Official Community Plan Review – Outcomes from January 31 Meeting
At the Monday, January 31 Special Meeting of Council, Council continued discussions on the Official Community Plan (OCP) review.
At this meeting, the project team formally responded to Council’s direction from December 6, 2021, to proceed to drafting an OCP focused on the five themes of agriculture and local food systems, marine and land based natural environments, climate action, healthy communities, and jobs and the local economy, and to plan an engagement process focused on housing and affordability and the location of a community gathering space for a permanent farmers’ market.
After deliberation and consideration of all the options presented, Council directed staff to draft the OCP, focusing solely on the five themes identified above. Engagement on the topic of housing and affordability will not take place at this time.
The draft OCP (excluding housing and affordability) will be presented to Council by July 2022.
Public engagement will occur on the draft plan, likely in early 2023. At that time, Council will determine how to proceed with the topic of housing and affordability and how this will be incorporated into the overall draft Official Community Plan. Staff will report back to Council in February 2022 to confirm the revised timeline and budget for this process.
Additionally, a motion to reconsider the vote from January 31 is included on the agenda for the Regular Meeting of Council on Monday, February 7 at 7:00 pm. The agenda is posted at northsaanich.ca/council-meetings.
Due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 and out of an abundance of caution, the District has reduced the number of people allowed in person at Council Meetings: currently, six members of the public can attend in person. Please note that the meeting agenda identifies various other ways you can participate at this meeting (and other Council meetings).
