It’s been over 30 years since the ink dried on the original, and now Mattawa is working on a new official plan.
On St. Patrick’s Day, the town held a special meeting, to hear feedback from the public regarding the progress of the new plan. It wasn’t well-attended, one gentleman stopped by council chambers, and another two people joined online via the live stream of the meeting.
However, Kathryn Curry and Anthony Hommik, of Jp2g Consultants were there to let council know how the plan was coming along. Jp2g have been working on the plan since last Sept., when they spoke with staff at length before embarking on the draft. In Nov., a public meeting was held for insight, and from Dec. to the end of Feb. the consultants have been talking with staff as they work on the new official plan for council’s consideration.
What is an official plan? Hommik put it simply, “The official plan is the primary policy document that guides the evolution of the town. In the simplest terms, it sets out what land uses go where.”
Mattawa’s last official plan – which is currently in use – was approved by council in 1991 and later approved by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) in 1995. The MMAH must approve every town’s official plan.
Since adopted, the plan has been amended just over a dozen times, but the document as a whole has yet to be overhauled – until now.
The process is well-underway. As Hommik outlined, the next steps are to “Engage with local Indigenous communities” for input, along with various ministries, submit a draft to council for comments, then forward that to the MMAH for review.
Hommik added, “One of the most important updates to the official plan will be the preparation of high-quality GIS maps.” These Geographic Information System maps are interactive and allow users to integrate different data sets within the maps.
As detailed in Hommik’s report, “The existing mapping will need to be updated to include the most recent information related to hazard lands, natural heritage features and mineral aggregate resources in the Town.”
See: Mattawa mayor provides State of the Town update
The official plan will also provide strategies for housing, infrastructure, Indigenous recognition and engagement, resource management, and preparing for climate change. Further, public health and safety, economic diversification, and waterfront development will also be addressed in the plan.
On that last note, Mayor Raymond Bélanger emphasized the importance of preparing for future floods. The mayor noted, “Along the Mattawa River floodplain, we’re not only trying to make headway there, but we’re tying to do something to mitigate disasters such as floods.”
Mayor Bélanger wanted to ensure the official plan made room for creating a berm to mitigate flood waters in the future, and Hommik noted he and the Jp2g team could work on that as well. Within a few months the official plan draft will return to council for further discussion.
“We’re looking forward to the next step,” Mayor Bélanger said.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.