i s t a n c e , about 60 p e r cent o f c u r r e n t s c h o o l c o s t s and 50 pe r cent o f the approved c o s t s o f s c h o o l c o n s t r u c t i o n , i n a d d i t i o n to the payment o f an u n c o n d i t i o n a l per c a p i t a g r a n t f o r s e v e r a l m u n i c i p a l p u r p o s e s , the p r o v i n c e 22 o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a has gone f u r t h e s t i n t h i s d i r e c t i o n . As a r e s u l t , p r o v i n c i a l g r a n t s have become an impor tan t source o f revenue — second o n l y t o the p r o p e r t y t a x . T h i s i s p a r t i c u -2 l a r l y t r u e i n s m a l l communit ies as shown i n the f o l l o w i n g t a b l e . T a b l e V I I M u n i c i p a l T a x a t i o n as a pe rcen tage o f M u n i c i p a l Tax p l u s P r o v i n c i a l G r a n t s ( e x c l u d i n g s c h o o l g r a n t s ) : Year C i t i e s D i s t r i c t s V i l l a g e s 1931 94.1 87.5 59.7 1941 89.8 87.9 85.4 1951 73.4 68.8 50.0 Grants i n a i d , however, are not to be regarded as unmixed b l e s s i n g s . From the p o i n t o f v iew o f the r e c i p i e n t m u n i c i p a l i -t i e s , they have d i s t i n c t d i s a d v a n t a g e s . F i r s t , t h e y are g e n e r -a l l y accompanied by g r e a t e r s u p e r v i s i o n and c o n t r o l f rom the 21 T h i s has now been r a i s e d t o 85 p e r c e n t . See Vancouver S u n , F e b r u a r y 7> 1958. 22 Canada , R o y a l Commission on C a n a d a ' s Economic P r o s p e c t s , p p . 0 - 1 4 . 23 U n i v . o f B . C . , E x t e n s i o n C o u r s e i n Munis.:. Admin . F i n . I I - 1 . 8-9. -47-\"donor\" l e v e l of government. For example, when the p r o v i n c i a l government (as i n B r i t i s h Columbia) pays f o r the cost of a major a r t e r i a l highway, i t a l s o decides where that highway should be l o c a t e d . M u n i c i p a l governments are l i k e w i s e l o s i n g c o n t r o l over h o s p i t a l s , schools, assessment, a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of j u s t i c e and v a r i o u s other matters financed l a r g e l y through prov-i n c i a l funds. Secondly, the d e s i r a b i l i t y of f i n a n c i a l a i d from senior governments i s questioned on the grounds that i t disregards one of the b a s i c p r i n c i p l e s of p u b l i c finance which st a t e s that i t i s not d e s i r a b l e f o r one l e v e l of government to r a i s e revenues to be expended by another l e v e l of government. A system of government which disregards t h i s p r i n c i p l e was once described as a \"thoroughly v i c i o u s system\" by the l a t e P r e s i d e n t F.D. Roosevelt. And the l a t e Prime M i n i s t e r o f Canada, W. L. MacKenzie King once s t a t e d : Anyone i n t e r e s t e d i n f i n a n c i n g whether of a munici-p a l i t y , a province, a Dominion, an Empire, or a League of Nations w i l l , I t h i n k , admit i t i s unwise, an unsound, a wrong p r i n c i p l e f o r one body to have to do w i t h r a i s i n g the taxes and another to be concerned w i t h the spending of the money so r a i s e d , that other body, not having to account to the r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of those who have paid the t a x e s . 2 4 A c t u a l l y , p r o v i n c i a l a i d w i t h c e r t a i n s t r i n g s attached can do more harm than good as f a r as the i n t e r e s t s of small m u n i c i p a l i t i e s are concerned. P r o v i n c i a l a i d on a matching b a s i s , f o r example, o f t e n tempts m u n i c i p a l i t i e s t o undertake 24 Mackenzie K i n g , W.L., i n Canada, House of Commons Debates. A p r i l 30, 1930, p. 1237. -48-p r o j e c t s wh ich are n e i t h e r n e c e s s a r y nor u r g e n t . C a r l G o l d e n -b e r g , r e c o g n i z i n g tha t the m u n i c i p a l revenues are inadequa te t o c a r r y out r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s o f m u n i c i p a l governments f o r e s e e n f o r the next t w e n t y - f i v e y e a r s , recommended r e a d j u s t m e n t s i n p r o v i n c i a l - m u n i c i p a l r e l a t i o n s i n o r d e r t o enab le the m u n i c i -p a l i t i e s t o f i n a n c e p r e s e n t and p r o s p e c t i v e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r b a s i c m u n i c i p a l s e r v i c e s . I f by \" r e a d j u s t m e n t s \" he means g r e a t e r f i n a n c i a l a i d t o m u n i c i p a l i t i e s , as the i m p l i c a t i o n seems t o b e , he too i s g u i l t y o f t r a n s g r e s s i n g a fundamenta l p r i n c i p a l o f p u b l i c f i n a n c e . T h i r d l y , g r a n t s i n a i d i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a are not based upon any d e f i n i t e p o l i c y o f the p r o v i n c i a l government n o r i s t h e r e any g u a r a n t e e , as D r . R .M . C l a r k e p o i n t e d out i n a r e c e n t 26 d i s c u s s i o n , t h a t s u c h a i d w i l l be c o n t i n u e d when the p r o v i n -c i a l government i t s e l f i s i n f i n a n c i a l d i f f i c u l t i e s . I n v i e w o f the d i f f i c u l t i e s d i s c u s s e d above , t h e r e i s a growing awareness on the p a r t o f s e v e r a l a u t h o r i t i e s on m u n i c i -p a l government t h a t the s o l u t i o n t o m u n i c i p a l f i n a n c i a l problems w i l l r e q u i r e fundamenta l changes i n the concept o f l o c a l g o v e r n -ment. I n a b r i e f e n t i t l e d \"Not By G r a n t s A l o n e * 1 , C h a r l o t t e W h i t t o n p r e s e n t e d \"some s u b m i s s i o n s t o the R o y a l Commission on C a n a d a ' s Economic P r o s p e c t s made, s o l e l y , as a mat te r o f p e r s o n a l 25 G o l d e n b e r g , C a r l , \"Problems f o r M u n i c i p a l i t i e s , \" F i n a n c i a l P o s t , November 16, 1957, p . 16. 26 C l a r k , R .M. at a Forum on M u n i c i p a l A f f a i r s sponsored by the Vancouver Board o f T rade at the G e o r g i a H o t e l , V a n c o u v e r , B . C . , F e b r u a r y 24 , 1958. 4 9 -r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f rom o b s e r v a t i o n and e x p e r i e n c e i n the f i e l d o f M u n i c i p a l Government . . . \" . I n t h a t b r i e f she s t a t e s t h a t any r e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f t a x i n g powers o r o f t r a n s f e r o f payments f rom o t h e r governments w i thout much fundamenta l r e - e x a m i n a t i o n and adjustment w i t h i n l o c a l government i t s e l f , w i l l o n l y s l o w , not s o l v e , the r e c u r r i n g and i n c r e a s i n g l y c r i t i c a l problems 27 o f m u n i c i p a l f i n a n c e . ' A s i m i l a r p o i n t o f v i e w has been ex -p r e s s e d by the C a n a d i a n F e d e r a t i o n o f Mayors and M u n i c i p a l i t i e s . They have s t a t e d : The g r a n t s c i n a i d are not g i f t s by the p r o v i n c e s t o t h e i r m u n i c i p a l i t i e s and s c h o o l b o d i e s . They are p a r t i a l compensat ion f o r the p r o v i s i o n o f s e r v i c e s wh ich are no l o n g e r o f p u r e l y l o c a l c o n - 2 ft c e r n but o f p r o v i n c e - w i d e i n t e r e s t and i m p o r t a n c e . Rather t h a n t r y t o m a i n t a i n an o b s o l e t e d i v i s i o n between the f u n c t i o n s o f m u n i c i p a l government and f u n c t i o n s of the p r o v -i n c i a l and f e d e r a l governments , i t would appear t h a t the b a s i s o f d i v i s i o n shou ld be t o a l l o c a t e to e a c h l e v e l o f government those f u n c t i o n s which i t can c a r r y out most e f f e c t i v e l y and most e f f i c i e n t l y . The s o u r c e s o f revenue c o u l d then be a d j u s t e d t o make each l e v e l o f government f i n a n c i a l l y s t r o n g t o c a r r y out i t s f u n c t i o n s wi thout too much i n t e r f e r e n c e f rom the o t h e r s . I f e f f e c t i v e n e s s and e f f i c i e n c y were made the bases on w h i c h f u n c t i o n s are a s s i g n e d t o each l e v e l o f government , 27 C a n a d a , R o y a l Commission on C a n a d a ' s Economic P r o s p e c t s , \"A B r i e f Submi t ted by C h a r l o t t e W h i t t o n , \" Ot tawa, F e b r u a r y 29, 1956, p . 5. 28 I b i d . , \"A B r i e f Submi t ted by the C a n a d i a n F e d e r a t i o n o f Mayors and M u n i c i p a l i t i e s , \" p p . 0 -14 . 50 r a t h e r t h a n an o b s o l e t e t r a d i t i o n which e x i s t s t o d a y , l o n g -range comprehensive p l a n n i n g would c e r t a i n l y be the r e s p o n s i -b i l i t y o f the p r o v i n c i a l government . L o n g - r a n g e comprehensive p l a n n i n g r e c o g n i z e s no m u n i c i p a l b o u n d a r i e s — p h y s i c a l o r f i n a n c i a l . As a mat ter o f f a c t , growth and development o f s m a l l communit ies i n B r i t i s h Co lumbia are more dependent on developments o u t s i d e o f t h e i r b o u n d a r i e s t h a n on developments w i t h i n . S i n c e s m a l l m u n i c i p a l i t i e s have l i t t l e c o n t r o l o v e r the developments o u t s i d e of t h e i r b o u n d a r i e s , i t would be a mis take t o t h i n k tha t l o n g - r a n g e comprehensive p l a n n i n g i s a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f the m u n i c i p a l government . I n s t e a d of t r y i n g t o under take e v e r y t h i n g t h a t c o n c e r n s l o c a l communi t i es , m u n i c i p a l governments must r e s i s t e x p a n s i o n i n t o new a c t i v i t i e s and at the same t ime p r e s s s e n i o r governments t o under take r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s wh ich t r a n s c e n d m u n i c i p a l b o u n d a r i e s . I t i s not b e i n g s u g g e s t e d , however, t h a t l o c a l g o v e r n -ments shou ld become mere ly a d m i n i s t r a t i v e u n i t s o f the p r o v i n c i a l government and c a r r y out p l a n s wh ich are handed o v e r t o them by the p r o v i n c i a l governments . What i n f a c t i s b e i n g suggested i s t h a t the p l a n n i n g a c t i v i t i e s o f l o c a l governments s h o u l d c o n -s i s t o f those p r o j e c t s and s h o r t term programmes which are d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d t o r e a l p r o p e r t y and a f f e c t the day to day l i f e o f the r e s i d e n t s . I n d i v i d u a l p r o j e c t s s u c h as l o c a l s t r e e t s , p a r k s , p l a y g r o u n d s , c i v i c c e n t e r s , m u n i c i p a l b u i l d i n g s and s m a l l u t i l i t y systems c o u l d be d e v e l o p e d i n such a way tha t t h e u l t i -mate p a t t e r n o f development w i l l be a harmonious o n e . Such an -51-approach w i l l mean g r e a t e r emphasis on a c t i v e c u r r e n t work on the p a r t o f a s m a l l community r a t h e r t h a n u n d e r t a k i n g l o n g - r a n g e p l a n n i n g commitments. C h a p t e r IV S o c i o l o g i c a l D i f f i c u l t i e s F a c e d by S m a l l Communit ies i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a \" R u r a l s o c i e t y i s c o m p l a c e n t , i t l a c k s d y n a m i c s , i t i s c o n t e n t t o f o l l o w a long t r a d i t i o n a l grooves — i n s h o r t . . . r u r a l f o l k are u l t r a c o n s e r v a t i v e . \" T . L . S m i t h Some o f the major o b s t a c l e s t o p l a n n i n g i n s m a l l B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a communit ies are e n t i r e l y due t o s o c i o l o g i c a l f a c t o r s and f e a t u r e s o f t h e s e communi t ies . E v e n i f the economic and p o l i t i c a l o b s t a c l e s o u t l i n e d i n p r e v i o u s c h a p t e r s c o u l d be overcome, t h e r e remains the t a s k o f overcoming t h e s e s o c i a l d i f f i c u l t i e s . I t i s t r u e t h a t under the new M u n i c i p a l A c t , even a s m a l l m u n i c i p a l i t y has power t o p repare community p l a n s , pass z o n i n g b y l a w s , enact s u b d i v i s i o n r e g u l a t i o n s and f o s t e r p l a n n i n g t h r o u g h a number o f l e g i s l a t i v e c o n t r o l s at i t s d i s p o s a l . But anyone who has l i v e d i n a s m a l l community would agree t h a t l e g i s l a t i o n a lone i s not enough. Laws are u s e f u l o n l y i n so f a r as t h e y c a n be e n f o r c e d . I n most o f the s m a l l communi t i es , where peop le address each o t h e r by t h e i r f i r s t names, i m p r i s o n -ment, f i n e s and p o l i c e a c t i o n t o e n f o r c e p l a n n i n g l e g i s l a t i o n i s out o f the q u e s t i o n . However u n p l e a s a n t i t may b e , t h i s i s a prob lem tha t the p l a n n e r must f a c e and a c c e p t as a r e a l i t y . To g i v e j u s t one example , the f i r e - c h i e f o f a s m a l l m u n i c i p a l i t y , who was a l s o the b u i l d i n g i n s p e c t o r , was \"showing me around\" i n -53-h i s town. A man came t o the c h i e f and a f t e r t a l k i n g about a r e c e n t f i s h i n g e x c u r s i o n f o r about t e n minutes s a i d , \" O h , by the way, J o e , I am b u i l d i n g a shack t h e r e . Wonder i f you c o u l d make a s l i p — 1*11 p i c k i t up sometime next week.\" What t h i s somewhat vague r e q u e s t meant was t h a t the man was b u i l d i n g a house and r e q u i r e d a b u i l d i n g p e r m i t . We went t o see the \"shack\" and found t h a t the f o u r bedroom house was h a l f - b u i l t a l r e a d y ] The f i r e - c h i e f e x p l a i n e d to me l a t e r t h a t i t was a common p r a c t i c e i n t h a t community to s t a r t work ing on a b u i l d i n g w i thout f i r s t o b t a i n i n g a b u i l d i n g permi t w h i c h i s r e q u i r e d by the l o c a l z o n i n g by law. No l e g a l a c t i o n had e v e r been t a k e n a g a i n s t those who d i d not comply w i t h the by law . In h i s unpub-l i s h e d P h . D. T h e s i s , P r o f e s s o r I.M. R o b i n s o n o f the U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a has made the f o l l o w i n g o b s e r v a t i o n on t h i s p o i n t . S m a l l towns may o f t e n be r e l u c t a n t to p r o s e c u t e o f f e n d e r s and e n f o r c e p r o p e r p r o c e d u r e . T h i s , o f c o u r s e , weakens a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , and o f t e n l e a d s to a s i t u a t i o n where, f o r example, most b u i l d i n g p e r m i t s are a p p l i e d f o r l o n g a f t e r the b u i l d i n g has been commenced. I n d i v i d u a l s f o l l o w t h i s p r o c e d u r e not n e c e s s a r i l y because o f any d e l i b e r a t e attempt to f l o u t the town 's b y - l a w s ( i n some c a s e s , as n o t e d , these b y - l a w s may not even e x i s t ) , but s i m p l y out o f h a b i t b u i l t up o v e r the y e a r s as a r e s u l t o f the town 's f a i l u r e t o i n s i s t on p r i o r a p p r o v a l . I n another s m a l l community, a new s u b d i v i s i o n o f t e n a c r e s c o u l d not be opened because the l o t wh ich p r o v i d e d the o n l y s u i t a b l e a c c e s s t o t h i s s u b d i v i s i o n was owned by a man who swore t h a t he would not s e l l t h i s l o t \"a t any p r i c e , t o anybody\" , as l o n g as he l i v e d . Not o n l y the owner o f the s u b d i v i s i o n - 5 4 -and prospective buyers but also the village commission were deeply concerned over the matter. When I pointed out to the Chairman of the village commission that the lot i n question could be expropriated under the provisions of the new Municipal Act, he shook his head and said \"No, no. Expropriation i s out of the question. The guy built this village. Even today he owns half the village as well as the water works. We have to keep good relations with him.\" From this example i t i s clear that expropriating property for the Granville Bridge i n Van-couver by writing an impersonal letter through a lawyer i s one thing; and expropriating property i n a small village i s quite another. As Charles Merriam once said, \"At the root of a l l auth-ority ... l i e basic customs which authority cannot successfully contest.\"\"1\" It i s these basic customs, traditions, and habits of the people of small communities that the planner must under-stand before he can hope to achieve any concrete results i n the community. No matter how good a plan i s , i t w i l l not work i n a small community unless the people of that community themselves think that the plan is good. They must feel that i n fact i t i s their own plan — an idea which grew out of their own realiza-tion of various problems over a period of time. It is precisely for this reason that i n a small community the expert i s looked upon with suspicion and mistrust. Hence, the planner, i n so far 1 Merriam, C.E., Systematic P o l i t i c s , Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1945? pp. 213--55-as he i s an outsider, cannot f u l l y anticipate the reaction of the rural people nor can he f u l l y comprehend why they behave in a peculiar way. In his Sunshine Sketches of a L i t t l e Town, Stephen Leacock, speaking about a Canadian town wrote, \"That's the trouble with people i n Mariposa, they are a l l so separate and so different — not a bit like the people i n the c i t i e s — that unless you hear about them separately and one by one you 2 can't for a moment understand what they are l i k e . \" This is s t i l l true i n many of the \" l i t t l e towns\" i n B r i t i s h Columbia. Hence, any attempt by an expert or by a small planning group,to superimpose or to \" s e l l \" a plan i s bound to be resisted by the people. And yet the tendency today is to make planning an executive function of the municipal council without much heed to the participation of the people. As an eminent authority on rural sociology has stated, \"The naive assumption that any group of persons w i l l f a l l i n with any plan about which they have not been consulted and which has not taken into account has been proved false so often, i n history, that i t s survival is one of the world's mysteries. Another d i f f i c u l t y i n most of the small communities i n British Columbia i s that a large proportion of the labour force 2 Leacock, Stephen, Sunshine Sketches of a L i t t l e Town, Toronto, McLelland, 1953? p. 52. 3 Kolb, J.H. and Brunner, E., A Study of Rural Society, New York, Houghton M i f f l i n , 1952, p. 3. See also: Mead, Margaret, \"Common Grounds i n Community Develop-ment Experiments,\" Community Development Bulletin, vol. II, No. 3, June 1951, p. 45. -56-i n these communities i s transient. This i s e s p e c i a l l y true where employment i s temporary or seasonal. Since the transient workers never s e t t l e down i n one community, they are seldom accepted as a part of the community. Naturally, they are l i t t l e interested i n the long-term comprehensive development of the community. This attitude i s not only confined to the tempor-ary residents but i s also shared by those who came to the community some f i f t y years ago with the i n t e n t i o n of working f o r a \"couple of years\" but stayed i n the community without ever f u l l y claiming i t as t h e i r own. The unfortunate consequences of such an attitude are c l e a r l y r e f l e c t e d i n the r e l a t i v e lack of s o c i a l organization i n the small B r i t i s h Columbia communi-t i e s . A random s e l e c t i o n of nine small Canadian communities shows that B r i t i s h Columbia communities are lacking i n a large 4 number of voluntary associations. As pointed out i n the previous chapter, f i n a n c i a l re-sources of many of the small communities are extremely l i m i t e d . Hence, they often have to r e l y on voluntary contributions f o r carrying out various projects such as swimming pools, parks, playgrounds and c i v i c auditoriums. Almost i n every community there i s to be found at l e a s t one such project which has been successfully carried out and yet there are memories of many more which were not completed because of i n s u f f i c i e n t organized sup-port. To give a concrete example from the writer's own exper-ience again: The chairman of a v i l l a g e commission invited me 4 Queen's University, I n s t i t u t e of Local Government, Single Enterprise Communities i n Canada, Toronto, 1 9 5 3 > p. 1 7 0 . -57-to his house l a s t summer. While talking about recreation f a c i l i t i e s i n that community, the chairman's wife said to me, \"I have always wanted to have a golf course i n t h i s community. But I can't b u i l d i t alone. There's not a single club or organ-i z a t i o n i n t h i s place which I could go to.\" Since most of the people went to a nearby c i t y f o r recreation, the idea of the golf course never materialized. This despite the fact that the c i t y golf course was often overcrowded, and a new one i n the small town could have been useful not only for the l o c a l people but also f o r people from outside. In another community, of approximately the same s i z e , a v i l l a g e park was badly needed. There was an excellent s i t e of four acres available by the r i v e r s i d e . Although many people' i n the community favoured the idea i n d i v i d u a l l y , i t could not be realized because there was no organized group which would undertake to develop the park. Fortunately, l a s t year a commit-tee was organized to take care of the B.C. Centennial celebra-t i o n s . At one of the meetings of t h i s committee, suggestions were invited f o r an appropriate centennial project. Someone suggested the development of the v i l l a g e park. Afte r some d i s -cussion, the idea was e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y adopted and a Park Com-mittee was appointed to look aft e r the matter. With the help of the Church groups, the school, and various organizations i n the community, the park was developed and a r e t i r e d pensioner was granted his wish \"to look aft e r the park and serve the com-munity.\" Had i t not been f o r the Centennial Committee, I have no doubt that the project would have been delayed by many -58-years, i f not abandoned altogether. The community organization movement which started as a recognition of community problems and wartime d i f f i c u l t i e s was abandoned soon after the war but no one can deny the valu-able contribution made by various organizations during t h e i r l i f e t i m e . A s i m i l a r approach to solving community planning problems could be useful i n small communities today. This idea i s further discussed i n the concluding chapter. S u f f i c e here to say that many small communities i n B r i t i s h Columbia are lacking i n e f f e c t i v e community organizations which could : i n i t i a t e planning action i n the community and thus contribute towards the development of better communities. Another d i f f i c u l t y encountered i n small communities i s that the r u r a l people as a rule are used to solving t h e i r prob-lems \"as they come.\" They seem to be almost incapable of looking twenty years ahead of time. They l i k e to have immedi-ate s a t i s f a c t i o n out of t h e i r work and there are few today who 5 are content with a \"wait and see\" philosophy.\" Thus, there i s l i k e l y to be a good deal of d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n with long-term pro-je c t s ; projects which require considerable amounts of work and the result of which would not be seen f o r some time i n the future. As Murray Ross has pointed out, i t i s not unusual f o r the commun-i t y , l i k e the patient i n therapy, to be primarily concerned with 5 Ross, M.G., Community Organization, New York Harper, 1955, p. 189. See also, Lynd, R.S., Knowledge for What? Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1948, p. 91. - 5 9 -the immediate problem, and f o r the professional worker, l i k e the therapist to be primarily concerned with long-term objec-tives of adjustment and integ r a t i o n . A municipal council elected on a two-year basis l i k e s to point i t s finger to the projects which i t has completed at the end of t h i s short term. Long-range comprehensive planning suffers even more i n small communities i f we recognize that \"one of the personal d i f f i c u l t i e s of planners i s that they i t c h to plan something 7 they w i l l l i v e long enough to see ...\" The l a s t d i f f i c u l t y i n the way of long-range comprehen-sive planning which must be recognized i s that few people are aware of the needs of t h e i r community. This i s e s p e c i a l l y true i n B r i t i s h Columbia where there has been a decade of unpreced-ented prosperity as f a r as the i n d i v i d u a l residents are concerned. People have been v i r t u a l l y intoxicated with the s p i r i t of the present boom and i t seldom occurs to them-Jto prepare f o r the future. One of the necessary conditions that E l l i o t Jaques lays down for any successful process of working through of group problems i s the presence of a group with a problem severe and p a i n f u l enough f o r i t s members to wish to do something about Q i t . Long-range comprehensive planning, of course, i s not a problem of t h i s nature. The pain i s not f e l t as c l e a r l y and 6 Ross, M.G., op., c i t . , p. 50. 7 Bettman, A l f r e d , C i t y and Regional Planning Papers, Cam-bridge, Harvard University Press, 1946, p. 8. 8 Jaques, E l l i o t , The Changing Culture of a Factory, Tavistock Publications, 1951 > p. 310. -60-obviously at the present time. Or to put i t i n medical term-inology, long-range comprehensive planning i s more of a preventive rather than a therapeutic treatment. As such, i t does not provide sufficient motivation for action. Murray Ross, who has had extensive experience i n com-munity organization, suggests that \"the most significant opportunity for successful action planning arises around those problems, about which the planning group feel greatly disturbed — about which they are deeply convinced, about which they feel q something must be done.\"7 He further states that \"dominating motives i n action planning should ... stem from dissatisfaction with conditions as they now exist, and with the desire to change these conditions.\" 1 0 The above analysis explains why people i n small communi-ties are used to thinking i n terms of individual projects such as a road, a park, a gymnasium or a city h a l l rather than i n terms of long-range comprehensive planning to be accomplished i n a formal way. Rural people not only i n Bri t i s h Columbia but a l l over the world have shown their willingness to carry out projects which have meaning for the group but the government seeking cooperation for large impersonal objectives finds resistance to i t s ideas. 1 1 What i s tragic i n Bri t i s h Columbia, 9 Ross, op_. c i t . , p. 136. 10 Ibid., p. 135, 11 Mead, Margaret (ed.), Cultural Patterns and Technical Change, Paris, UNESCO, 1953, p. 309. -6o-and on the North Jtaerican Continent in general, Is not that the people of small communities show no aptitude for planning, but the fact that public o f f i c i a l s and planning experts have not f u l l y appreciated the attitude of the rural community towards planning. The planner's approach has been and contin-ues to be focussed on the future. Rural people, on the other hand, concentrate their attention on those problems which face them at present or i n the immediate future; what i s needed i s an approach to bridge this gap. But any attempt towards this end raises several fundamental questions i n planning: What i s the planner's role i n society? Is the planner's job done i f he presents a \"good\" master plan for a community or i s he respon-sible for i t s implementation as well? Is he responsible to the municipal council or to the community? A detailed analysis of these questions is beyond the scope of the present study but an attempt w i l l be made i n the concluding chapter to answer them i n relation to the implementa-tion of a planning proposal — be i t a complete master plan or just a minor recommendation. Chapter V Planning and Community Development In community organization we are coming to realize that the community i t s e l f must struggle and strive to deal with i t s own conception of i t s needs, and that i n doing this the community can increase i t s capacity to deal not only with these problems but with many other problems as they arise. M . G . Ross We began this study by asking the question whether the traditional master plan approach, as described i n Chapter I, is suitable for planning in small communities i n B r i t i s h Colum-bia. Our reply to this query, based on the analysis i n Chapters II, III and IV of the p o l i t i c a l , financial, and social d i f f i c u l -ties faced by these communities, i s an unqualified \"Wo\". The question before us now i s : whether, in view of these d i f f i c u l -ties, i t would be better to leave these communities alone and let them follow the so-called \"natural\" process of growth (or stagnation), or, i s there an alternative approach to planning for these communities? We feel that there is an alternative approach, and refer to i t as \"Community Development,\"1 the emphasis being on the process of community development rather than on the plan for community development. Here, instead of starting with a plan, the community, or rather the planning process, ends up with a 1 Professor I.M. Robinson has suggested the term \"Master Planning\" for the approach to planning described herein. While this term is appropriate in that i t moves the emphasis from \"plan\" to \"planning\", I do not see why the word \"Master\" should be placed in front of i t . Without this, however, \"Planning Approach to Planning\" does not seem to be appropriate, either. -62-plan. Projects are completed \"as they come,\" but they are inte-grated and interrelated within a framework of general principles of planning, acceptable to the community. The planning^ process under such a concept can be compared to a chess game where the player moves his \"men\" on the chess-board as the game progresses. A l l the moves of the game are never determined before the game starts. Nevertheless, the moves of the game are not entirely devoid of logic and reasoning. F i r s t , the player has to abide by the rules of the game and, secondly, he i s guided to some extent by the anticipated moves of his opponent. The more competent the player, the less are the chances that he takes on his opponent's anticipated moves. For most of the game he concentrates mainly on the next three or four moves ahead of time, and what is even more important, he has alternatives i n mind just i n case his expectations f a i l to mater-i a l i z e . Similarly, the planner helps to build up the pattern of the future community as time goes by, concentrating for the most part on the problems of the immediate future. He \"knits in\" the individual projects as they come so that they do not conflict with the existing assets of the community and are i n conformity with the accepted principles of planning. His aims and object-ives are as broad as the chess-player's aim: winning the game. In the framework of such a concept, the primary function of planning i s not \"survey, analysis and plan\" nor i s i t just \"looking ahead\", but rather to help a community to organize i t s e l f (for action on various projects) and to remove conflict and inconsistency. By doing this, planning achieves harmony and integration i n a community but i t leaves the way open to -63-free and creative i n i t i a t i v e . I t guides, u n i f i e s and i n s p i r e s ; but i t does not command, regiment or thwart the development of a community. The approach to planning as outlined above i s not a l t o -gether new. On the municipal l e v e l i t has been suggested i n 2 somewhat s i m i l a r form for Edmonton, Alberta. But perhaps the most successful application of t h i s approach i s found on the regional l e v e l — i n the case of the famous Tennessee V a l l e y Authority. A b r i e f description of the planning aspects of t h i s project might be useful as an i l l u s t r a t i o n . The Tennessee Va l l e y Authority was created by the P r e s i -dent (Franklin D. Roosevelt) on May 18, 1933. As an administra-t i v e agency the TVA was charged with the broadest duty of plan-ning f o r the proper use, conservation and development of the natural resources of the Tennessee River drainage basin and i t s adjoining t e r r i t o r y f o r the general, s o c i a l and economic welfare of the nation. Soon after the TVA was established, the f i r s t Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. A. E. Morgan, considered 3 i t necessary to disclaim comprehensive planning powers f o r TVA. 2 See following a r t i c l e s on the experience i n Edmonton; Wiesman, B., \"Interim Development,\" Community Planning Review, v o l . I l l , No. 1, May 1953> pp. 21-26; Dant, N., \"Edmonton: Prac-t i c a l Results of Planning Measures Since 1950,\" Community Plan-ning Review, v o l . IV, 1954, pp. 31-41; McDonald, H.R., \"Edmonton Plans f o r the Future, n Western Construction and Building, D e c , 1951; Dant, N., \"Interim Development Control,\" Western Construc-t i o n and Building, Nov. 1952; Dant, N., \"\"How Edmonton Plans,\" Western Construction and Building, D e c , 1952. 3 Menhinick, H.K. and Durisch, L .L . , \"Tennessee V a l l e y Auth-orityS Planning i n Operation,\" Town Planning Review, v o l . XXIV, 1953-54, p. 144. ' -64-These powers were disclaimed not because of lack of authority but because of the firm b e l i e f that such an approach would be less f r u i t f u l f or the harmonious development of the TVA area. The preparation of a master plan f o r an area of 40,000 square miles and aff e c t i n g 3,000,000 people i n seven states, would have been indeed d i f f i c u l t , i f not impossible. Hence, the mammoth task of developing the TVA area, from i t s beginning to the present day, proceeded without ever having a master plan, i n the sense of an o v e r a l l \"blueprint\" f o r shaping the course of i t s economic and s o c i a l development. David L i l i e n t h a l , one time chairman of the TVA, explained the absence of a master plan i n the following words: The reason the TVA plan i s not available i s that there i s no such document. Nor i s there one separ-ate department set o f f by i t s e l f , where planners exercise t h e i r brains. This does not constitute our idea of planning ... Unified development as I have described the idea i n action, i s , i n substance, the v a l l e y ' s synonym f o r planning ...4 And he continues: Not one goal, but a d i r e c t i o n . Not one plan, once and f o r a l l , but the conscious s e l e c t i o n by the people of successive plans.5 It might be argued that the aims and objectives of TVA were so simple (as f i r s t stated i n the President's message) that there was no need f o r a complete master plan. But such 4 L i l e n t h a l , D.E., TVA: Democracy on the March, New York, Harper, 1953, pp. 2 0 7 - 2 0 b \\ 1 5 Ibid., p. 212. -65-an argument i s e a s i l y refuted by considering the wide range of a c t i v i t i e s encompassed by the TVA. The following are some 6 of these a c t i v i t i e s . 1. I n s t i t u t i n g a supergovernment, superior to the state and l o c a l authorities; 2. Taking over c e r t a i n police powers; 3. Manufacturing (some for war purposes): F e r t i l i z e r (phos-phates), ammonia, ammonia n i t r a t e , calcium phosphate, calcium s i l i c a t e , dehydrators, alumina, laminated wool; 4. Directing operation on a large area of farmland; 5. Promoting food processing and marketing associations; 6. Processing f i s h ; 7. Constructing and operating r i v e r terminals; 8. Operating flood-control f a c i l i t i e s ; 9. Operating a malaria-control program; 10. Operating farmlands; 11. Lumbering; 12. Operating recreational f a c i l i t i e s , Including t o u r i s t cabins; 13. Readjusting f a m i l i e s ; 14. Renting houses; 15. Producing and s e l l i n g e l e c t r i c power and energy; 16. Regulating e l e c t r i c rates of resale customers; 17. Loaning money; 18. Quarrying limestone; 19. Doing engineering work outside the TVA area, including Russia; 6 This l i s t was o r i g i n a l l y compiled by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on May 29, 1944. See Taylor, J . , Business and Govern-ment, New York, Barnes, 1952, pp. 211-12. - 6 6 -2 0 . Experimenting with s o c i a l i z e d medicine; 2 1 . Engaging i n freight-rate hearings; 2 2 . Carrying on a wide v a r i e t y of research, part of which i s outside the TVA area; 2 3 . Operating grocery stores and service stations; 24. Operating drugstores; 25* Operating domestic water-supply systems; 2 6 . Operating schools; 27* Directing f o r e s t r y , commercial, a g r i c u l t u r a l and health a c t i v i t i e s ; 2 8 . Doing construction on a large scale; 2 9 . Operating navigation f a c i l i t i e s ; 3 0 . Directing a plan for the u n i f i e d development of the area, including the moving of industries i n other areas to the TVA t e r r i t o r y . The successful carrying out of such complex and i n t e r -related a c t i v i t i e s by the TVA which resulted i n the harmonious development of the area, has c l e a r l y broken the myth of the master plan on a regional l e v e l . In a sense, then, the Tennessee V a l l e y does not represent a planned region, but rather, a planning region; . an area i n which forethought, guidance, and development i s applied by many groups and communities to the problems of the region. In the words of Durish and Lowry: A s i g n i f i c a n t TVA decision with regard to regional planning was to reject the concept of a \"planned* region i n favor of the idea of a 'planning' region ... to encourage the development of the planning function by scores of agencies and i n s t i t u t i o n s i n the region. TVA i n e f f e c t rejected the idea of -67-i t s e l f providing a regional plan and sought to f i n d i t s place i n a region where 'planning' i s the democratic task of many i n s t i t u t i o n s and countless individuals. 7 There i s no reason why the TVA approach to regional planning cannot prove to be equally f r u i t f u l f o r small commun-i t i e s . But, f o r such an approach to be successful community planning at the l o c a l l e v e l must be thought of as an i n t e g r a l part of the t o t a l process of community development which, i n turn, requires community organization. Seen i n t h i s context, community planning becomes a means to an end rather than an end i n i t s e l f . Although i t i s d i f f i c u l t to draw a thick l i n e between community organization, community planning and commun-i t y development, i t may be h e l p f u l to define these terms and outline what they stand f o r . Community organization can be defined as a process by which a community i d e n t i f i e s i t s needs or objectives, orders (or ranks) these needs or objectives, develops the confidence and w i l l to work at these needs or ob-j e c t i v e s , finds the resources ( i n t e r n a l or external) to deal with these needs or objectives, takes action i n respect to them, and i n so doing extends and develops cooperative and collabora-8 t i v e attitudes and practices i n the community. In order to take any concrete action i n a small community, the need fo r e f f e c t i v e organization cannot be over emphasized. 7 Durish, L.L. and Lowry, R.E., \"The Scope and Content of Ad-ministrative Decision — the TVA I l l u s t r a t i o n , \" Public Administra-t i o n Review, v o l . XIII, Autumn 1953, P« 225. 8 Ross, op_. c i t . , p. 39* For further elaboration see pp. 39-50. -68-Before going into further discussion on this point, i t i s important to define the second aspect of the community devel-opment process, i.e., community planning. According to one definition, community planning i n i t s local aspects i s an activity of organized and representative community bodies that can act on behalf of the whole community or major segment of i t . It i s essentially a \"matter of deliberately selecting 9 goals and systematically implementing them.\" According to another authority, \"... planning means exploring and studying together cooperatively. ...\" 1 0 Greater emphasis on the efforts of the community suggests that at the local level, planning i s not merely the work of the \"master artist\" which the myth of the master plan seems to imply. One i s dealing with human beings with a l l their strengths and weaknesses, habits, attitudes and a variety of peculiar charac-t e r i s t i c s . The planner's primary task i s not to make a plan for the local community hut to encourage i t s members to decide for themselves what i n their opinion i s most important. The production of a paper solution, i f any, must come after and not before the people of a small community are convinced of the needs, and i f possible, agree upon the appropriate course of action to be taken. 9 Hillman, Arthur, Community Organization and Planning, McMillan, 1950, p. IX. See also Sanderson, D. and Poison, Rural Community Organization, New York, Wiley, 1939* p. 6; Johns, R., and De Marche, Community Organization and Agency Responsibility, New York, Association Press, 1951» pp. 77-80. 10 Weil, F.L., quoted by Johns, R. and De Marche D., op., c i t . , p. 76. -69-Definition of \"community development\" i s a highly con-troversial matter but i t i s generally agreed that social change is one thing and social development another. The former i s natural and spontaneous and the latter is conscious and delib-erate. This, however, does not mean that the planner could be justified i n determining the goal of a community (even i f he could persuade the people to adopt these goals). Speaking 1 about the underdeveloped countries, H.S. Frankel states: ... development depends not on the abstract ... goals of and the more or less enforced decisions by, a cadre of planners, but on the piecemeal adaptation of indi-viduals to goals which emerge but slowly and become clearer only as those individuals work with the means at their disposal; as they themselves become aware, in the process of doing, of what can and ought to be done next.-Q - Unfortunately, community development i s more often thought of as a problem of promoting material changes rather than as a problem of values and human relations. Part of the reason for this attitude i s the materialistic nature of our society; i n addition i t i s due to the concept of formal planning which i s considered much more closely related to physical sciences, such as engineering and psychology. What is even more deplorable is that even i f the material goals are recognized as desirable, l i t t l e thought i s given to the possibility of achieving these goals by means of social sciences. 11 Frankel, H.S., The Economic Impact 6n Underdeveloped Socie ti e s , Blackwell, Oxford, 1953 > p. 95. See also Ruopp, Phillips (ed.), Approaches to Community Development. The Hague, Hoeve, 1953»PP« 16, 18 and 19. -70-What, then, i s the role of the planner i n community development? Is the planner's job done i f he provides a com-munity with a \"good\" master plan? The answer to this question surely must be a negative one. &s< an employee of the community (not merely the council) and as a member of a recognized profes-sion, the planner has a moral responsibility to get things done and not merely to produce paper plans. Now, this puts the planner in an unfortunate position i f the community for which he i s planning i s not ready to adopt and implement his propos-als. Hence, the planner has a legitimate and, in some cases, necessary role to play in helping the community to prepare for planning action. But as Louis Wirth once said, \"the socio-logical studies that have accumulated during the last few dec-ades should have taught us that communities, like personalities, are living individualities and hence resist the attempts that 12 are so often made to squeeze them into arbitrary molds.\" Furthermore, \"consistent use of highly specialized bodies to deal with problems of the community moves the citizen farther and farther away from the point where he can have anything effective to say about the conditions under which he i s to liv e and work. The result of this process i s , of course, disintegra-tion of the community as an association to which one belongs i n a meaningful way and for which one feels responsible.\" 1\"^ It would appear, then, that the primary responsibility for planning 12 Wirth, Louis, i n \"Preface\" to Hillman, A., Community Organization and Planning, MacMillan, 1950, p. XVII. 13 Ross, op_. c i t . , p. 32. -71-action must remain i n the community. The planner's role should be a secondary one of helping the community to discover and define i t s goals. The w i l l of the people must precede i n i t i a t i o n of a programme of action directed towards achieving planning aims. The aims, of course, w i l l d i f f e r from community to community but i n general terms may be defined as achievement of \"optimum use of resources and the r a t i o n a l i n t e g r a t i o n of community l i f e . \" * 1 \" 4 \" Having defined, i n general terms, the process of commun-i t y development, i t i s necessary to discuss the approach which might be taken to i t i n small B r i t i s h Columbia communities. One of the f i r s t requirements f o r e f f e c t i v e community action i s some incentive f o r greater p a r t i c i p a t i o n of the l o c a l people i n community a c t i v i t i e s . The municipal council usually i s too busy with the day to day problems of the community and hardly has the time to deal e f f e c t i v e l y with planning matters. Besides, there i s often a huge gap between municipal responsi-b i l i t y and municipal power, and even i f planning has been accepted as a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of the municipal council, t h i s does not mean that the council i s the best body to solve plan-ning problems. This i s e s p e c i a l l y true i n a r u r a l community where the ablest and most devoted members of the community are not often found i n the municipal h a l l . 14 Wirth, Louis, \"Human Ecology,\" American Journal of Socio! ogy, May 1945, pp. 483-488. -72-While studying the American democracy, more than a hundred years ago, Tocqueville was greatly impressed by the voluntary aspects of American l i f e , e s p e c i a l l y the way people complete projects \"without a single reference to any bureau-cracy or to any o f f i c i a l agency.\" He concluded that \"the health of a democratic society may be measured by the quantity 15 of services performed by i t s c i t i z e n s . \" This statement i s s t i l l v a l i d i n many small communities. In every community there are people who never sought a municipal o f f i c e but who have done a great deal of work f o r the community. Allowing people to carry on with voluntary a c t i v i t i e s gives them a sense of power and worthwhileness i n the community. Most of the voluntary work i s l i k e l y to be done through clubs and organiza-tions but there might be some individ u a l s who prefer to work alone. According to Murray Ross,\"... the community i t s e l f must struggle and s t r i v e to deal with i t s own conception of i t s needs ... i n doing t h i s the community can increase i t s capacity to deal not only with these problems but with many other prob-1 16 lems as they arise.\" Small communities, as a r u l e , are very poorly organized, although i n d i v i d u a l residents may be highly appropriate p o t e n t i a l community workers. Hence, some kind of organization i s neces-sary. And i n so f a r as the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of the planner i s 1 5 Tocqueville, Alex, quoted by Lindeman,E.C., i n \"The Volun-teer, Democracy's Indispensable Asset,\" Current Trends i n Com-munity Organization, Ottawa, Canadian Welfare Council, 1946, p.21. 16 Ross, op_. c i t . , p. 60. See also p. 36. -73-to \"get things done\" (and not merely to produce paper plans), he has a legitimate role for strengthening existing organiza-tions, and i f necessary, creating new ones in order to promote planning. The need for organizational work was stressed by Catherine Bauer when she said: ... in a restless democracy i t is far more important T to have strong friends than not to have enemies ... the progressive planners ... had better learn how to do a l i t t l e organization and education at the neigh-bourhood level themselves.17 What type of organization would be best suited for the development of a particular community, again, will vary from community to community but i t is safe to say that everyone who has a stake in the community should be given an opportunity to express his opinion and take part in the development of the community. Although planners in general seem to recognize the importance of allowing local people to participate in the deci-sions affecting them, too often their idea of \"participation\" is limited to answering questionnaires or attending public hearings. This is neither the t rue expression of the interests of the people nor an effective motivating force to encourage greater participation in the activities of the community. Every group and every individual is, at some time, discontented with some-thing specific in the community, e.g., the lack of a school, poor condition of roads or unsatisfactory sewer service. It is better from the standpoint of the health of the individual and the < 17 Bauer, Catherine, \"Good Neighbourhoods,\" Annals of the American Aoademy of Political and Social Science, November 194-5, 252:114. -74-18 community fo r discontent to be s p e c i f i c rather than general i f an opportunity could be taken to remedy the s i t u a t i o n soon af t e r the discontent reaches i t s peak because at that time the i n d i v i d u a l or the group i s w i l l i n g \"to do something about i t , \" Furthermore, some organizations may f i n d i t more convenient to follow the pattern of \"withdrawal and return.\" They may prefer to complete one project, take time to celebrate i t , to relax and meditate before returning to another one. Such a pattern may prove to be more p r a c t i c a l i n a small community than a steady process implied by a long-range master plan. \"The important thing i s i n the beginning to get the various organizations to work together i n j o i n t community projects, rather than to spend too much time i n t r y i n g to work out the best type of organiza-t i o n or to give much attention to long-time planning. The need f o r long-time planning may better evolve out of the s i t u a t i o n , 19 when i t w i l l be f e l t as a r e a l need and w i l l have better support. E f f e c t i v e support for community developments may, thus, be obtained only by s a t i s f y i n g the interests of each group. Development of cooperative action among various groups i s not a problem which could be solved overnight. I t must be solved at a pace which various groups f i n d acceptable and comfortable. Completed projects, however small, can be used as corner stones f o r future action i n the community, f o r a community can 18 Ross, op. c i t . , p. 162. 19 Sanderson and Poison, op., c i t . , p^ 234. See also Lash, H.N. Community Planning News, November 5 ? 1954, p. 6. -75-l e a r n a great deal by working on small projects and i s often able to extend the scope and range of the problems with which i t can deal i n the future. Communities i n underdeveloped countries have often proven t h i s point by using \" p i l o t projects\" with modest and attainable goals f o r the immediate future. Here again, the planner plays a c r i t i c a l role i n coordinating the a c t i v i t i e s of various groups. It i s very u n l i k e l y that his e f f o r t s w i l l be e n t i r e l y successful i n achieving a complete integration of the projects and programmes. But that i s hardly to be regretted f o r , as Henry C h u r c h i l l once said, a reasonable amount of confusion and the opportunity for freedom of action 20 w i l l probably do more good than harm to the community. Nevertheless, i t i s important that an attempt should be made to coordinate the a c t i v i t i e s of various groups i n order to avoid chaos and confusion i n the community. The planner alone, of course, cannot hope to perform t h i s task. He must work i n conjunction with an i n f l u e n t i a l group i n the community. In t h i s connection, B r i t i s h Columbia has a great deal to l e a r n from the experience of communities i n other areas and countries that have achieved t h e i r planning aims through voluntary organization and cooperation on the community l e v e l . Perhaps i t would be useful to discuss some of these examples. Although the examples discussed here are not necessarily of small communities, the need and opportunities f o r such an approach i s just as important i n small communities as i t i s i n large ones. 20 C h u r c h i l l , Henry, quoted by Marx, H.L., i n Community Plan-ning, New York, Wilson, 1956, p. 85. -76-An interesting example i s found i n Cleveland, Ohio, where the Post-War Planning Council of Greater Cleveland emerged as a result of a meeting of about 200 community leaders repres-enting government, business, labour, professional and other special interests agencies. The 17-member executive community includes the president of the city council, chairman of the county board, chairman of the Cleveland City Planning Commission, and other public o f f i c i a l s as well as representatives from labour, business, and other f i e l d s . The council operates through a small staff assisted by panels of citizens and o f f i * c ials on public works; on transportation, t r a f f i c and transit; on the needs of returning servicemen; on housing and blighted areas; on social services; on labour-management relations; on interracial relations; on public finance and taxation; on education and culture; and on private enterprise. Examples of similar councils are found i n Louisville; Syracuse; Sunflower, Kansas; Manitowoc, Wisconsin; Pitsburgh and Greendale. Jm On a smaller scale, there i s the example of Alexandria, Ohio, where a community of only about four hundred and f i f t y people organized a group called \"The Alexandria Community Coun-c i l . \" It represents various organizations i n the community with an aim \"to further through cooperative enterprise any plan for community betterment.\" Without preparing a \"master plan\", the 21 Hillman, op., c i t . , pp. 102-129--77-council has contributed a great deal towards the development 2? of the community. Another example i s found i n Modesto, California. Late i n 1953 the c i t y council appointed a \"Forward Modesto Committee\", 53 local citizens representing a cross-section of the community. Its job was to answer two questions: what kind of community do we want? What must we do to get i t ? The answers provided to these questions were far more practical, r e a l i s t i c and accept-able to the community than the municipal council could ever hope to produce i f i t had gone ahead on i t s own.2^ An extreme case of community development, through the voluntary effort of the citizens, is found i n the underdeveloped countries. In many of the Indian villages, for example, there has never been a local government. The whole business of the village is carried by the village Panchayat (usually a voluntary organization representing diverse interest groups and influen-t i a l individuals i n the village) with some assistance from the senior governments. This assistance i s based upon the firm conviction that more lasting progress i n the villages can be achieved by building upon existing institutions, making f u l l use of the local techniques and giving maximum recognition to the 22 Hillman, op_. c i t . , p. 51. 23 Marx, Community Planning, pp. 12-14. -78-habits, attitudes, customs and traditions of the people rather than by attempting to transplant spectacular but unfamiliar methods. An excellent i l l u s t r a t i o n of this approach i s found i n the creation and operation of community development projects i n India. Under this programme some 120,000 villages, about a fourth of the rural population, are designated for community development. In 70,000 of these villages, extension services are being established for 49 million people as part of an intensive programme. Thirty-four centers have been organized to train extension workers who are being chosen from the village -i 24 people. ^ The essential point to keep in mind while dealing with small communities, i s that loyalty of the individual is more l i k e l y to be given to the special interest groups to which he belongs and not to the community as a whole. Having recognized this, the individual should be given an opportunity to contribute to the development of the community i n his own way. For this purpose, the coordinating council should welcome groups even i f they are only remotely related to community planning. One group, for example, may be primarily concerned with the problem of juvenile delinquency, but i f i t could be shown to this group that there is a relationship between juvenile delinquency and poor housing conditions, i t may be willing to give support to a 24 For an excellent summary of one of the projects i n United Provinces, India, see Goswami, U.L. and Roy, S.C., \"India*' i n Ruopp, P., Approaches to Community Development, The Hague, Bandung, Hoeve, 1953, pp. 299-317. : -79-campaign for the improvement of housing conditions i n the com-munity. Local community councils can prove to be helpful not only through their own efforts but also by creating proper at-mosphere for the expert to deal with special problems. Experience has shown that services of the expert could be much more useful for the community i f an informal serious study has been made by the community previous to his v i s i t . The motto found i n many books and bulletins on community planning: \"First get an expert and have him make a study\", is not only expensive but i t i s also of doubtful wisdom. \"It makes a community feel that what i t needs i s to have something done to i t , rather than to work at i t s own problems; unless some understanding of com-munity issues exists in the community before the expert comes, he w i l l take most of his knowledge away with him, and the community w i l l be l i t t l e better off. If expert guidance i s secured at the beginning of a community study, i t s aim should 25 be to help the community study their own problem.\" A suggestion as to what the composition and functions of a community council for small communities i n Br i t i s h Columbia might be is shown i n Chart I. Since such a community council is a voluntary body, representing diverse interest groups, i t s emphasis should be on education rather than legislation and 25 Morgan, A.E., The Small Community, New York, Harper, 1942. CHART I Suggested Composition and Functions of A Community Council for Small Communities i n Briti s h Columbia Chairman Vice-Chairman Secretary Executive Committee of 5 members Main functions: Co-ordination of local activities Synthesis of local programmes Cooperation with federal, pro-vi n c i a l and regional programmes Improving quality of municipal services Surveys and fact finding Joint action on community problems Establishment of special committees to deal with special problems Publicity and propaganda Social events Leadership training programmes Representatives from: Municipal council School Board P.T.A. Advisory Planning Com-mission ( i f present) C.P.A.C. ( i f present) Women's Clubs Church groups Social agencies Service clubs Fraternal organizations Veteran's groups Labour unions Chamber of Commerce Business and profes-sional associations compulsion. Participation i n regional conferences and sending delegates for short training programmes has proven to be highly useful i n many cases. In B r i t i s h Columbia, a start has already been made by the Extension Department of the University of British Columbia. Seminars on community leadership, human relations and short courses i n Community Planning sponsored by this department have stirred a s p i r i t of planning consciousness i n many communities. The benefits to be derived from the short course i n Commun-i t y Planning (held for one week every spring at the University of British Columbia under the sponsorship of the Department of University Extension, The Community Planning Association of Canada, the School of Architecture and Graduate Course i n Com-munity and Regional Planning) may be cited as an example. This course i s designed to provide persons working i n municipal gov-ernment, members of advisory planning commissions, architects, engineers and others concerned with community development, with some knowledge of the approach, principles, methods and problems of community planning. One municipal employee who attended one of these courses returned to his municipality and success-f u l l y worked out a t r a f f i c pattern for his community. His approach was indeed simple but useful. Traffic congestion and automobile accidents at several points i n the municipality had become a matter of deep concern not only to himself but to several other members of the community. But nobody i n the community knew what to do about i t . After a few days training -82-at the University he developed a keen, interest in the problem of t r a f f i c direction and did some research on the subject. In a few days after his return, he got permission from the municipal council \"to play around\" with the idea. He plotted the trouble spots on a map with the help of the local police, took t r a f f i c counts on strategic points with the help of the local school children and made a detailed land use survey of the community with the help of the municipal assessor. After a careful analysis of this information, he worked out a prac-t i c a l solution for t r a f f i c control and t r a f f i c direction i n the community. His proposals included a t r a f f i c light at one intersection; several stop signs, \"slow\" signs and \"no entrance*' signs; and a proposal for a one-way street. Not only was this a useful contribution to the community but i t was also a \"fascinating hobby\" for the man who did a l l the work without charging the community a cent for his services I Important as the role of the University i s , i t s programme for helping small communities needs to be expanded to cover a much wider range of subjects and a much greater emphasis on community organization and development. What an expanded pro-gramme for the participation of the University can do in small communities, i s well illustrated in the experience of several 26 communities i n the United States. Under a programme called \"The Citizen and the Community\", Parsons College, F a i r f i e l d , Iowa, offers a summer course every 26 Tate, H.C., Building a Better Home Town, New York, Harper. 1954, pp. 85-158. -83-year. The f i r s t twelve meetings are devoted to a series of orientation lectures dealing with community development. Next, the students are \"farmed out\" to various community organizations such as the Community Chest, the Boy Scouts, the Local Chamber of Commerce and the Planning Commission. During the last few weeks of the course, the students are brought back into the classroom to compare the different types of community training they received. In addition, members of the college staff, i n cooperation with the Mid-American Foundation, carry out various types of surveys. Some of the recent examples include: \"Survey of the Midwest,\" \"Small Business,\" Agricultural Economy,\" and \"Rur.al Sociology.\" The community development programme of the I l l i n o i s College at Jacksonville, I l l i n o i s , i s another remarkable example. The purpose of the programme is ( 1 ) to assist communities to develop their resources and to meet their problems and needs through group action; (2) to provide a means by which the youth of the communities may have the interest and help of their neighbour-hoods in becoming useful citizens; (3) to develop an awareness i n .-students of community problems and the problems of individual persons i n the community and to train students i n the methods and techniques of meeting these problems as responsible citizens. The college sets forth i t s philosophy underlying the pro-gramme i n these terms: ( 1 ) The conviction that the revita l i z a -tion of small communities i s essential to the preservation of -84-democracy; (2) the b e l i e f t h a t p e o p l e i n t h e neighbourhoods and communities can s o l v e more o f t h e i r problems i f t h e s i t u a - \" t i o n i s p r o v i d e d i n w h i c h i n d i v i d u a l i n i t i a t i v e can a s s e r t i t s e l f ; (3) the a c t u a l . i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n o f t h e b a s i c problems o f any s o c i e t y , w h i c h i s seen most c l e a r l y at the l e v e l o f t h e community and met most e f f e c t i v e l y t h r o u g h t h e p r i m a r y group; (4) t h e r e a l i z a t i o n t h a t i n t h e f a c e o f b a s i c p r o b l e m s , t r a i n e d p e r s o n s are needed t o work c l o s e l y w i t h groups and i n d i v i d u a l s t o s t i m u l a t e , d i s c u s s , and share w i t h them th e r e s o l u t i o n o f t h o s e problems; (5) the c o n v i c t i o n t h a t the p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f persons i n a neighbourhood group i s e s s e n t i a l t o a programme o f d e l i n q u e n c y p r e v e n t i o n i n the n e i g h b o u r h o o d ; (6) t h e b e l i e f t h a t a major e d u c a t i o n a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f a c o l l e g e s e e k i n g t o s e r v e i t s c o n s t i t u e n c y i s t o make s t u d e n t s aware o f t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e community, and f o r t h e sake o f p r o v i d i n g c o n t i n u i n g l e a d e r -s h i p t o t r a i n them i n t h e methods o f s o l v i n g b a s i c s o c i a l p r o b-l e m s , s i n c e t h e dynamic approach t o p e r s o n a l and group r e l a t i o n s i s t h e e s s e n t i a l t a s k o f e d u c a t i o n . The method used by t h e c o l l e g e i s t o send s t u d e n t s out i n t o t h e v a r i o u s s u r r o u n d i n g communities t o work w i t h l o c a l g r o u p s . The i n d i v i d u a l s t u d e n t ' s e f f o r t s are c o n c e n t r a t e d i n t h e s m a l l community and h i s u l t i m a t e aims are toward a more wholesome, u n i f i e d , independent community. He works i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h any group t h a t i s i n t e r e s t e d i n s o l v i n g some o f i t s b a s i c p r ob-lems. -85-The college has had community development programmes of t h i s character i n nine communities. Students have dealt at f i r s t hand with problems i n street improvements, recreation, community direct o r y development, c i t y h a l l renovation, acqu i s i -t i o n of school band uniforms, f i r e house construction, economic development, park d i s t r i c t planning.1, r e c r u i t i n g physicians, enforcing t r a f f i c laws, establishing public dumping grounds, i n s t i t u t i n g clean-up days, procuring playground equipment, organ-i z i n g f i r e d i s t r i c t s , setting up youth centers, and helping pro-cure a community center b u i l d i n g . In each case the students have worked i n the community with the c i t i z e n s i n coping with these problems. Once we have recognized that planning to be successful must be concentrated at the grass-roots, and that the grass-roots of a democracy are the people, we must set ourselves to c u l t i v a t e and organize the grass-roots. Such an approach involves educa-t i o n and cooperation as described above. Translated into the language of the present thesis, i t means: unless d r a s t i c changes are made i n the fundamental p o l i t i c a l , f i n a n c i a l and s o c i a l con-di t i o n s of small communities i n B r i t i s h Columbia, the t r a d i t i o n a l approach of \"Survey, analysis and plan\" must be replaced by a new approach of \"Organization, planning and action.\" -86-BIBLIOGRAPHY Armstrong, Alan, i n Food for Thought., Canadian Association for Adult Education, February, 1953* British Columbia Department of Municipal Affairs, Municipal Statistics for the Year Ending March 31, 1956. Victoria, Queen's Printer, 1957. B r i t i s h Columbia Municipal Act 1957, Victoria, Queen's Printer, 1957* Bassett. E.M., The Master Plan. Hew York, Russell Sage, 1938. Bauer, Catherine, \"Economic Progress and Living Conditions,\" Town Planning Review, vol. XXVI, 1953-54. Bend City Planning Commission, The Bend Area. Bend, Oregon, 1956. Bettman, A., City and Regional Planning Papers, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1946. Black, R., Planning for the Small American City, Public Admin-istration Service, 1944. Bland, John, Planning Suggestions for Canadian Communities, Montreal, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, 1949. Bristol City Planning Commission, Report of the Bristol Civic Development Committee, Bri s t o l , Conn., 1956. Canada, Bri t i s h North America Act. Canada, Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects, Ottawa, 1956 (Preliminary report). Crawford, K.G., Canadian Municipal Government, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1954. Chelsea Planning Board, F i r s t Report on a General Plan for Chelsea, Chelsea, Mass., 1955. Community Planning Association of Canada, Community Planning News, no. 6, 1957. Haar, CM., \"The Contents of the General Plan: A Glance at History,\" Journal of American Institute of Planning, v o l . 21, nos. 2-3, Spring-summer, 1955, pp. 66-70. -87-Haar, CM., \"The Master Plan: An Impermanent Constitution,\" Law and Contemporary Problems. Duke University Press, School of Law, vol. XX, No. 3, Summer 1955. Hayward, City of: Hayward Prepares a Master Plan for Future Development, Hayward, 1953. Hillman, A., Community Organization and Planning. New York, McMillan, 1956. Johns, R.E., and De Marche, D.E., Community Organization and Agency Responsibility. New York, Association Press, 1951. International City Managers1 Association, Local Planning Administration. Chicago, Institute for Training i n Municipal Administration, 1950. Kolb, J.H. and Brunner, E., A Study of Rural Society. New York, Houghton, 1952. Lane, W.T., Planning and the Law i n B.C. Vancouver, University of British Columbia, 1952. Lash, H.N., \"Planning Administration i n Small Towns,\" Community Planning News, no. 5? 1954. Lash, H.N., \"Small Town Planning Problems,\" Planning. 1955, Montreal, ASPO, 1955, 178-81. Lepasky, A., Administration, New York, Knopf, 1952. Lilienthal, D.E., TVA: Democracy on the March. New York, Harper, 1954. Lindeman, E.C, \"The Volunteer, Democracy's Indispensable Asset,\" Current Trends i n Community Organization. Ottawa, Canadian Welfare Council, 1946. Marx, H.L., Community Planning. New York, Wilson, 1956. McCallum, I.R.M., Physical Planning, London, Architecture Press, 1945. Mead, Margaret (ed.), Cultural Patterns and Technical Change, Paris, UNESCO, 1953. Menhinick, H.K. and Durisch, L.L., \"Tennessee Valley Authority: Planning i n Operation,\" Town Planning Review, vol. XXIV, 1953-54, pp. 116-45. -88-Milner, J.B., \"Introduction to Master Plan Legislation,\" The Canadian Bar Review, vol. XXXVI, no. 10, December 1957, PP. 1125-1175. Morgan, A.E., The Small Community, New York, Harper, 1942. Nelson, L., Rural Society, New York, American. 1955. Newfoundland, Urban and Rural Planning Act, 1953, St.John's, Queen's Printer, 1953. Oberlander, H.P., and Cave, R.J., Should Kelowna Extend Its Boundaries? Kelowna, 1957. Quincy Planning Commission, Comprehensive Plan for Quincy, Quincy, Washington, 1956. Riesman, D., \"Some Observations on Community Plans and Utopia,\" Yale Law Journal, vol. 57, December 1947, pp. 174-200. Robinson, I.M., \"Planning for Small Communities i n B.C.,\" Community Planning Review, vol. 5, No. 1, March 1955, pp. 10-16. Ross, M.G., Community Organization, New York, Harper, 1955. Ruopp, R. (ed.), Approaches to Community Development, The Hague, Hoeve, 1953. Sanderson, E.D., and Poison, R.A., Rural Community Organiza-tion, New York, Wiley, 1939. Seligman, E.R., Essays in Taxation, New York, MacMillan, 1921. Selznick, P., TVA and the Grass Roots, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1949. Smith, T.L., Sociology of Rural Life, New York, Harper, 1953. Tate, H.C, Building a Better Home Town, New York, Harper, 1954. Taylor, J., Business and Government, New York, Barnes, 1952. Tugwell, R.G., The Place of Planning i n Society, San Juan, Puerto Rico Planning Board, 1954. Tugwell, R.G., A Study of Planning as a Scientific Endeavour, Chicago, University of Chiacgo Press, 1948. University of B r i t i s h Columbia, Department of Extension, Extension Course in Municipal Administration Und Year, Vancouver, Best Mimeograph, 1953. -89-University of California, Department of City and Regional Planning, Interim General Plan for Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 1952. University of Liverpool, Department of Social Sciences, Social Aspects of a Town Development Plan, Birkenhead, _93_ Walker, R.A., Planning Function i n Urban Government, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 194-1. Wirth, Louis, \"Human Ecology,\" American Journal of Sociology, May 1945, pp. 483-88. -90 -APPENDIX List of Small Communities i n British Columbia — with population of 200-5,000 (in 1951 or 1956) A. Cities Name Alberni Armstrong Courtenay Cranbrook Cumberland Duncan Enderby Fernie Grand Forks Greenwood 1956 Population 3,947 1,197 3,025 4,562 1,039 3,247 965 2,808 1,995 815 Name 1956 Population Kaslo 669 Ladysmith 2,107 Langley 2,131 Merritt 1,790 Port Coquitlam 4,632 Port Moody 2,713 Revelstoke 3,469 Rossland 4,344 Salmon Arm 1,344 Slocan 326 B. Districts Name 1956 Population Central Saanich 2,477 Coldstream 1,613 Fraser Mills 216 Glenmore 1,287 Kent 1,989 Mission 4,711 Peachland 705 Name Population Pi t t Meadows 1,652 Salmon Arm 3,100 Spallumcheen 1,937 Sum as 4,505 Summerland 3,893 Tadanac 325 /continued -91-APPENDIX - cont. C. V i l l a g e s Name 1956 Population Abbotsford 830 A l e r t Bay 695 Ashcroft 805 Burns Lake 1,016 Campbell River 3,069 Castlegar 1,705 Chapman Camp 567 Comox 1,151 Creston 1,844 Fort St. James 6 l5 Fort St. John 1,908 F r u i t v a l e 870 Gibsons Landing 990 Harrison Hot Springs 613 Hazelton 279 Hope 2,226 Invermere 543 Keremeos 457 Kinnaird 1,305 Lake Cowichan 1,949 L i l l o e t 1,083 Lumby 780 Lytton 329 McBride 582 Marysville 930 Name 1956 Population Mission C i t y 3,010 Montrose 707 New Denver 736 North Kamloops 4,398 O l i v e r 1,147 Osoyoos 860 P a r k s v i l l e 1,112 Pouce Coupe 585 Princeton 2,245 Qualicum Beach 726 Quesnel 4,384 Salmo 846 Sechelt 439 Sidney 1,371 S i l v e r t o n 347 Smithers 1,962 Squamish 1,292 Stewart 435 Telkwa 580 Terrace 1,473 Tofino 389 Ucluelet 520 Vanderhoof 1,085 Warfield 2,051 Williams Lake 1,790 D. Unincorporated Places 1951 Name Population Aberdeen 233 Agassix 218 Albert Head 306 JQdergrove 276 Allenby 279 A l l i s o n Harbour 304 Anutz Lake 322 Bamfield 324 Bankhead 380 1951 Name Population Beaverdell 271 Be aver f a l l s 203 B e l l a Coola 286 Black Creek 271 Blainey 229 Blewett 272 Blubber Bay 263 Blue River 286 Bonnington F a l l s 233 -92-D. Unincorporated Places (cont.) 1951 1951 Name Population Name Population Boston Bar 290 Fernie Annex 238 Bowen Island 269 Field 522 Bradian 279 Fort Langley 403 Braefoot 214 Fort Nelson 353 Bralorne 643 Fort St, James 319 Brentwood 609 Fort Steele 349 Bridesville 240 Fruit ova 478 B r i l l i a n t 746 Gabriola Island 326 Britannia Beach 1,366 Galiano 291 Broclehurst 674 Galloway 233 Canal Flats 311 Giscome 377 Canoe 359 Glen Lake - 313 Cawston 338 Goat River Bottom 206 Caycuse 326 Golden 831 Cellsta 233 Gordon River 275 Centre Fort George 514 Grandview Heights 282 Chase 597 Grantham 225 Chase River 364 Great Central 592 Chemainus 1 ,661 Grindrod 374 Christina Lake 220 Hagensborg 260 Clinton 377 Halfmoon Bay 341 Cloverdale 756 Halston 271 Coal Harbour 216 Hammond 649 Colebrook 282 Haney 1 ,522 Columbia Gardens 246 Happy Valley 333 Colwood 608 Harrison Lake 235 Coombs 401 Hatzig 291 Copper Mountain 1 ,061 Hedley 641 Cordova Bay 720 H i l l i e r ' s 242 Cowichan 461 Holberg 440 Crescent 274 Honeymoon Bay 602 Crescent Valley 492 Houston 535 Crofton 329 loco 333 Dashwood 250 James Island 265 Decker Lake 254 Kaleden 269 Deep Cove 522 Kelsey Bay 339 Deroche 262 Kersley 229 East Creston 259 Ladner 663 East Kelowna 428 Lamming Mills 207 East Wellington 233 Langford Station 964 Edgewater 383 Langley Prairie 660 Elk Lake 359 Lantzville 286 Erickson 608 Lasqueti Island 212 Errington 270 Lome 464 Falk Land 348 Malkwa 226 Fanny Bay 242 Mara 293 -93-Name 1951 Population Mas set 227 Matsqui 241 Mayne Island 234 Meschie Lake 438 Metchosin 479 Michel 593 Middletown 232 Midway 239 Nakusp 1,036 Namu 257 Nanoose 400 Naramata 614 Natal 1,302 Nickel Plate 213 North Bend 305 North Creston 337 Northfield 280 Notch H i l l 205 Ocean Falls 2,825 Akanagan Falls 209 Okanagan Mission 648 O.K. Center 272 Oyama 398 Oyster Bay 399 Pass Creek 338 Peardonville 481 Penny 249 Pineview 503 Port Alice 1,038 Port Edward 388 Port Hardy 369 Port Kells 248 Port McNeil 299 Port Mellon 250 Port Renfrew 470 Powell River 2,074 Premier 204 Proctor 216 Quamichan 207 Quarterway 251 Quathiaski Cove 271 Queen Charlotte 246 River Jordan 305 Roberts Creek 556 Rock Creek 323 Rocle Addition 342 Rosedale 315 Name 1951 Population Rosemount 331 Royal Oak 465 Royston 372 Rutland 1,976 Sahtlam 237 Sandspit 257 Sandwick 629 Saseenos 301 Sayward 277 Selm Park 281 Shoreacres 200 Sicamous 371 Silver Creek 219 Sointula 404 Sooke 814 South Kelowna 248 South Revelstoke 220 South Slocan 304 South Wellington 324 Sproat Lake 376 Stillwater 277 Tahsis 231 Telkwa 466 Thrums 218 Tulsequah 217 Tynehead 305 Vananda 365 Wardner 340 Wellington 365 Wells 231 Wesbridge 299 West Fernie 433 West Grand Forks 327 West Quesnel 1,076 Willwood Heights 818 Willow Point 342 Willow River 271 Wilson Creek 311 Windermere 237 Winfield 1,231 Woodfibre 548 Woss Lake 401 Wynndel 501 Yale 239 Yarrow 1,301 Youbou 846 Sources: (1) B.C.Dept. of Municipal Affairs, Municipal Statistics Year Ending Dec. 31. 1956. Victoria, Queens Printer,1957 (2) Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Special Tabulation for Unincorporated Places, 1941 and 1951. "@en ; edm:hasType "Thesis/Dissertation"@en ; edm:isShownAt "10.14288/1.0106180"@en ; dcterms:language "eng"@en ; ns0:degreeDiscipline "Planning"@en ; edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ; dcterms:publisher "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:rights "For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en ; ns0:scholarLevel "Graduate"@en ; dcterms:title "An approach to planning for small communities in British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:type "Text"@en ; ns0:identifierURI "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/40184"@en .