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South Shuswap OCP back to board in December

Staff will ask the board to give the OCP second reading as amended and give their approval to schedule a public meeting and public hearing.

Final passage of the Columbia Shuswap Regional District’s Area C South Shuswap Official Community Plan has been put off again.

At the October board meeting, directors deferred consideration of third reading of the OCP to the November board meeting to allow newly elected area director Paul Demenok the opportunity to participate in the completion of the plan.

Planner Marcin Pachcinski advised directors the deferral also provided for  some changes to the OCP to address concerns that were raised at a late-August public hearing.

Gerald Christie, manager of Development Services, says there were changes to be made following a legal review of the document and it took time to address concerns regarding the Aug. 28 public hearing.

Staff will ask the board to give the OCP second reading as amended at the December board meeting and to give their approval to schedule a public meeting and public hearing on the same day in mid January

“The intent is to bring it back to the board for consideration of third reading in February, after which it will be sent to Victoria for ministerial approval,” says Christie. “After it has their approval it will go back to the board for fourth and final reading.”

Christie says he believes that after six years and significant public consultation, as well as the work  of the OCP advisory committee, many of the issues have been addressed in the document.

 

“The idea behind an OCP is it’s a picture in time, with a long-range planning horizon,” says Christie. “If things come up over time that residents or the board feel need to be changed in the document, then there is a process to change the OCP.”