The Regional District of East Kootenay’s Board of Directors adopted the first official Elk Valley Official Community Plan (OCP).
“The OCP balances land management, community growth and the environment, and I would like to thank the community for its participation and feedback over the last 13 months,” Area A Director Mike Sosnowski said in a press release last Friday. “It’s another great project that has been completed this year.”
According to Sosnowski, the last documented community plan information was from 1986.
The planning process for the OCP commenced in September of last year and the OCP was formally adopted on Friday, October 3, replacing the 25-year-old Elk Valley Land Use Strategy as well as the 2006 Fernie Area Land Use Strategy.
“This is the first one for rural Elk Valley and it’s just great to get another project done,” he noted adding that the project balanced the community’s needs and wants. “It’s a compromise and I think it’s a good one. It’s time to replace the old Land Use Plan with an OCP that reflects the community’s current vision and provides direction and framework for future development in the plan area.”