Engagement and studies underway for Vernon’s OCP and transportation plan

Apr 9, 2024 | 3:00 PM

The City of Vernon is engaging with local stakeholders and overseeing studies as it prepares to develop two key policy documents.

Vernon’s Official Community Plan (OCP) and Transportation Master Plan (TP) will be rewritten in 2025 to set pathways for growing the community and providing citizens with necessities and amenities over the next 20 years.

To ensure the needs of the public will be met in those plans, city council endorsed an engagement strategy in March, and at council’s regular meeting Monday, April 8, staff presented information on the community groups included in the public participation process, as well as a summary of the technical studies required for the development of the documents.

The report to council outlined 50 studies related to the OCP and TP, which were broken into multiple categories that had their own budget and timeline.

Housing needs report: Feb. 2024 – Dec. 2024, $75,000
Land inventory, parks study, and related gap analyses: Mar. 2024 – Dec. 2024, $200,000
Update environmental mapping: Apr. 2024 – Dec. 2024, $150,000
Update sewer model: Jun. 2024 – Jun. 2025, $300,000
Update traffic counts and road classification: Apr. 2024 – Sep. 2024, $100,000
Active transportation and transit gap analysis: Apr. 2024 – Sep. 2024, $75,000
Mobility policy reviews: Jan. 2024 – Dec. 2023, $135,000
Engagement and communications: Dec. 2023 – Jun. 2025, $160,000
Document drafting: Jun. 2024 – Sep. 2025, $100,000
Options analysis: Apr. 2024 – Jun. 2025: $25,000
Additional staff capacity: Jan. 2024 – Jun. 2025, $100,000

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Upon receiving the report, Councillor Brian Guy asked whether wetlands would be identified in the mapping process, to which Danielle DeVries, Vernon’s transportation manager, said that topic would be partly in the riparian area protection regulation map and a natural asset inventory.

Guy also inquired about transportation studies, saying busing is not a preferred choice and the service should be improved. DeVries said the city was exploring how to improve the transit service, noting provincial legislation is promoting high-density housing construction around transit hubs so the local service needs to meet the needs of the public.

Mayor Victor Cumming asked if the traffic counts included pedestrians and multi-use path users including users of the rail trail, to which DeVries said all road and path users, including pedestrians and cyclists, were being included in the study.

Staff also indicated that e-bike and e-scooter public charging infrastructure was being reviewed as part of the studies.

The mayor also urged staff investigate flow levels and capacity during the sewer studies.

Additionally, the report noted that the city was receiving input from over 60 local stakeholders, which were included in the categories of council committees; economic development and investment sector; community groups serving priority populations; community groups servicing climate, nature, parks and trails; transportation and infrastructure sector agencies; government and public sector agencies within the region; and provincial and federal government agencies.

Cumming asked if high school students would be engaged through this process, stating area students have provided valuable input on the OCPs in the past.

Barbara Everdene, Vernon’s long-range planner, informed the mayor and council that work with School District 22 was underway to distribute engagement information to the students, though noted the current timelines may not allow for the mayor to visit and speak to the students in person.

Council received the report as information Monday.

by Liam Verster

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