FAQs

What is an Official Community Plan (OCP)? [top]

Victoria’s Official Community Plan sets out a vision for the City and makes choices about how the City should change over the next 30 years.  The OCP makes policy choices and provides a framework for adapting to real conditions over time.

Council, staff and citizens will refer to the community plan to help make decisions on things like where to locate affordable housing, how the city will respond to climate change, what the community’s transportation priorities are, and how the City will provide recreational services.  The City first adopted an Official Community plan in 1986, with the last update occurring in 1995.

How does the Victoria Sustainability Framework relate to the OCP? [top]

The Victoria Sustainability Framework articulates a 50-100 year vision for the City, while the OCP is a shorter term, more action oriented plan.  The OCP will be one of the primary vehicles that will be used to turn the aspirations laid out in the Victoria Sustainability Framework into action.

The four components of the Victoria Sustainability Framework are:

• ecological integrity
• livability and community well-being
• economic vitality
• resiliency

All these are critical elements of the OCP and will need to be addressed at the community level in the OCP.  The framework highlights many topics that are critical to the development of a plan with a sustainability focus and also identifies key missing elements of the existing 1995 plan.  These topics include things such as climate change, food systems, and energy planning.

How will neighbourhood planning be addressed in the plan? [top]

Council has approved the integration of a Neighbourhood Planning Program in the development of a new OCP.  What this essentially means is that the OCP will lay out an approach for how neighbourhood plans will be developed.

The OCP will give direction to neighbourhood plans by:

• Differentiating items to be examined at the citywide level and items to be examined at the neighbourhood level
• Outlining a process for the development of neighbourhood plans (timeline, engagement approach, adoption process)
• Ensuring neighbourhood plans have a standardized format, scope, and administrative structure

How has the public been involved in the update? [top]

From February through to June of this year, feedback from the public has contributed to shaping the future direction of the updated Official Community Plan. A variety of methods were used in an effort to hear from a broad range of people and interests in the Victoria community. The information received the public feedback includes input from:

• Close to 3000 people who participated in the Community Survey.
• More than 550 people who attended the first Community Forum at Crystal Garden in March.
• Input from 47 Community Circles involving over 300 people.
• 20 Victoria residents who participated in Citizen Insight Councils.
• Youth who contributed ideas and thoughts through facilitated workshops. 
• Meetings with representatives from 90 organizations across the city including community service providers, members of the business community, policy advisors, members of planning and development community, and seniors groups
• Presentations to over 400 people including youth, neighbourhood associations, and business groups
• More than 200 people who attended the second Community Forum at Victoria Conference Centre in June
• Close to 150 people who participated in the survey on Future Growth Options for Victoria

What does the OCP address? [top]

The OCP addresses the broadest range of topics of any city plan, speaking to elements of economic, environmental, and social sustainability.

The base content for the OCP is outlined in the provincial Local Government Act and requires the following topics to be addressed:

• Residential development
• Commercial, industrial, and industrial land uses
• Land subject to hazardous conditions or environmentally sensitive to development
• Major road, sewer and water systems
• Housing policies related to affordable housing, rental housing, and special needs housing
• Public facilities, including schools, parks, and waste treatment and disposal sites
• Greenhouse gas emission policies, targets, and actions
• Regional Context Statement describing relationship between OCP and Regional Growth Strategy

Victoria’s OCP, as guided by the themes of the Victoria Sustainability Framework, will address a much broader range of topics than required by the legislation.  Among the topics to be explored are heritage, urban design, neighbourhood planning, economic development, transportation, resiliency, and food security.

What are the benefits of an OCP? [top]

The benefits of a new OCP will be:

• Articulation of a 30 year vision grounded in community values and emerging trends
• A foundation to proactively assess issues and opportunities based on plan directions
• Guidance and a policy framework to allow for a more considered response to unexpected situations and scenarios
• Direction for the initiation of sustainability actions
• A standardized approach to help develop consistent and effective neighbourhood plans
• Direction for dealing with climate change mitigation and adaptation at the community level

What is the Process for developing the plan? [top]

The OCP planning process is segmented into four phases, with a draft plan to be presented to Council in January 2011.  The phases are as follows:

• Phase 1: Project Initiation and Background Research (October 2009 – February 2010)
• Phase 2: Community Engagement and Exploration of Concepts (March – June 2010)
• Phase 3: Information Analysis and Plan Drafting (July – October 2010)
• Phase 4: Draft Plan Review and Refinement (November 2010 – January 2011).