The Bella Coola Valley Official Community Plan Bylaw sets the mid- to long-term vision for planned development in Electoral Areas C, D and E, from the Bella Coola town site in the west to Stuie in the east. The Plan provides a degree of certainty for residents and landowners about the location and nature of community change. It also serves as a guide for local government elected officials when they make decisions regarding development and zoning, and about providing services in a manner able to accommodate projected changes and growth.
An Official Community Plan can also provide communities with the certainty that they need in order to remain stable living environments, such as providing an overview of natural hazard areas, percentage of agricultural land, or locations of important wildlife migration corridors. The policies are intended to reflect a broad consensus of opinion melded into a framework for future development and a strategy for managing future growth.
The OCP may also be amended by bylaw adopted by the board, upon receipt of a written application from a proponent. These amendments generally require public hearings with public notice served through newspaper and other advertising.
The OCP applies to public and private lands in the valley outside of the Provincial Forest (Crown land) and does not apply to lands located within any federal Reserve governed by the Nuxalk Nation.
CCRD is currently updating its Official Community Plan. A committee of community volunteers and the Board Chair completed a review of the current plan, which was received by the Board in 2016, and grant funding was received in 2018 to complete the plan. Please check back to this web page for updates and Public Notices regarding opportunities for public input to this plan.