Distilling down the many suggestions for the future of Qualicum Beach was no easy task, but town council began the process of doing so at a special meeting held last Wednesday.
At issue was what proposals would and would not be included in the first draft of the official community plan rewrite, slated to be presented for first reading on March 14.
Commenting on the process, Mayor Teunis Westbroek said he was heartened by the strong buy-in from the community.
“We had a lot of public feedback,” he said. “It’s an interesting read and gives good perspective of what people are saying about the town.”
Town planner Paul Butler said town staff had divided up the reams of information received into 33 areas — which he called decision points — for council’s consideration.
Surveying the mountain of paper in front of him, Mayor Teunis Westbroek thanked the community for getting so involved in the process, calling it a crucial turning point for Qualicum Beach.
“We are changing, but it’s a change for the future, not one based on the past,” he said. “I hope this provides a solid direction to draft a visionary document, a historic document, where we include the implications of our sustainability plan in the OCP.”
Some of the key issues dealt with at the meeting included the future of the waterfront, enhancing the local economy, development of the school bus garage and what kind of development is needed and where it should go.
If the new official community plan — once adopted — is to succeed, Westbroek warned, it is going to need local residents to take it — and its implications — seriously.
“We need the community to buy into our vision,” he said. “We need them to shop here locally. We need to work on our transit system so people use it and avoid greenhouse gas and parking problems. The OCP must clearly define where we want growth and we need to plan our infrastructure accordingly and plan to fund it accordingly.”
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