Cortes Island

Official Community Plan Review

Newsletter Vol.1 Welcome to the Cortes Island Official Community Plan Review Process!!

April 2007

This is the introductory newsletter to the Official Community Plan (OCP) review, which will published on a regular basis to keep you up-to-date on where the review process is at; what the next step will be; and will keep you informed of upcoming public meetings that you may wish to participate at. Remember, this is your plan for the future of Cortes, so please get involved and bring your neighbour! The Official Community Plan is in need of updating to reflect changing community visions as well as incorporate new provincial regulations. You and your fellow community members and neighbours will develop the plan. The regional district will be helping you along, providing you with technical support and guidance. To begin the process, regional district staff would like to invite you to a kick-off meeting on Tuesday, May 1st. See the box below for the details. At this meeting, lets get together and talk about what the Official Community Plan is, what the general objectives of the current Official Community Plan are, and design what the review process will look like.

This newsletter is scheduled to be published on a regular basis and made available, as all review material will be, on our website at www.comoxstrathcona.ca Check out the new Cortes OCP webpage that has been created just for this process!

Kick Off Meeting

Mansons Landing Community Hall 983 Beasley Road Mansons Landing, BC

CORTES OCP

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 7 to 9:00 p.m.

What is the OCP and why is it important? The Official Community Plan (OCP) provides the long-term vision for future growth and development on Cortes, establishes policies on all aspects of land use important to your community, to ensure the protection of sensitive lands, preservation of land marks or heritage sites, while permitting appropriate change and growth. The OCP provides a list of objective statements, guidelines, and policies to guide existing and future uses of land and water surfaces on Cortes. These objectives, guidelines and policies reflect the communitys vision of the Island, along with the federal and provincial government objectives within the plan area. Once the regional board adopts the OCP, the plan becomes official, and all future land use decisions made by the board must be consistent with the plan.

See over ...

The OCP Planning Process (in a nutshell) The planning process will focus on the goals, objectives and policies related to sustainable growth and development on Cortes Island, and how that growth and development should be managed. The OCP review process will consist of: Public meetings & workshops Roll up your sleeves! Learn about what an OCP is & what the OCP does. Talk about & discuss planning topics. Share ideas and information. Volunteer steering committees Get involved! Be directly involved with the development of the OCP! Focus on various geographical areas of Cortes. Meet on a regular basis. Formal Adoption Procedures Making the plan official Approving the plan

Fast Fact: Cortes Island is 25.5 kilometers long and about 13.5 kilometres wide.

The combined area of Cortes and the smaller surrounding islands (Marina, Twin, and Subtle) and the neighbouring islets, is about 13,340 hectares (133 square kilometres). Together, Cortes and the surrounding islands and islets make up the Cortes Electoral Area; also know as Area I. Fast Fact: The OCP is a collection of community objectives and policy statements. While the entire OCP is used as a guide, the statements in the OCP speak directly to the development of a companion zoning bylaw.

A successful community plan will be dir ectly r elated to the involvement of the citizens of Cortes. Come to meetings, volunteer for a steering committee, shar e your ideas, and make this your OCP! The Cortes OCP Review starts Tuesday May 1st, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. at the Mansons Hall! Did you know? See you there! Cortes has only had two Official For information, please contact: Community Plans since the 1970s? Even though OCPs can be reviewed LISA GALLO, Planner every 5 to 10 years, the first OffiComox Strathcona Regional District cial Community Plan was adopted 600 Comox Road, Courtenay, BC V9N 3P6 in 1979 and wasnt replaced until the Tel: 250-334-6029 Toll Free 1-800-331-6007 current OCP was adopted in 1995. Fax: 250-334-8156 Email: lgallo@rdcs.bc.ca You can find a copy of the current Official Community Plan online at www.comoxstrathcona.ca, or you can purchase a copy from the regional district for $15.00 (plus postage if you would like it mailed out to you.) It is also known as Bylaw No. 1740. Check out the Cortes OCP review website at: www.comoxstrathcona.ca