The District of 100 Mile House is holding an open house regarding updates to their official community plan (OCP) and zoning bylaw update.
The open house is scheduled to take place on April 30 at the District Council Chambers, and will be a public consultation involving a presentation, display boards and an opportunity to ask questions to the district as well as the project team. According to Joanne Doddridge, the district's director of economic planning and development, an update to the bylaws has not been done in quite some time.
"In between, there have been zoning amendments and OCP amendments along the way, but the last major update was in 2016, so it's been a long time," Doddridge noted.
According to her, an OCP represents the district vision for the sorts of the different kinds of uses and priorities that they should have from a land use perspective in the future. As for the zoning bylaw, it is far more of a regulatory bylaw.
"It sort of regulates how these priorities from the official community plan looks. So they dictate things, like setbacks to property lines and the types of uses that are allowed in certain areas and building heights," Doddridge explained.
Before the open house, a pop-up containing a few boards was set up on April 29 at the Cariboo Mall during the morning hours, where residents could talk to Doddridge as well as two of the project leads who are helping the District build the bylaws - Chris Wilcott and Taylor Varro, who are community planners with Stantec. The same thing will be done again on April 30 at the South Cariboo Visitors Centre.
Already, a few people have put their thoughts on what the district should be doing for the official community plan. One called for a pool, while others said the closure of the 100 Mile BMO and the future of the downtown are things they worry about.
"We are talking to residents and businesses and anyone who's interested about what they have as a vision for the community," said Doddridge. "We're trying to gather that sort of information from folks to help guide how that official community plan looks going forward."
In addition to the open house, a survey is open that can be taken on their website that will be active until May 1, which asks people questions about what they love about 100 Mile House, as well as what changes people want for 100 Mile House, as well as top priorities for the future of the district.
This is one part of a larger process in refreshing the official community plan and zoning bylaws. After the bylaws are drafted, the second community engagement round will occur in the summer of 2025. After that, the bylaws will be revised and finished, with it being set to be adopted by the District of 100 Mile House Council around November/December 2025.
