Tomorrow, March 12, feedback is due on the draft Official Plan that has been circulating since November.
It is a giant document and I know residents and stakeholder groups are going to approach it with multiple viewpoints. I've begun to receive some feedback from community associations but thought it might be helpful as residents are preparing their own submissions to know what I've focused on.
It's going to be a long spring and summer of discussion, and I'll be working closely with our community associations to keep them apprised of how the draft appears to be changing as staff hear from councillors and residents. I'm hoping to be in a position in late May or June to host a community meeting once we have a good idea of how the draft might change before a September vote. I expect that some of the language in the draft plan will be clarified and modified as flashpoints become clear and the planning department either persists in some of its directions or adapts those in response to feedback.
The feedback copied below is technical in many places. Official Plans are technical documents and the details matter. For a plainer language version of my larger concerns, please see my post from mid-February here. Not everyone will agree with all my points, and I haven't yet read the submissions on which I've already been copied. But I did feel it was important for residents to know what I'm talking to planners about.