Time is running out for residents to submit feedback to staff for Fort St John’s official community plan, which was recently updated the reflect the city’s shifting needs.
During city council’s Aug. 25 committee of the whole meeting, Fort St John city staff presented an updated official community plan to the council. Currently, the plan is in its “refine” phase, meaning residents are still invited to provide feedback on the updates made thus far.
The current plan, city staff said, reflects the feedback they have received until this point, including at July’s public planning workshop and the 310 responses they received to a survey.
Updates to the plan included noting the importance of maintaining residents’ quality of life and protecting the city’s land and livelihood – which includes a major change to the agricultural goal statement. The city is now supporting “urban agriculture,” a previous draft of the report omitted the inclusion of “urban” from its initiative.
An emphasis is also placed on long-term sustainability for the city – this goal was stated explicitly and manifested in the long-term work outlined in the community plan, such as the inclusion of a need for a wide range of housing options to “meet the needs of citizens.”
As staff continues to update the report, residents will have some opportunities to directly provide feedback to them, including at a public workshop on the official community plan. The workshop is scheduled for September 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at City Hall.
After the community’s feedback is received and another revised plan is devised, city council will vote on if they want to accept updated, finalized, plan in the fall, with the first two readings of the official community plan booked for their October 27 meeting.
Once the plan is adopted, it will remain in place for five years. Then, the city council at that time will restart the phases of drafting, presenting, and finalizing the plan once again, as per provincial regulations.
