The City of Richmond has told an advisory committee to take a second look at a controversial Buddhist temple expansion - after a protestor complained of a blatant conflict of interest.
Carol Day poured scorn on the decision of the city's voluntary agricultural advisory committee (AAC) to endorse Lingyen Mountain Temple's plan - which includes exchanging farmland off No. 5 Road as part of a proposed expansion.
Day claimed the endorsement should be null and void because the AAC's co-chair, prominent local farmer Bill Zylmans, currently rents land from the temple, yet took part in the discussion and voted in favour of the endorsement.
Zylmans declared the interest at the meeting and stands to actually lose out if the plans go ahead and the city played down his role, saying that no rules were broken and that advisory committees simply advise city staff and city council.
However, last week, the city decided to send the matter back to the AAC to consider the matter once more and asked Zylmans not to take part in the discussion this time.
"I'm thrilled and my faith in the system has been restored. The city is listening and that's comforting," said Day. "I was concerned that I was just being patted on the head. Next time around, maybe the likes of Harold Steves and Colin Dring will be at the meeting."
Day has started up a protest group called CALMR (Committee Against Lingyen Mega Retreat) and said the decision will give her another month or two to rally more support.
Zylmans, meanwhile, said he's not bitter about the decision and is happy for the AAC to revisit the matter.
"I still don't believe I did anything wrong and I don't believe this going back will change anything," said Zylmans.
"But due to the level of hype this has created, I'm happy to stay away from things the next time around.
"As I said, though, I'd be surprised if this changes anything, as we were pretty united (on the AAC)."
City spokesperson Ted Townsend confirmed the matter has been sent back to the AAC, but reiterated that the advice of any of the city's 20 advisory committees is "non-binding" and, with respect to the temple expansion, the AAC's advise is "only one aspect of the information that will be considered by staff and council on this file.
"It should be clear that, at all times, existing policies for advisory committees were followed correctly by all involved in dealing with this matter."
Asked if the decision to exclude Zylmans from the debate may set a precedent for how advisory committees deal with potential conflicts of interest, Townsend said that the city is "constantly reviewing its procedures and processes on an ongoing basis, including those that apply to advisory committees."
The temple's massive expansion plans are expected to go before a city council planning committee within the next couple of months.
