BY LORNE ECKERSLEY
Advance staff
Following the adoption of the 2017 Official Community Plan, the Advance invited all members of Town Council and some participants to provide their comments on the process and outcome. This article is continued from last week’s edition.
Couns. Jen Comer
Knowing that the Official Community Planning processes was going to be undertaken in this term was a significant reason why I wanted to run for council. The document our community has helped create to guide future growth and development in the Town of Creston is even better than I could have hoped for. The consultation process KES developed was fun, engaging, and most of all, effective for getting feedback from our community. My favourite part of the consultation was the “OCP Challenge.” It was incredibly innovative to create a mobile app combined with boards around town to link the planning theory with on the ground reality of what we have and what we want. I’m most excited about the residential growth containment area, which focuses on growing our town within the existing infrastructure system. This will benefit our municipality for decades into the future, and allows us to grow within our limits. We’re already seeing a huge increase in the young adult population in Creston (Census shows a growth of approximately 30% over the last 10 years), and this OCP is a blueprint towards growing a livable, vibrant and sustainable place for families to thrive. I’d like to give a huge shout out to all the people who participated in this, OPC Advisory Committee, our town staff, the KES staff, and our planning consultant team who made this happen, they are rock stars.
Couns. Kevin Boehmer
When I was first elected I didn’t know what an OCP was. For those of you like me, OCP stands for official community plan, and is the blueprint of how the Town should be; it affects planning and bylaws and everything that the Town does. Updating the official community plan was front and centre from the start of our term, which means it has taken much longer than first anticipated. We had a key staff member quit as the process was just getting started, this set the OCP back as we had to recalibrate how to go about this large undertaking. This ended up leading into the Town contracting KES to help with the project and to provide a very successful public engagement, which attracted over 8,000 interactions (thanks Marsha and Laura).
I am extremely excited to get the OCP finished because now we can start to implement the findings and help realize the dreams of the residents of Creston. The whole reason we did this process was to get engagement from the amazing citizens of Creston, as to what the future of Creston should look like for the short term and the long term. Many findings from the OCP are already coming forward to be implemented by the Town, and it has laid a groundwork for our future budgets. It is a very exciting time for the Town of Creston because of the tremendous efforts of wonderful people like Ross Beddoes, Lou Varela and Helene Miles, as well as many others.
Couns. Karen Unruh
I must say that I have never taken part in such a collaborative/ public involved process. The Official Community Plan we developed over the last two yeas is a remarkable document that will build the future of Creston. The growth containment area will allow for connectivity and use of our infrastructure (without adding more services) – to allow us to maintain and upgrade what we have. Our vision for the highway realignment and the Market Park will enhance the town center and make it a welcoming vital part of the valley. We want to invite citizens / valley residents and tourists to take time and wander through our downtown core. The housing initiatives that have been sited need to be addressed in our zoning bylaw. We have a lot of work to do now to make the plan work – Zoning/Trails Master Plan and many other documents. We say and think we are an aging community – BUT we have an influx of young families that need to be reassured that economic development/recreation/connectivity and friendliness are key to everyone. Great Job and thank you to everyone who took part – I hope you see your suggestions or ideas outlined in the Plan.
Lou Varela, Town Manager
The completion of Creston’s new Official Community Plan (OCP) is a significant milestone that serves as:
• a land use planning guide that provides certainty to developers and the community alike
• a framework for decision makers who will steward the Plan into the future; and,
• a promotional tool that emphasizes our community’s history, beauty, values and sense of forward thinking.
This unique OCP is a clear articulation of how our community sees itself and how it wants to build on the attributes that make Creston a memorable place for visitors and residents alike. It is a common point of discussion in our community that Creston feels full of potential and this optimism is reflected throughout the OCP. Special thanks are owed to the countless leaders, professionals and participating members of the community who contributed to make our OCP a reality. It has been a great honour to work with, and for, such an amazing group of people.
Couns. Joanna Wilson
It was during my first term as Councillor many years ago, that I started hearing of the OCP, of its importance to the Town as a roadmap to its future growth and development.
In lieu of an Official Community Plan, a list of strategic priorities were drawn up to guide the Town forward through the downtown revitalization, and other initiatives.
However we knew the clock was ticking, and when time and resources were sufficient, the OCP project came up at the council table with convincing regularity.
Two years ago work began in earnest, with a wide survey of the citizens of Creston. Every opinion counted, and today you can read the Official Community Plan (in an attractive format like a coffee table book) to know how we want Creston to look and be in the next 20-25 years.
I would love to look back from that future vantage point, to see the enactment of the vision of its citizens, today.
