Salmon Arm council proposed a couple of changes to the city's updated official community plan (OCP) before it goes to a public hearing.
After a four-phase review process that began in 2023 and included numerous opportunities for public input, the document that will replace the city's current 14-year-old OCP finally made it to a regular meeting of council for first reading.
At that April 14 meeting, city planning and community services director Gary Buxton provided an overview of the document and how it differed from the one it's replacing.
One new addition is a First Nations section, which Buxton said contains a number of acknowledgements and objectives, "so advancing truth and reconciliation, to honouring First Nations knowledge, to allowing First Nations people to see themselves in the community.
"But there is no policy in this section, it is the one section in the document that has no policy," said Buxton. "We know we have more work to do on that and will continue to do that in the coming months… that will be undertaken through amendments to the OCP when we’ve done that work with our First Nations partners."
The Growth Management section comes with a new policy limiting building heights to six storeys, "but allows for possibly higher buildings in the Downtown area, the Residential High Density Area and the commercial areas along the Trans Canada Highway."
"Public sentiment was only supportive of these higher building heights in these areas," said Buxton.
The same section also reflects an increase to residential density across the community. The majority of residential areas designated as low density (within the urban containment boundary) will be redesignated as medium density. This change accommodates recent B.C. legislation that allows up to four dwelling units on a residential property.
Regarding public input, Buxton pointed out two areas where the latest OCP draft was not "entirely consistent with some of the feedback received." Both revolved around the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). One involved a Special Development Area near the airport – land long identified by the city for exclusion from the ALR. Buxton said substantial public comment, including a petition, was received opposing the exclusion.
"This policy has been left unchanged as the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) has previously indicated its approval in principle for extractions for industrial uses, and that this policy has been in operation for quite some time, with about 80 acres of the 146 acres in question already excluded," reads a written report by Buxton.
The report also notes numerous requests were received from "individual land owners to cite their lands for either exclusion from the ALR, additional rural subdivision potential or both." However, staff have not incorporated any of these requests in the OCP.
While council supported keeping the Special Development Area, language in the draft OCP around exclusion applications was a concern. As written, the draft OCP would give the city the option to make an application for exclusion to the ALC "regardless of the interest of the land owner."
"I would like to seek further clarification of possible wording," requested Coun. Tim Lavery. "It’s hard for me to imagine the city doing it and a particular land owner not wanting it."
Buxton said the policy could be rewritten or amended to reflect this, but noted it would constrain council from seeking a comprehensive land exclusion.
"I don’t think that the city should be in the position of triggering any sort of large block removal," replied Lavery. "And my thinking right now… is that we should have wording that puts the power of removal up to the landowner who has to then request the city to exclude it from the ALC."
Council agreed with Lavery and it was determined a change would be introduced at second reading.
Mayor Alan Harrison also had a concern with how the OCP opens the possibility of a six-storey structure going up in newly designated medium density residential areas.
"That’s a concern to me because the medium density area is so much larger than it used to be, and so for instance… if you look out on Foothill Road, there’s a lot of medium density areas out there," said Harrison. "Hillcrest area, do we want six storey buildings in there? I haven’t heard residents saying that."
To address this, Buxton said a policy is needed restricting height limit in the medium density area, and advised direction come from council by second reading.
"I want people to have a chance to think about it because I think there’s big implications," said Harrison.
The updated OCP will go to a public hearing after it receives second reading from council.
