New Official Community Plan Approved

On August 17^th, the Council of the District of Lake Country adopted a new Official Community Plan for the municipality. This OCP will be the document that the District uses to guide land use decisions in the growing community over the next 20 years. 

The new OCP continues several of the policies from previous planning exercises, but proceeds to make many improvements in terms of clarity and user-friendliness. The document also makes important commitments to improving sustainability and protecting local ecosystems, taking a science-based approach to identifying important ecological areas. 

The OCP is the product of several years of hard work by Council and staff and included extensive consultation with the public. The process was built on input from stakeholder groups, surveys, several open houses in all wards, and also the required public hearing process. 

“Council is very proud of the document and the consultation that went into preparing it,” said Mayor James Baker, “We heard from many residents, and worked hard towards putting together a document that reflects their vision.” 

With the new plan, the District will be one of the first communities in British Columbia to take advantage of new development permit powers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to protect new development from interface wildfires. 

“The new greenhouse gas and wildfire permits will allow the District to take a proactive approach towards these pressing issues,” said Mayor Baker, “while the new permit exemption systems will also make sure development doesn’t get hung up in red tape.” 

The new plan increases the number of exemptions for development permits to allow for a more streamlined and common sense approvals process for some forms of development. This has the advantage of saving time for both the District and potential developers. 

The new OCP replaces Bylaw 391, 2001 and provides a long term vision for the future development of Lake Country. With extensive input from both the community and staff throughout the planning process, the District is eager to begin assisting residents with the implementation of the new plan.

If you need more information, please contact Mark Koch, development Services Manager, at 250-766-6674 or mkoch@lakecountry.bc.ca