Community Planning

About Community Planning

Community planning is the City’s process to engage with the public and other organizations in order to establish a vision, goal, and policies for achieving social, economic and environmental sustainability. Community planning efforts by the City also include research and implementation of policies relating to land use, economic development, social development, housing, parks, environmental protection, and other important matters directly related to a community’s health and well-being.

Typically referred to as “long range planning,” community planning can be undertaken using the approaches outlined in the Local Government Act. Community planning also involves a variety of non-legislative planning methods that involve multiple departments, including major capital projects (e.g. the Johnston Road ‘Gateway’ Streetscape project) and demographic analysis.

Community planning is vital to the development planning process. Community planning provides the “birds-eye” view to the “ground-level” technical review of development proposals - in other words, all development proposals are reviewed to see how they fit within the City’s community and neighborhood plans and policies.

From City to Curb: Community Planning in the City of White Rock

The key document that guides decisions on planning and land use management in the City is the White Rock Official Community Plan, 2017, No. 2220 (OCP). 

Created through a two year long process of community consultation and technical review (the 'Imagine White Rock OCP planning process'), the new OCP includes goals, objectives, and policies that are essential to land use, including housing, infrastructure, and the reduction of greenhouse gases. Other policy areas, such as environmental protection and social well-being, are incorporated into the OCP to further supplement the community’s decision-making processes. 

Click here to learn more about the now-complete Imagine White Rock 2045 OCP Planning process! 

Beyond the scope of city-wide community planning, there are also a number of other policy plans specific to other neighbourhoods in the City of White Rock. Check out our page on the Town Centre Urban Design Plan and Guidelines to learn more about the City's exciting urban design-oriented future for the Town Centre Area.

What's Going On? 

Exciting things are happening in the City of White Rock. Feel free to check out some of our latest community planning projects below: