Phase 1: Vision and Touchstones (Guiding Principles)

The online Vision and Touchstones feedback survey is now closed.

Throughout September the project team hosted community pop-ups, attended several meetings with local organizations, hosted two community feedback sessions and promoted an online survey.

The project team is now analyzing the results and will report back to the community and Council in November/December.

Your feedback has been thoughtful and insightful and will improve the outcomes for the Official Community Plan - THANK YOU.

Please register (top right corner) to receive updates on the OCP process and outcomes.

Timeline for creating the OCP Vision and Touchstones:

CHECK OUT THE LIST ON THE RIGHT FOR EVENT DATES AND LOCATIONS

What is an OCP review?

An Official Community Plan review is an opportunity for the City to ensure the goals and objectives set out in the OCP are still important to the community. Since the OCP is a long-term guiding document it is also important that everything stated in the plan is still relevant to the future of the community and reflects the values of residents. The first step is to develop a long-term, 20-year vision and touchstones that will guide the next step in the process - policy development.

Why is the OCP being updated?

It's been 14 years since the City of Port Alberni (the City) updated its Official Community Plan (OCP), and much has changed in that time. As the City continues to promote Port Alberni, rapid growth and new opportunities are quickly taking centre stage in the region's success story. As such, Port Alberni's growth and vision must be addressed in a way that respects the character and needs of the community, First Nations, and the surrounding lands. As the City works to update the OCP, we look to you for help in shaping this important document.

Tasks completed

The City of Port Alberni and the engagement team have now completed two cycles of community engagement to draft the OCP Vision and Touchstones (guiding principles). Thank you for your input and participation in cycle 1 that included a survey #1, the interactive WebMap, the Walkshop, focus groups, and the June 2nd community organizations workshop. Summary reports focused on engagement outcomes from cycle 1 to inform the initial themes for the OCP vision and touchstones have been published under the 'Documents' section on this page.

The growth management input gathered from the public and stakeholders in the first cycle will be considered alongside technical research of policies, plans, strategies, guidelines, regulations and bylaw documents, transportation networks, development permit areas, land use designations, updated population projections, housing characteristics, and legislative requirements when the project enters the policy development phase.

Cycle 2 OCP Vision and Touchstones was completed in September and with the schools in October. The project team is evaluating outcomes and will report back to Council and the community at a later date.

Upcoming engagement

Thank you for your input throughout September. The project team will be analyzing results in October and reporting back to the community and Council in November or December. Once that step is complete, the next steps for engagement on policy development will be announced. The project team anticipates and engagement plan for the policy development process will be published in the New Year.

Register for project updates! (See button top right).