Whistler council has yet to take a close look at the Official Community Plan (OCP), but Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden expects there will be some changes to the long-awaited document before it’s finalized.

The community has been involved in developing an updated OCP for Whistler since April 2010, and the former council passed first reading in a somewhat controversial move at its last meeting of the term in November.

But little has happened on the project since then, Wilhelm-Morden said last week.

“We will be bringing it in and having a look at it,” she said. “We’re not forgetting about it, but it’s not top, top priority.”

Council discussed the OCP during its January retreat, and completing the plan is one of the strategies under council’s “progressive resort community planning” priority — one of five such priority areas established for the term during the two-day retreat.

The OCP update was under the Program and Policy Development division at municipal hall, but that department was recently eliminated as part of the ongoing organizational structure review. Jan Jansen, general manager of resort experience, is now overseeing the project.

But whatever internal challenges might be keeping the OCP from moving forward, Chief Lucinda Phillips of the Lil’wat Nation stressed this week that the project needs attention.

“We understand that the council has been newly appointed and are getting up to speed on a number of files and portfolios,” Phillips wrote in an email to The Question on Monday (Feb. 6).

“However, in the near future we need to continue to move this process forward and to ensure that the RMOW lives up to their obligations in ensuring that our aboriginal interests, use and rights have been recognized, are understood and are included in this important document.”

Both Phillips and Chief Gibby Jacob of the Squamish Nation sent a letter to former mayor Ken Melamed in November requesting that first reading of the draft OCP be put off until the two area First Nations could be consulted. But the former council moved ahead with first reading on Nov. 15, despite a scheduled meeting between the municipality and the First Nations chiefs scheduled for Nov. 17.

“This does not prelude any changes between now and second reading,” Melamed said at the time.

Phillips said the Nov. 17 meeting ended “in good will” and that all three parties agreed to meet again “soon” to begin the consultation process and “adaptation of the OCP.” This information was relayed to the new council shortly after the election, Phillips added.

The Lil’wat Nation offered to schedule the next meeting, but there has been no response from the municipality, Phillips said.

Wilhelm-Morden was uncertain what communication has taken place with local First Nations leaders since the election in regards to the OCP process, but she said she’s “quite confident” the municipality will be able to address First Nations concerns about the document.

As for possible changes she might personally like to see before the OCP is finalized, Wilhelm-Morden said she feels the latest draft is “quite wordy” and the document needs to be “more user-friendly.” She also said she’s not sure the current draft makes a strong enough statement on the cap on growth Whistler has established.

“It does need some work,” Wilhelm-Morden said. “I think we’ll see some changes to the document before it’s finalized.”
Meanwhile, Steve Anderson, one of the members of the OCP Community Advisory Group, said he’s been wondering whether there has been any progress on the project since the election. He said he would welcome further opportunities for input and revision into the document, as he and other group members had some questions about the most recent draft.

“I was curious about some of the content and the direction it was going,” Anderson said. “My personal opinion was it was getting a bit big.”

According to the whistler2010.com website, which is currently dedicated to the OCP, next steps in the process include continued consultation with First Nations, Provincial agencies and the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District. Input from those consultations will be integrated into the plan.

There will also be a public hearing after second and third readings have passed.