The Town of Ladysmith will be holding a public hearing to discuss changes to the OCP and zoning.
The two topics up for discussion are the Ladysmith Bicycle Plan and Riparian Protection Areas.
Felicity Adams, director of development services, said the town had hired consultants to review Ladysmith’s Official Community Plan to look for places to strengthen the language to encourage bike use.
“They’ve made a series of recommendations and that’s what we’re bringing forward,” said Adams.
A new bike route network and places to improve cycling infrastructure and infrastructure such as bike racks will be presented at the hearing.
The other issue on the table for the meeting is the Riparian Area Regulation.
This, too, deals with OCP and zoning changes, said Adams.
The province enacted the streamside protection regulation, which is in Ladysmith’s OCP, years ago and is now replacing it with the Riparian Area Regulation.
“Municipalities are the bodies that have to implement it,” said Adams.
“So we are updating our OCP.”
Adams said the legislation is fairly similar to the old regulations and creates a methodology around how assessments are carried out.
This only applies to certain regions of the province.
“It’s only fast-growing parts of the province that were required to bring it in,” said Adams.
The east coast of Vancouver Island is considered fast-growing under the requirements.
“We’ve been adhering to it for several years, this is just more of a housekeeping cleanup.”
The zoning, said Adams, updates the language in the zoning bylaw.
The public hearing will be held on Monday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. at council chambers.
