2040 Official Community Plan

1983 OCP recognized three existing settlements.

(Chilliwack proper, Sardis and Vedder) and the urban

corridor structure that was already evident. The sub-

sequent OCPs in 1989 and 1998 reinforced the urban

corridor form and structure, and acknowledged the

importance of the downtown and other community

cores, a density hierarchy, and edge developments.

Those plans also expanded the municipality’s vision

to include economic and social development. Nev-

ertheless, their focus remains on medium terms be-

tween 10 and 15 years.

This Official Community Plan projects a longer term

vision (30 years). Under the Local Government Act

(Section 875) it is “a statement of objectives and pol-

icies” to guide decisions on planning and land use

management, ranging from land development to

transportation, utilities, environmental protection/

conservation, public safety, health and amenities.

Since the adoption of the last OCP, the Local Govern-

ment Act has added new domains to OCP planning,

either as mandatory or recommended policies; these

are also now parts of the OCP.

I. Purpose of OCP Update

The 1998 OCP established a plan review trigger at

population 85,000. With the 2013 population esti-

mated at 84,600, this OCP update is both timely and

prudent from the following perspectives:

a. The City has been engaged in a number of hillside

community developments. These developments

indicate the City’s commitments to the hillside

areas; however, they are limited in scale and role

as part of the municipal growth strategy. This

OCP provides a more definitive direction for re-

spective hillside areas in terms of development

prospects and policies.

b. In moving forward, the City needs to understand

the growth dynamics of the next three decades.

This requires an analysis of the changes, trends and

issues of the past (at least since 1998), the pres-

ent and the future, and the community’s ability

to cope with those challenges. The OCP plans for

future infrastructure works brought on by popula-

tion growth, while mapping out a path to support

healthy community development.

c. Since 1998 the Province has expanded the scope

of Official Community Plans to include a regional

context statement, affordable, rental and special

needs housing policy, social planning, economic

development, and greenhouse gas emission tar-

gets. Although some of these policies have al-

ready been added to the 1998 OCP, a plan update

enables the City to address these areas in greater

depth and in a more integrated manner under

healthy community planning.

d. While the original OCP adopted sound environ-

mental and geotechnical policies, it did not incor-

porate maps of major areas of environmental or

geotechnical sensitivities. This plan update of-

fers an opportunity for the City to create a data

base, assess the key areas in the context of the

applicable provincial and federal environmental

legislation, and through appropriate mapping,

create a greater awareness of our environmental

assets and natural hazards among the public and

the development industry.

e. In the past 15 years Chilliwack’s land base for

growth and development has expanded signifi-

cantly for industries and commerce. Howev-

er, the past trend is unlikely to continue in the

future because the available urban reserve has

largely been depleted. In the case of residential

development, it has been under this constraint

for over two decades and the market’s response

is urban densification (with the support of the

City) and leasehold developments on the First

Nation Reserves (in partnership with the First

Nations). In pursuing densification and in antic-

ipating more development on the Reserves, this

OCP Update enables the City to fine-tune its den-

sification strategy and add clarity, while working

with the First Nations to coordinate community

growth and infrastructure developments.

In promoting densification, the City should exam-

ine its urban-ALR interface within its urban corri-

dor (between Evans/Ashwell Road and Chilliwack

River Road), particularly in locations where infra-

structure lines (roads/bicycle routes/sidewalks

and utility mains) are truncated. As a result,

travelling has to be redirected to the overloaded

Vedder Road or to the fringe north-south arteri-

al roads, precipitating unnecessary traffic on the

Introduction