Medicine Hat Set to Modernize 30-Year-Old Appeal Board Rules
Council to give first reading on updated bylaw that would require official recordings of SDAB hearings.
MEDICINE HAT — For years, residents and journalists attending Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB) hearings have faced an awkward question: can you record this?
Under the current rules, the answer has been "it depends on who's in the chair." In at least one instance, a journalist who pressed record was promptly escorted out by police and trespassed from City Hall for the day.
Under a proposed update coming before City Council on September 8, that scene would be impossible. The City would be required (sort of) to record the hearing and upload it to YouTube within three days.
What is the SDAB?
The SDAB is an independent, quasi-judicial body that hears appeals from people who feel they've been affected by a development decision.
Think of it this way: if your neighbour wants to build a three-storey addition that blocks your sunlight, or if the City approves a home business that you think will create traffic chaos, the SDAB is where you can challenge that decision. It's basically the court of "who gets to build what, where."
Appeals must be filed within 21 days of a development decision, making the process a fast-moving legal proceeding that affects real property rights.
A push for transparency
For years, Medicine Hat's committee meetings were not streamed or uploaded online; you either attended in person or joined via Microsoft Teams. You could only watch live - no recordings were made available to the public afterward even though they were recorded for staff and council members to watch later.
The Owl started streaming the meetings and uploading them to our YouTube page because we believed it was in the public interest to know. We also noticed that people act very differently when they know someone is watching.
Earlier this year, we raised this issue with members of the new council at a Corporate Services Committee meeting. We explained what we were doing and that we would love to stop - we're a very small newsroom and this took up a lot of our time. The City started doing it within a very short period of time.
The proposed SDAB bylaw will finally make official recordings of hearings publicly available.
What's changing?
Recording is finally addressed - The new bylaw states the SDAB "must make reasonable efforts" to provide an official video recording of each hearing and make it available on the City's YouTube channel within three days. It falls short of an absolute guarantee. The current rules have no recording requirement at all; recording was at the discretion of the Chair.
Board size increases from 5 to 7 members - The board currently consists of four electors (non-City employees) and one Councillor. The new bylaw allows up to two additional electors, improving member availability and preventing hearing cancellations due to conflicts or absences. A quorum will still be three people.
Clearer timelines for the City Clerk's duties - The updated rules set strict timelines: hearing packages must be available to members and the public four days before a hearing, and all documentation must be submitted one week prior.
Public conduct rules are spelled out - People attending hearings must address the board through the Chair, maintain order, and refrain from applauding or interrupting speeches. It's a step toward defining what "orderly" actually means - rather than leaving it to a Chair's discretion.
Appeals can be filed online - The new bylaw adds an online form option, replacing the requirement to hand-deliver, mail or fax paper forms.
Why this matters for public access
The new bylaw is a step forward - it requires the City to post recordings after the fact.
Here's the catch: SDAB hearings are held in council chambers.
The City already has cameras and audio set up to live stream meetings on YouTube. The equipment is there. The technology exists. Yet the new bylaw doesn't require live streaming. It only requires a recording posted within three days, subject to "reasonable efforts."
That's better than nothing, but it's not the same as real-time public observation. It is a well known fact that most people act differently when they know they're being watched live. Council does have the ability to add live streaming and mandating recording to the new bylaw.
When does this take effect?
Bylaw 4893-2026 is scheduled for first reading on September 8, 2026. It will require three readings to pass. They can do all three readings in one meeting if they choose to do so but typically it is done over two meetings. Until it's fully approved, the 1995 rules remain in effect - meaning recording SDAB hearings is still at the Chair's discretion.
If you're planning to appeal a development decision under the old rules, the appeal deadline is still 21 days from the decision date. Contact the Board Clerk at 403-529-8382 or clerk@medicinehat.cafor specific questions.
The bottom line
Thirty-one years is a long time for any bylaw to go without review. The new SDAB bylaw modernizes procedures, expands access, and finally brings Medicine Hat's development appeal process into an era where a public hearing is actually... public.
