Kelowna’s Official Community Plan is being updated and the city wants to hear from residents how they feel Kelowna should develop.
So it is giving landowners an opportunity to submit ideas for future changes in land use.
Those who are considering redeveloping a property in Kelowna within the next 10 years can submit their ideas using the OCP 2040 Future Land Use Idea Generator until Oct. 31. To submit an idea, landowners simply need to outline what the property is being used for now and what kind of future development they feel could optimize the land and enhance the surrounding neighbourhood.
The city will use the information to help develop a new land use plan in spring 2019 that will guide future development and at that time, those who submitted ideas will be notified if their idea was incorporated.
“This is a rare opportunity for landowners and developers to be proactive and submit their ideas as the plan is developed,” says Danielle Noble-Brandt, policy and planning department manager. “As the OCP quite often undergoes individual amendments after its adoption, this process creates a more efficient way of getting a snapshot of future land intentions early on in the development process.”
Ideas to redevelop agricultural land or lands located outside the city’s permanent growth boundary are not being considered.
“Through Imagine Kelowna, we heard that Kelowna should protect agricultural land and concentrate on growing vibrant urban centres,” said Noble-Brandt. “The permanent growth boundary allows us to focus growth within those boundaries.”
The call for ideas follows the development of a new preferred growth strategy which is a more detailed look at how the city should grow by 2040 with the goals of the Imagine Kelowna community vision in mind, and will be used to guide the next phase of the OCP update which includes policy development, mapping, creating indicators and an implementation plan. For more information on the OCP update, visit kelowna.ca/ocp.
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