TOWN OF LAKE COWICHAN OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN Bylaw No. 1022-2019 A Bylaw to adopt the Official Community Plan. WHEREAS Section 876 of the Local Government Act provides that a local government may adopt and amend one or more official community plans to guide decisions on planning and land use management; AND WHEREAS Section 875 of the Local Government Act provides that a local government may have a community plan prepared or revised and such plans shall be expressed in writing and my include plans, maps, tables or other graphic material and shall include statements and map designations for the area covered by the plan; AND WHEREAS In accordance with the Local Government Act, the Council has undertaken the necessary consultations and other steps required for the adoption of the new official community plan.; NOW THEREFORE, the Council of the Town of Lake Cowichan in open meeting assembled enacts as follows: 1. This bylaw may be cited for all purposes as “Town of Lake Cowichan Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 1022-2019”. 2. For the purpose of expressing the policies for the development of the Town of Lake Cowichan, the Municipal Council hereby adopts the Town of Lake Cowichan Official Community Plan and the plan maps and appendices, marked Schedule “A”, which shall be an integral part of this bylaw. 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase contained within this bylaw is, for any reason, held to be invalid by the decision of any Court of competent jurisdiction, the invalid portion shall be severed and the decision that it is invalid shall not affect the validity of the remainder of the bylaw. 4. The “Town of Lake Cowichan Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 910-2011”, and all amendments thereto, are hereby repealed on adoption of this bylaw. READ THE FIRST TIME on the 23rd day of April 2019. READ THE SECOND TIME on the 23rd day of April 2019. PUBLIC HEARING HELD PURSUANT TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT on the May 28th day, 2019. READ THE THIRD TIME on the May 28th day of, 2019. RECONSIDERED, FINALLY PASSED and ADOPTED by the Municipal Council of the Town of Lake Cowichan on the ___ day of, 2019. Rod Peters Joseph A. Fernandez Mayor Corporate Officer Creating our Future Town of Lake Cowichan Official Community Plan (May 2019) Page 1 of 138 Page 2 of 138 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1 | INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Community Vision Statement ....................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Purpose of the Plan ....................................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Scope of the Plan .......................................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Organization of the Plan ............................................................................................................. 10 1.5 Consultation Process ................................................................................................................... 10 PART 2 | CONTEXT ................................................................................................................................. 15 2.1 Plan Area, Location, Climate ....................................................................................................... 15 2.2 Area History ................................................................................................................................ 15 2.3 Current Economic Overview ....................................................................................................... 18 2.4 Demographic and 2016 Census Overview .................................................................................. 18 2.5 Housing Need Projections ........................................................................................................... 25 2.6 Housing Policy Direction ............................................................................................................. 27 2.7 Cowichan Lake First Nation ......................................................................................................... 28 2.8 Region ......................................................................................................................................... 29 PART 3 | NATURAL ENVIRONMENT ....................................................................................................... 30 3.1 Natural Environment Goal .......................................................................................................... 30 3.2 Climate Change Goal ................................................................................................................... 32 3.3 Brownfields Goal ......................................................................................................................... 36 3.4 Waterfront and Blueways Goal ................................................................................................... 37 3.5 Greenways Goal .......................................................................................................................... 39 3.6 Urban Agriculture Goal ............................................................................................................... 44 3.7 Ecological Preservation Goal ....................................................................................................... 45 PART 4 | BUILT ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................................. 46 4.1 Urban Containment Goal ............................................................................................................ 46 4.2 Downtown & Uptown Goal ......................................................................................................... 49 4.3 Goal ............................................................................................................................................. 51 4.4 Comprehensive Development Goal ............................................................................................ 54 4.5 Transportation Goal .................................................................................................................... 56 4.6 Servicing Goal .............................................................................................................................. 58 Page 3 of 138 4.7 Accessibility Goal ........................................................................................................................ 60 PART 5 | COMMUNITY HEALTH &WELLNESS ......................................................................................... 61 5.1 Economic Development Goal ...................................................................................................... 62 5.2 Housing and Urban Neighbourhoods Goal ................................................................................. 66 5.3 Goal for Recreation, Parks and Institutions ................................................................................ 77 5.4 Community Goal ......................................................................................................................... 82 PART 6 | DEVELOPMENT PERMIT AREAS ............................................................................................... 83 6.1 Development Permit Areas Goal ................................................................................................ 84 6.2 Watercourse &Streamside Protection Development Permit Area(DPA 1) ................................. 84 6.3 Natural Hazard Lands Development Permit Area– (DPA 2) ........................................................ 89 6.4 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Development Permit Area (DPA-3) ................................................ 93 6.5 Downtown, Uptown, Neighbourhood Centre, Tourism Areas, and Highway Commercial Development Permit Area (DPA 4) ......................................................................................................... 95 6.6 Multi-unit Residential Development Permit Area (DPA 5) ....................................................... 100 6.7 Employment Development Permit Area (DPA 6) ...................................................................... 103 6.8 Development Permit Area Application Requirements ............................................................. 105 PART 7 | IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................................................ 107 7.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 107 7.2 Land use Bylaws ........................................................................................................................ 107 7.3 Financial Program ..................................................................................................................... 107 7.4 Other Resources for Implementing the OCP ............................................................................ 107 7.5 Periodic Review of the OCP ...................................................................................................... 108 7.6 Board of Variance ...................................................................................................................... 108 7.7 Development Variance