The Official Community Plan is the primary tool that guides the future development of municipalities in British Columbia. The Provincial Government authorizes municipalities to adopt community plans under the Local Government Act.
An Official Community Plan (OCP) is a general statement of the broad objectives and policies of the local government. An OCP considers the character of existing and proposed land use, as well as servicing requirements in the area covered by the OCP.
Once adopted, an OCP serves as a foundation for all policies, regulations and decisions pertaining to land use and development in a municipality.
Community Engagement
Town Council and management of the Town of Golden believe community involvement to be integral in the creation of the Official Community Plan. It is also a provincial requirement that the public be involved in the consultation process.
Before initiating the OCP process, the Town of Golden reviewed previous community consultation processes and studies, as well as the feedback from them. They created a questionnaire to assess and ensure the feedback from previous consultation events and studies was current and therefore relevant. The questionnaire received more than 150 responses and a public forum was held. The results revealed the community of Golden would like to see progress in the following areas:
- Affordable housing;
- Downtown revitalization;
- Enhanced recreation facilities; and
- Improved planning.
To learn more, download the full OCP.
Zoning and Rezoning
The Town’s Zoning Bylaw is a key document that implements Golden’s OCP by regulating land use and density. Every property in Golden has a legal zoning classification specifying the types of uses or activities that can take place on that property, restrictions on the floor area and height of buildings, minimum distances separating buildings and property lines, the amount of off-street parking required, as well as other requirements.
If the existing zoning of a property does not permit a proposed use or development, an application may be submitted by the land owner (or agent of the land owner) to amend the zoning of that property. To change a property's zoning, the applicant should demonstrate that the proposed rezoning supports the Town’s OCP and benefits the community as a whole.