City of Powell River staff will be directed to proceed with a comprehensive official community plan (OCP) update, according to an engagement plan presented at the July 9 committee of the whole meeting.
At the meeting, manager of planning Daniella Fergusson provided an outline of the timeline and steps staff suggest for the extensive process.
“Staff have met with our counterparts in other governments, as well as talking to colleagues in the province,” said Fergusson. “We’ve also done a fair amount of background research on current accepted practices for official community plans in order to more fully build out the work plan and understand the scope of work.”
Fergusson said she wanted to discuss the OCP timeline with councillors. She said there have been three major factors delaying the city’s ability to deliver the OCP according to the timeline presented to council in October 2023. The first is that there have been changes in planning legislation involving substantial amounts of staff time.
She said this involves completion of a housing needs report by the end of this calendar year, and in the next calendar year, updating the OCP and zoning bylaw to reflect changes.
“That means looking at our 20-year housing projection and coming up with land use designations on how we are going to accommodate growth,” said Fergusson. “That is going to take a lot of work.”
Fergusson said the second is that through background research, staff has identified there are additional studies required. She said it is going to take more time to complete these studies so community conversations can be based on factual information.
The third is that staff is not adequately equipped to have good dialogue about the 20-year future of the community, according to Fergusson.
“With the division within the community at the moment, it’s very challenging to have a values-based conversation,” she said. “Staff are presenting a stretched-out timeline. The proposal is that community engagement in 2025 is primarily about: here’s what local government does, here is the purpose of an official community plan, and here’s how an official community plan manages growth. Staff will also tackle our provincial requirements for a housing needs report.”
Fergusson said municipal elections will take place in 2026 and at that time the public opinion poll related to the potential name change will be occurring. She said afterward, the proposal is for a community conversation about important options and directions. She added that the conversations will require a lot of facilitation.
Public engagement
Councillor Trina Isakson said provincial legislation requires an OCP update by December 31, 2025, so she asked what sort of public engagement is envisioned to inform that update and what would the update contain.
Fergusson said the way that staff can manage that in the timeline given is to have early and ongoing engagement prior to a public hearing for adoption of an OCP. She said staff members are proposing limiting community engagement topics to growth and growth management only, to inform land uses.
“The OCP is quite expansive; it’s a 20-year vision of our community,” said Fergusson. “Our priority for meeting the provincial target would be putting some density numbers against our land use designation and demonstrating how our land use designation accommodates growth. We are not necessarily having a substantive conversation about: is this the best way to manage growth in a way a comprehensive OCP update can have?”
Councillor George Doubt read from the staff report, which indicated it is anticipated that the community’s uncertainty and division stemming from the proposed name change process may negatively impact staff’s ability to safely and respectfully host community conversations about the future of the city.
“I’m not arguing with that,” said Doubt. “I share those concerns. I want to point out that staff is recognizing that the division in the community about the name change is causing delay in other work. Perhaps we will do something in the procedure bylaw to make that safety a little bit stronger.”
Mayor Ron Woznow said he was trying to understand the significance of the difference of opinion in Powell River about a potential name change to completing the OCP, which, to a large extent, stipulates where developments can take place.
“I would hate to see that work impeded by something which should be five years or 10 years down the line,” said Woznow. “Can you explain why you think we can’t proceed?”
Chief administrative officer Lisa Bhopalsingh said the planning department had extensive discussions with her about the matter. She said a thorough OCP review involves in-depth engagement on values related to climate change, reconciliation and all the different components to community health and well-being that are way beyond land use.
“Looking at the temperature out there, it’s quite likely that these meetings could easily be turned into value-based conversations that get linked to the name change,” said Bhopalsingh. “One of the concerns is the safety of staff. The OCP could be a wonderful opportunity to bring people together, but the climate in our community is not quite there. I strongly support the recommendation that has been put forward.”
The committee approved a motion to proceed with the comprehensive OCP update.
The city has budgeted $413,251 for the process.
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