Parks and recreation are among residents’ top priorities for Salmon Arm.
This is according to findings of a community survey, conducted as part of the city’s official community plan (OCP) review process, to determine needs and priorities for the future.
Survey results were presented by planning and development officer Morgan Paiement at the March 4 development and planning services committee meeting.
Paiement explained the survey was open from Jan. 4 to Feb. 9, and that 417 responses were received, spurred in part by OCP pop-up events.
The survey, distributed early in the review process, focused on 12 categories from the city’s current OCP: Growth Management Strategy, Environment, Potential Hazard Areas, Rural and Agriculture, Urban/Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Parks/Recreation/Greenways, Transportation, Utilities/Infrastructure, Arts/Culture/Heritage and Community Services.
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Respondents were asked to rank the sections by importance, and survey results showed the following: Parks, Recreation and Greenways, followed by Utilities and Infrastructure, Environment and Growth Management Strategy.
The survey also asked people to rank sections by priority. For their first priority, respondents largely selected Parks and recreation (25.85 per cent), followed by growth management (25.12 per cent) and then environment (16.67 per cent). However, asked which sections the city needs to focus on, respondents’ top first priority was growth management, followed by parks and recreation and environment.
The survey also asked what, if anything is missing from the OCP. Paiement said key themes from the responses were recreation facilities, active transportation, environment and climate change, utilities and infrastructure and housing.
Asked about the questions and if they could have been reworded, senior planner Melinda Smyrl explained this was the first survey in the OCP review, and was intended to provide a snapshot of how the community feels the various chapters in the current OCP have been addressed since it was introduced in 2009. She said future surveys and options for public input will provide a more “detailed look at different segments or different sections…”
Coun. Tim Lavery noted as the process continues, city may see division over the growth management, and those who see the need for diversification “and those who want to keep Salmon Arm just the same.
“I understand that that’s coming and I think that will be a key linchpin for the OCP discussions down the line and I look forward to that,” said Lavery.