Williams Lake city council heard about the pending launch of the public part of the official community plan (OCP) development process at their meeting April 8.
In the committee of the whole meeting in the Rick Hansen boardroom at city hall, council provided some initial input and heard from both Beth Veenkamp, manager of economic development for the city, and Suzie Lunn, senior planner with CitySpaces Consulting.
CitySpaces will be working with the city to complete the plan, which is on a tight timeline, after the city waited for the return of Jessica Ball, city planner, to ensure they have the capacity to support the project as well.
The province has mandated municipalities complete an OCP by the end of 2025 and review it every five years after. Williams Lake last completed an OCP in 2011.
Lunn provided an overview of the process, and Veenkamp asked the council to temper their expectations of what the OCP will be able to include, as she noted the current OCP is unwieldy because of its size.
Lunn said the project will revise the content of the OCP based on the new provincial requirements, current research and best practice, local knowledge and values, technical studies, First Nations and community input. In addition, the aim will be to revise the format so it is better organized and easier to navigate.
"We're not going to solve problems," noted Veenkamp, who said instead, the OCP will help to identify key things the council wants to work out over the next five years.
She emphasized the short timeline for the project and said the new OCP will be meant to provide a "good base" for planning and decisions going forward.
With the support of council, the city will now work to finalize a survey, and plan for a public event to launch the OCP public consultation process at city hall on April 24 at 4 p.m.
There will also be pop-up events in the community to engage with the public.
"This is very ambitious," she said, later stating "we're pedal to the metal."
When council was asked about their priority areas, some councillors took the opportunity to share their priorities and suggestions.
Coun. Scott Nelson pushed for the inclusion of the annexation of property from the Crown for housing development on the west side, referencing a developer he said was eager to get building but being held back by "red tape" on the part of the province.
"A number of our developers are being held hostage right now because they have to do additional studies," said Nelson, noting the city has used the OCP as a "flexible guide" in the past. There has been some public criticism of the city's departure from the goals of the 2011 OCP.
Coun. Joan Flaspohler made a number of suggestions for initiatives on the part of the city, including seeking a partnership with Williams Lake First Nation and other regional First Nations on the development of a cultural heritage park or attraction on the RC Cotton site to highlight the Indigenous heritage in the region. She also suggested the city work to develop a primitive campground in the Williams Lake River Valley to take advantage of the tourism potential offered by visitors coming to the area for the mountain biking and other recreation.
"I think we have opportunities missed here," said Flaspohler.
Coun. Angie Delainey brought up connections to the downtown community, looking to draw more people into the downtown while keeping the unhoused population in mind as they move forward.
Coun. Michael Moses emphasized the importance of including the city's commitment to relationship-building with area First Nations, working with the organizations providing services in the community for those in need, and being proactive on climate action and the active transportation infrastructure plan to help attract much-needed professionals.
"If we can get ahead on that, we will be light years ahead of the communities that are not," he said.
Coun. Jazmyn Lyons also agreed with points raised by her fellow councillors, but also noted the importance of the city having the infrastructure to support building more housing, such as water and sewer services.
"I always tend to look at the things that are expensive," she said of the underground services and roads the city would be on the hook for when new subdivisions are built as opposed to building within established developed areas.
Mayor Surinderpal Rathor said the city is planting a seed for what they hope to see and will continue to emphasize working with all levels of government and building relationships.
Coun. Sheila Boehm did not give any additional input at this stage.
The OCP and zoning bylaw update project is currently in stage two, with the goal to be into stage five by late fall of 2025 to have public hearings and readings to finalize the adoption of the new OCP.
Council unanimously endorsed the project launch and public engagement strategy at the committee of the whole meeting and will now forward the recommendation to a regular council meeting to formalize their support and have the project move ahead.
