The Town of Comox is updating its Official Community Plan and invites the community to share their vision for Comox for the next 20 years.
What do you value about Comox today? What would you like to see improved or changed? These questions anchor the first phase of engaging the community around this important planning update.
An Official Community Plan (or “OCP” for short) is the Town’s “big picture” document that guides growth and development within Comox. It contains a shared vision, community goals, and policies, which all inform the regulations that shape Comox’s zoning and future development permits. The OCP is a blueprint for all the decisions a local government makes about land use.
“The Official Community Plan is one of the most important guides we have to shape the future of our town while meeting provincial growth requirements,” said Comox Mayor, Nicole Minions. “Comox is growing, and we want to ensure that as we plan for the next 20 years, our decisions reflect the values, priorities, and visions of the community. This is your opportunity to share what you love about Comox and how we can make it even better for future generations.”
The Town’s current OCP was last updated in 2011, and a lot has changed in Comox since then. A key component of the update will also ensure that the Town of Comox meets new provincial legislation requiring local governments to update their current OCPs by December 2025. Municipalities must now review and update their OCPs every five years, including public engagement opportunities, to plan for sufficient housing to meet current and anticipated needs over the next 20 years as determined by a standardized provincial housing needs methodology.
This new update will offer guidance on policy areas for:
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Updating the community’s vision on such a wide range of topics means that hearing from the community is key to guiding the Town’s future. The Town is using a dedicated project webpage, on Engage Comox Valley, to keep residents and businesses informed and engaged during the year-long engagement process. There will be a number of in-person opportunities to provide input, such as open houses and pop-up events as well as online engagement though surveys. Follow the Town’s social media pages to be the first to know about upcoming engagement events. The first pop-up will be this Friday, November 22 from 3 - 7 p.m. at the Downtown Comox’s Holiday on the Harbour event. The booth will be inside the Comox Mall near the Mount Washington display.
You are invited to participate in the first phase of the update, the Visioning stage, by completing a brief online survey by December 10, 2024. The survey results, and information on future engagements, will be available on the project’s webpage.
For more information about the Official Community Plan update, visit engagecomoxvalley.ca/comoxocp.
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Media Contact:
Randy Houle
Director of Development Services
planning@comox.ca
250-339-1118