As Prince George city council prepares to debate potential amendments to the new Official Community plan at its Monday, Feb. 24 meeting, documents attached to the meeting agenda show exactly how the OCP changed before and after public consultation was held late last year.
Council was set at its first February meeting to grant first and second reading of the bylaw authorizing the new OCP and setting up a public hearing, but only ended up passing first reading to allow more time for amendments to be considered.
Once the required public hearing starts, council cannot further amend the OCP without holding another public hearing.
Attached to the agenda for the meeting is an annotated version of the proposed Official Community Plan showing what changes were made since October 2024.
Many of the changes are minor, consisting of slight wording changes.
For example, section 1.3.6 discussing development permit areas originally read: “The OCP must be reviewed and updated regularly to ensure the city is moving towards its long-term vision, and the goals and objectives of the plan are achieved. Regular reviews and updates enable the city to respond to risks, opportunities and emerging trends to the benefit of the entire community.”
It now reads as follows: “Section 19.0 details implementation of the plan to ensure the city is moving towards its long-term vision and achieving its goals and objectives. In this section, a set of indicators and targets have been identified to monitor and track our progress towards achieving the goals and objectives of the OCP.”
Other changes are more substantial.
A new section, titled “1.2.1 interpretation” explains how the OCP applies to city staff’s decision-making process and when amendments to the plan are required.
Section 7.3, on rural areas, had an objective added to it focusing on how agricultural initiatives supplement the local food system as well as policies describing how they can be supported.
Section 12, focusing on transportation and mobility, had references to the community’s identified need for more east-west active transportation corridors and safer active transportation infrastructure along Central Street removed.
The chapter on climate action and resilience, section 15, had one of its objectives changed from minimizing negative climate-related impacts on human safety to mitigation measure reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
It also adds a policy calling for the city’s climate forward implementation strategy to be reviewed every five years “based on progress, new scientific information and global equity objectives” and for the OCP to be updated based on those reviews.
Section 16, which deals with the natural environment, had a policy requiring depleted gravel aggregate extraction areas to be rehabilitated and replaced with another policy instead encouraging the reclamation and rehabilitation of those sites.
The portion governing future land use planning, section 18, removes a medium residential housing designation.
The neighbourhood centres and corridors section has a new policy requiring “new developments and public realm enhancements to be pedestrian-oriented and include high-quality streetscape elements and landscaping.”
Other additions to the neighbourhood corridors policy include a policy of collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation to advance beautification efforts along highways 16 and 97, a policy encourages new subdivisions and development “to create a comfortable urban environment over the long term through increased connectivity.”
Another part of section 18 focusing on medium industrial areas adds a policy prohibiting “salvage and heavy wrecking yards within 200 (metres) of Boundary Road, on sites easily visible from Highway 97 and Highway 16, and within 300 (metres) of a watercourse, water body of environmentally sensitive area.”
That same policy has been removed from the part focusing on heavy industrial areas.
Section 20, contained in appendix two and governing development permit areas, had substantial information about what parts of the city are in those areas and what developments are exempt from them.
It also includes guidelines for how areas with significant slopes should be developed to minimize impact to visuals, esthetics and the environment.
While the revisions to the OCP include more protection for green spaces in general, members of the local advocacy group Ginter’s Green Forever sent out a media release ahead of the Feb. 24 council meeting calling for city council to add formal protections by name for both Ginter’s Green and other parks.
They also called for residents to email feedback to council to push for the changes.
Ginter’s Green runs from near the intersection of 18th Avenue and Foothills Boulevard to the intersection of 22nd Avenue and Webber Crescent along the bottom of Cranbrook Hill.
“While we are thrilled that all road extensions (Foothills and Massey) have been removed from the OCP road network plan, much work remains,” group member Jenn Matthews said in the release.
“The area through the meadow is still zoned for a road to run from Massey to Ferry. This is important, since at the last council meeting city staff commented that road plans that are not in this OCP could still be in the long-term plan if growth gets to the right point (this comment was made with respect to a third bridge across the Fraser).”
Another Ginter’s Green Forever organizer, Selene Maxwell, called for the area to be zoned as P1: Parks and Recreation for further protection.
Should council pass second reading of the OCP bylaw on Monday, Feb. 24, it will also vote on whether to hold the public hearing on the matter on Wednesday, March 19 at 7 p.m.
Monday's council meeting starts at 6 p.m. on the second floor of Prince George City Hall at 1100 Patricia Boulevard.
