The Vision Plan is a big commitment for the District of Sechelt, and council will soon be faced with putting their money where the mouths are.
At an upcoming meeting, council will be asked to spend $215,000 to pay for a consultant to shepherd the Vision Plan through a two-year-long implementation process. More than 800 residents were involved in the visioning process that stretches back to mid-2006. The plan aims to guide the District's development for the next 25 years.
"We have to [implement] it in a manner that we're proud of, so at the end of the day, the community is supportive, and we have something that works," said Mayor Cam Reid.
A report from District planners Ray Parfitt and Andre Boel calls the plan "a major policy initiative that will require considerable time and budget," and requests a consultant who can work on the project "in an uninterrupted manner," without the daily distractions that District staff must contend with. The Vision Plan is a comprehensive document, and implementing it means rewriting the official community plan (OCP), zoning, as well as neighbourhood plans and subdivision bylaws. Developing the corridor along Wharf Road, between the two waterfronts, is a main priority of the plan, and utilizing conservation design - grouping houses more tightly to preserve tracts of uninterrupted green space - is one facet of the plan that will be directly affected by updating the bylaws. Implementing the plan also means interim measures, such as legalized secondary suites and tougher environmental protection for housing developments in sensitive areas, will be brought in while the plan is being hashed out. The measures are scheduled for completion by the end of the year, and all bylaws and neighbourhood plans should be revamped by the end of 2009.
Coun. Darren Inkster acknowledged council has allowed "a bit of a lag" between the creation and implementation of the Vision Plan, but said a commitment to spend the money will "be a clear sign to the community and all the groups involved that there's buy-in from council." "We'll have to figure out where the money's coming from, and it's going to be a big pill to swallow," added Coun. Keith Thirkell at Tuesday's planning committee meeting.
Sechelt director of finance Doug Chapman said while there are several competing interests for one-time expenditures in the pending 2008 budget, normally they're funded from the 2007 surplus, not incoming taxation from this year. The cost of a consultant will be competing with items like crosswalk line-painting, floodplain mapping, and pesticide-bylaw education funding for space in the final budget.
