WHAT IS A LOCAL AREA PLAN?
Local Area Plans are planning documents that provide greater detail on growth management for communities that are expected to experience change. These plans help shape growth in a way that contributes to more place-specific, well-designed, and livable complete communities.
Local Area Plans build upon the vision, objectives, and policy included with Draft Schedule A of the Official Community Plan for the Electoral Areas (Bylaw 4373) and guide growth in village and community hearts so that the qualities of these areas that people love and cherish are preserved and enhanced into the future.
WHAT AREContinue reading
WHAT IS A LOCAL AREA PLAN?
Local Area Plans are planning documents that provide greater detail on growth management for communities that are expected to experience change. These plans help shape growth in a way that contributes to more place-specific, well-designed, and livable complete communities.
Local Area Plans build upon the vision, objectives, and policy included with Draft Schedule A of the Official Community Plan for the Electoral Areas (Bylaw 4373) and guide growth in village and community hearts so that the qualities of these areas that people love and cherish are preserved and enhanced into the future.
WHAT ARE THE PLANNING AREAS?
Local Area Plans are proposed for the following areas:
A - Mill Bay (Click for map)
B - Shawnigan Lake (Click for map)
C - Cobble Hill (Click for map)
D - Cowichan Bay (Click for map)
D/E - Eagle Heights/ Koksilah Village (Click for map)
F - Honeymoon Bay/ Mesachie Lake/ Paldi (Click for maps)
G - Saltair (Click for map)
H - Diamond (Click for map)
I - Youbou/ Meade Creek (Click for maps)
DRAFT LOCAL AREA PLANS
SETTING THE STAGE
The Local Area Plan development process began as part of the development of the Official Community Plan for the Electoral Areas (Bylaw 4373) in 2022, involving a background review, community consultation, and the initiation of the Complete Communities Assessment.
Step 1: FUTURE VISIONING
Step 1 Future Visioning in 2023 involved further community engagement, the preparation of vision statements and descriptions, and next steps in the Complete Communities Assessment process.
Step 2: PLANNING
Step 2 Planning in 2024 included consultation with APCs, First Nations, and the community, culminating in the first draft LAPs.
Two reports were prepared for Local Area Plan Step 2 engagement with Electoral Area Advisory Planning Commissions, which is now complete. APC referral comments will be considered and LAPs will be amended accordingly:
Local Plan Area Profiles Report - this report details the current performance of each Local Area Plan by Complete Community lens with discussion on potential opportunities and constraints, and a refined list of indicators to be used for evaluation.
Alternate Future Report (draft for discussion) - this report details the effectiveness of scenarios to close the gap towards reaching community "completeness" in each of the LAP areas, which aligns with overarching Official Community Plan goals
Step 3: IMPLEMENTATION
Is currently underway and will involve finalizing the LAPs and developing implementation actions and priorities.
LAP DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE
COMPLETE COMMUNITIES
The CVRD has been successful in receiving two grants from the Union of BC Municipalities to prepare complete community assessments for all CVRD Local Area Plans.
Most complete communities have several key elements:
- Diversity of housing options
- Proximity of housing and employment to daily needs
- Transportation options
- Efficient use of infrastructure
In a regional district, complete communities could be seen as the hubs that are part of a connected network. The creation of more complete communities may enhance “hub areas” with a range of needed services and amenities.
Creating more complete communities works best when these elements are considered together. Assessing a community’s completeness through mapping and analyzing these key elements, and their relationship to each other can support advancing a community’s identified goals.
The CVRD is grateful to UBCM for two Complete Communities grants to support the development of the local area plans.
