OCP Directives

Official Community Plan/Land Use Bylaw review information:

For those that are interested, these are the policy directives that I gleaned from the Islands Trust Policy Statement. This is not intended to be a definitive list, and the full Policy Statement, with definitions, is available online at the address below:

http://www.islandstrust.bc.ca/media/342659/01orgpolstatement.pdf

Directive Policies

3.1.3  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the identification and protection of the environmentally sensitive areas and significant natural sites, features and landforms in their planning area.

3.1.4  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the planning, establishment, and maintenance of a network of protected areas that preserve the representative ecosystems of their planning area and maintain their ecological integrity.

3.1.5  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the regulation of land use and development to restrict emissions to land, air and water to levels not harmful to humans or other species. 

Directive Policy

3.3.2 Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address means to prevent further loss or degradation of freshwater bodies or watercourses, wetlands and riparian zones and to protect aquatic wildlife.

3.4.4  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the protection of sensitive coastal areas.

3.4.5  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the planning for and regulation of development in coastal regions to protect natural coastal processes. 

Directive Policies

4.1.4  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the identification and preservation of agricultural land for current and future use. 

4.1.5  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the preservation, protection and encouragement of farming, the sustainability of farming, and the relationship of farming to other land uses. 

4.1.6  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the use of adjacent properties to minimize any adverse affects on agricultural land. 

4.1.7  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the design of road systems and servicing corridors to avoid agricultural lands unless the need for roads outweighs agricultural considerations, in which case appropriate mitigation measures shall be required to derive a net benefit to agriculture.

4.1.8  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address land uses and activities that support the economic viability of farms without compromising the agriculture capability of agricultural land. 

Directive Policies

4.2.6  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the need to protect the ecological integrity on a scale of forest stands and landscapes. 

4.2.7  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address:

the retention of large land holdings and parcel sizes for sustainable forestry use, and

the location and construction of roads, and utility and communication corridors to minimize the fragmentation of forests. 

4.2.8 Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the designation of forest ecosystem reserves where no extraction will take place to ensure the preservation of native biological diversity. 

Directive Policies

4.5.8  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the needs and locations for marine dependent land uses.

4.5.9  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the compatibility of the location, size and nature of marinas with the ecosystems and character of their local planning areas. 

4.5.10  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the location of buildings and structures so as to protect public access to, from and along the marine shoreline and minimize impacts on sensitive coastal environments. 

Directive Policy

4.6.3 Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in local bylaws relating to soil removal and deposit, address the protection of productive soils. 

Directive Policy

5.1.3 Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the protection of views, scenic areas and distinctive features contributing to the overall visual quality and scenic value of the Trust Area. 

Directive Policies

5.2.3  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address policies related to the aesthetic, environmental and social impacts of development. 

5.2.4  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address any potential growth rate and strategies for growth management that ensure that land use is compatible with preservation and protection of the environment, natural amenities, resources and community character.

5.2.5  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address means for achieving efficient use of the land base without exceeding any density limits defined in their official community plans. 

5.2.6  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the identification of areas hazardous to development, including areas subject to flooding, erosion or slope instability, and strategies to direct development away from such hazards. 

Directive Policies

5.3.4  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws address the development of a classification system of rural roadways, including scenic or heritage road designations, in recognition of the object of the Islands Trust.

5.3.5  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the impacts of road location, design, construction and systems.

5.3.6  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the designation of areas for the landing of emergency helicopters.

5.3.7  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the development of land use patterns that encourage establishment of bicycle paths and other local and inter-community transportation systems that reduce dependency on private automobile use. 

Directive Policy

5.4.4 Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the identification of acceptable locations for the disposal of solid waste. 

Directive Policies

5.5.3  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the prohibition of destination gaming facilities such as casinos and commercial bingo halls. 

5.5.4  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address:

the location and type of recreational facilities so as not to degrade environmentally sensitive areas, and

the designation of locations for marinas, boat launches, docks and anchorages so as not to degrade sensitive marine or coastal areas.

5.5.5  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address:

the identification of sites providing safe public access to beaches,

the identification and designation of areas of recreational significance, and

the designation of locations for community and public boat launches, docks

and anchorages. 

5.5.6  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the identification and designation of areas for low impact recreational activities and discourage facilities and opportunities for high impact recreational activities.

5.5.7  Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the planning for bicycle, pedestrian and equestrian trail systems. 

Directive Policies

5.6.2 Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the identification, protection, preservation and enhancement of local heritage. 

5.6.3 Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address the preservation and protection of the heritage value and character of historic coastal settlement patterns and remains. 

Directive Policy

5.7.2 Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address economic opportunities that are compatible with conservation of resources and protection of community character. 

Directive Policies

5.8.6 Local trust committees and island municipalities shall, in their official community plans and regulatory bylaws, address their community’s current and projected housing requirements and the long-term needs for educational, institutional, community and health-related facilities and services, as well as the cultural and recreational facilities and services.