BY RICK PUSIAK
Greater Sudbury has entered the so-called paperless age.
Proof of that was demonstrated at a Tuesday night meeting of city council?s planning committee where the manager of development services Art Potvin held up a two-foot stack of thick documents, and explained to the elected officials how all official documents are now available on a section of the municipal website (www.planningsudbury.com/).
In the past, builders and lot developers required hard copies of items such as maps and zoning bylaws before they could proceed with a project.
Now they can log on to a computer, download exactly what they need and print it off themselves.
Potvin told councillors there has already been a 50 per cent reduction in the use of paper in recent months. It?s anticipated that figure will shortly increase to 90 per cent.
In addition to paper savings, planning documents will also be more current.
Every time a bylaw is updated the changes will be recorded on a computer disc and put into the municipal Internet system.
All data will be current every couple of weeks instead of every couple of months.
Although an exact dollar figure isn?t available Potvin told councillors the new system will save
the municipality money, mainly through more efficient use of staff time.
Councillor Gerry McIntaggart applauded the new format and reminded his colleagues that when the transition board helped create the new city there was a promise of reduced paperwork.
?The amount of paper we?re going to save and the amount of staff time is just out of this world,? said the Ward 1 representative.
?We?re going to be a heck of a lot more efficient for the residents out there, the business community that wants to build and identify properties they want to develop.?
Developers won?t be limited by city hall office hours as data will be available seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
?It really displays that the City of Greater Sudbury is open for business,? said McIntaggart.
?Any community can now access this information just like that. They don?t have to place a long distance phone call, they don?t have to worry about excessive bills. People working 9 to 5 who don?t have access to phones can do this at two o?clock in the morning.?
Developers and builders will also be able to literally click on one of any 700 municipal maps, select any lot, find out what municipal zoning category it falls under and other items of interest like parking requirements.
?I don?t think too many communities have gone this far,? said Ward 3 Councillor Louise Portelance.
?I bet you we?re leaders, I?m really impressed.?
Potvin offered the opinion that the Sudbury computer system is unique in the province.
And because of recent renovations in council chambers the manager of development services was able to beam up the live website on two huge projection screens for the benefit of the elected officials and the small audience in attendance.
Committee chair Dave Kilgour added that a Toronto area municipality went so far as to send representatives to Sudbury to check out developments at the local planning department.
Other data available on-line includes building permits, demolition permits, plumbing and minor variances.
Customers who don?t trust the high tech age still have the option of calling staff at 671-CITY (2489).
This high tech system will come in handy for the city in the coming months.
The municipality is in the process of hammering out a unified Official Plan to cover the new municipality boundaries that came into being on Jan. 1, 2000. That process is expected to be completed by April of 2005.
