There is still time.
Chilliwack residents are being urged to weigh in with their opinion about the way the city should grow in coming years.
So far folks are talking about topics from urban densification to what Rosedale and Ryder Lake and Greendale will look like in 30 years.
Review of the Official Community Plan (OCP) has been ongoing for months, and the upcoming drafting of the new OCP document represents Phase 3 of the review process.
People have showed up to community cafés, commented on the website PlaceSpeak, and added their two cents to online surveys.
There are public engagement process reports, and backgrounder reports ready, and two studies are nearing completion, one on environmental geotech mapping and the other on economic development/employment.
The OCP discussion page on PlaceSpeak had received 2641 unique views by press time. There were 80 comments and 70 participants signed up.
PlaceSpeak seems to be the place most people are parking their remarks. About 300 took another online survey.
But still more feedback is needed.
Some may be hesitating with PlaceSpeak because of “potential concerns around privacy,” said Karen Stanton, manager of long range planning.
“But there’s a link on our site that takes you right to the page,” she said.
Coun. Jason Lum thanked the planning staff for the review process.
“This is a huge task to undertake.”
But he suggested finding a way to work around the privacy fears to get more people responding.
Mayor Sharon Gaetz said the PlaceSpeak numbers were great.
“I like that many people felt brave enough to make a comment.”
She reiterated that the window for commenting was still open.
Find the backgrounders at: http://www.chilliwack.com/main/page.cfm?id=2341
Go directly to PlaceSpeak to comment: https://www.placespeak.com/topic/593-chilliwack-official-community-plan-update/
Here’s what’s being worked on now:
• OCP growth scenarios : examining infrastructure needs to support densification and hillside development; reviewing Ryder Lake area policy
• Policy review: analyzing existing policies to determine whether they should be amended, deleted, consolidated, taking into account public input
• Design / formatting for the updated OCP
The draft OCP document is expected to completed sometime later in Fall 2013
There are the ways citizens can get involved:
1. Upload photos, videos, and text onto the notice board for the OCP update at PlaceSpeak.com
2. Join the online discussion (in the discussion section); or
3. Contact the project team at planning@chilliwack.com or 604-793-2906
