A review of Vernon’s official community plan wouldn’t be complete without the public having a say.
The city has announced a series of public open houses through May that will focus on one specific topic in relation to the plan.
The OCP is a guiding document for growth in the city, and provides direction for issues such as land use or transportation networks such as roads, cycling and transit, along with environmental concerns and local amenities.
“The official community plan provides a vision of what the city could look like 10 or 20 years from now, or beyond,” said Rob Miles, long-range planner.
March’s open houses will be held on Thursday, March 21, from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday, March 23, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Schubert Centre. The OCP focus this month is land use.
“That includes things like housing, housing types, commercial development, industrial lands and heritage property conservation policies,” said Miles.
April’s topic will be about transportation issues, infrastructure and community amenities.
The final open house in May will feature consultation on an overall growth strategy and how the OCP fits in with the regional growth strategy.
It will also look at sustainability in Vernon.
An open house in February kicked things off with a look at how to make Vernon a more youth-friendly city.
Once the public input is collected from the open houses, a draft OCP will be written and presented to Vernon council. Miles is hoping that will be done sometime in the summer.
“Of course, the public will have more opportunities to talk to council directly about the plan through the public process,” said Miles.
There’s no concern if you can’t make it to an open house to discuss that particular topic. Anybody can go to any session and discuss the OCP with city planners.
Vernon’s current OCP was adopted in 2008 and is reviewed every five years.
“So this is a good opportunity to review it, check in on some policies in the plan that are working well, and perhaps look at policies that might need another look in working towards the community’s vision for the city,” said Miles.
