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| More surveys, an online town hall and an opportunity for one on one appointments with the Mayor mark the next phase of the city's consultation on the Official Community Plan (Screenshot above from PR 2030 Vision presentation) |
The next step forward for the City of Prince Rupert's update on the Official Community Plan will be moving to an online program with Mayor Lee Brain taking the lead in sharing the details, providing the blue print for the path ahead through a newsletter to the community on Thursday.
As part of his correspondence to the community posted to the City website, social media feed and to the Mayor's Facebook page yesterday, Mr. Brain introduced the road ahead and reviewed some of the findings of the OCP survey of earlier this year.
That was a public engagement which saw 125 surveys completed, from those notes the city has determined that there is strong support for the 2030 Vision as outlined last December by the mayor at the Lester Centre.
The responses to the different elements in the Vision 2030 strategy show very strong support for each element, including Active Recreation Planning, downtown revitalization, indigenous inclusion, and arts/culture and open space frameworks, among other areas. In fact, there was very little disagreement with any aspect in the 2030 vision.
The results of the survey also indicate that residents strongly value the diverse and inclusive nature of the Prince Rupert community, and highly value its environmental qualities. Respondents want the City to improve its physical infrastructure, revitalize the City Core, have more waterfront access, and see a need for encouraging a variety of housing types.
In addition to the policy areas addressed by Vision 2030, the new OCP is proposed to address a number of other policy areas, including:
1) Sewer, water and road infrastructure
2) Climate change/greenhouse gas emissions
3) Food systems/food security
4) Social and cultural services
It is towards those four areas that the next survey period will focus; with residents asked to contribute either online or through mailed surveys which are being distributed households across the city.
To participate the online versions of the surveys are available through the Rupert Talks program
The deadline for completion of the surveys is September 11th.
The city is also planning for an online town hall to provide for further discussion on the four elements and seek further input from the community.
The city is putting forward a bit of an incentive towards filling the surveys out by offering the chance to be entered in a draw for ten fifty dollar gift cards for randomly selected participants who submit the completed questionnaires.
When it comes to the chance for engagement on the Official Community Plan work, the city is directing residents to provide comment on the proposed land use planning for the city, towards that they are encouraging residents to use this online element and click on the "Places" tab to leave comments on the interactive map provided.
The City also notes that other sources of information on the OCP will include informational videos on the city website and on Channel 10, as well as the existing Official Community Plan, the Redesign 2030 Vision and other inputs that have been considered during the renewal of our OCP.
The members of City Council apparently have not it seems found a work around over COVID restrictions when it comes to the prospect any kind of public gathering to go over the city's planning for its OCP overhaul and seemingly won't have much to do with the next consultation period with the public in the weeks and months to come.
Instead, rather than the public gatherings we may be familiar with from days past, the Mayor and Rob Buchan, the consultant planner that the city has hired on to oversee its OCP work, will be hosting short by appointment meetings those with an interest in the topic.
The work on the Official Community Plan is moving ahead in the same period of time that the city is going without the services of a City Planner and planning staff in place at City Hall, in June City Manager Robert Long announced that he would be "re-substituting" as he put for the now retired planner Zeno Krekic.
So far the Mayor and City Council have not indicated if they have any replacement plans for the now vacant planning office.
You can sign up for one of Mayor's personal discussion sessions by contacting Executive Assistant, Brianne Bunko at brianne.bunko@princerupert.ca to set up an appointment.
In June some of the City Council members spoke to the concern of not allowing COVID to become a block for Community Engagement, at that meeting Mayor Brain observed on how he viewed the path ahead.
"Part of the OCP process will be and I believe in the summer time we'll probably hear when the public engagement piece is going to come, but the community is going to have an ability to come together in a very meaningful way, it's not just going to be a survey, it's going to be coming together really discussing these topics, lots of advertising, making sure everybody has the ability to have their voice heard, so that there's no stone unturned.
Because, we're going to be updating pretty much every single bylaw this town has through that process, to really bring us up to the 21st century and make sure that the trajectory over the next ten years is really going where people want it to go, not just from a planning process but from what the community desires to see" -- Mayor Lee Brain on the city's OCP planning process in June
The only public City council session of the month comes up on August 24th, a date when we may get some kind of idea as to how the six elected City Council members may view the approach that has been announced and whether it fits their vision of how the community engagement process should move forward.
It will also offer up an opportunity for them, if inclined, to provide some kind of an indication as to what role, if any, that they plan to have in the consultation process.
Some of our past notes on the theme of the OCP review can be explored below:
2020
June 10 -- City's Official Community Plan review to put focus towards online engagement
June 8 -- Council to hear update on Official Community Plan process tonight
February 4 -- City of Prince Rupert seeks comment on Official Community Plan Renewal initiative
January 14 -- Vision Steward Council to put Prince Rupert 2030 Vision plans in motion
2019
The Mayor's newsletter and background elements can be accessed through the city's website here.
Further background on the city's plans for the future can be found through our Redesign Rupert/Sustainable City archive
For more notes related to City Council Discussion topics see our archive page here.
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