In 2005, development of an Official Community Plan for the Williams Lake fringe area commenced. The draft document was publicly released on the CRD website in April 2008, and has undone a number of revisions since then, due to consultations with government and the general public. On October 10, the Cariboo Regional District Boad of Directors gave first and second reading to the Williams Lake Fringe Area Official Community Plan Bylaw. No 4446, 2008.
An Official Community Plan (OCP) is a statement of objectives and policies to guide decisions on land management and planning within the region encompassed by the Plan. Legislation (Local Government Act) does require that an OCP include text and/or map designations pertaining to:
- the approximate location, amount, type and density of residential development required to meet anticipated housing needs over a period of at least five years;
- the approximate location, amount and type of present and proposed commercial, industrial, institutional, agricultural, recreational and public utility land uses;
- the approximate location and area of sand and gravel deposits that are suitable for future sand and gravel extraction;
- restrictions on the use of land that is subject to hazardous conditions or that is environmentally sensitive to development;
- the approximate location and phasing of any major road, sewer and water systems;
- the approximate location and type of present and proposed public facilities, including schools, parks and waste treatment and disposal sites;
- other matters that may, in respect of any plan, be required or authorized by the minister; and,
- housing policies of the local government respecting affordable housing, rental housing and special needs housing.
As part of the development of an OCP, local governments are required to consult with such agencies as the School district, adjacent municipality, government agencies, and First Nations.
A number of documents are linked under resources on this page (most maps are 11” by 17” but maps with greater detail are 36” by 48” and hence a larger file size – you may want to examine file size prior to downloading. Large (36” by 48”) versions of the 11” by 17” maps are available by contacting the GIS department of the CRD):