You may have heard the term “OCP” being thrown around lately in government meetings or read about OCP’s in the newspaper or online. So what exactly is an OCP, and why should you care about it?
OCP is an acronym for Official Community Plan.
OCP’s are visionary bylaws used by local governments as the basis for future land use decisions. Their purpose is to direct future land use and growth by establishing where development will and will not occur and what form that development may take over time.
OCPs are meant to identify what values a community collectively holds, and align future land use considerations with community values.
The OCP does not change existing zoning of any property. Rather, changes to the zoning bylaw must align with the OCP. The OCP is enacted through the zoning bylaw and a range of other policies and bylaws.
OCPs are created by the community, with support from professional planners and many interdisciplinary professionals. Elected officials can amend the OCP and zoning bylaws, traditionally through a public hearing process.
OCP’s are generally updated about every ten years. This has been the case in the Town of Gibsons (ToG) and the District of Sechelt (DoS) Sechelt, though not in the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD). SCRD OCP bylaws range in age from 6-29 years old.
In 2024, for the first time in human history, global temperature rise exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The last 10-years have been the warmest on record. None of the Official Community Plans on the Sunshine Coast have been updated since climate change truly took hold – since concurrent drought, extreme temperatures and atmospheric rivers became the ‘new normal’.
Simultaneously, for the first time, all three of the main local governments on the lower Sunshine Coast are updating their OCPs at the same time. Communities across the whole coast have a once in a generation opportunity to support holistic land use planning and solutions for our changing world.
In our next blog post, we will break down in more detail what an OCP is and dive deeper into each of the OCP’s for the lower Sunshine Coast. We will share our perspectives on how OCP renewal can address huge environmental and social challenges and deliver on community conservation values on the Sunshine Coast. And, we will fill you in on how you can get involved and contribute to these plans.