Residents of Keremeos had a final opportunity to take a look at and comment on the current Official Community Plan for the Village of Keremeos last week.
On April 10, an open house was held at Victory Hall for the final version of the OCP, presented by village council,staff and members of MMM Group, a civic planning group from Kelowna who assisted the village in completing the OCP.
The document is considered to be “high level,” that is, an umbrella policy statement that tries to answer the questioins “How do you see yourself (as a village)? and “How do you see yourself 20 years down the road?”
Davin Shillong, Project Manager with MMM Group, told the Review that the OCP process has involved two other open houses prior to the April 10 meeting, in addition to conducting student surveys to Similkameen Elementary Secondary School students.
While Shillong said that they weren’t overwhelmed by input from village residents, comments indicated that the previous OCP was working well, and this update included few major changes, other than updating legislative requirements and standards, stemming from provincal legislation such as the carbon tax.
“Two per cent is generally what is targetted for resident’s input into matters such as this,” Shillong said, “I’m satisfied that we achieved that for the Keremeos’ community plan.”
The OCP is reviewed, by provincial decree, every five years. The village began reviewing it in the fall of 2011. Some key input from residents included such things as a desire for a vibrant downtown. Villagers want to see the strongest economic sector of the community focussed in the downtown core - which could present an interesting challenge for the village and council, given the downtown core’s present dismal state.
Comments were also directed towards issues affecting the seniors’ demographic, a prominent aspect of Keremeos’ residential makeup.Residents are looking for a more “senior friendly” village in terms of access and mobility. Residents also placed a high value on the community’s water quality.