Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

THE SHORE

City of Kamloops seeking public input on North Shore Neighbourhood Plan

Jul 10, 2020 | 5:22 PM

KAMLOOPS — Home to more than 26,000 residents and accounting for roughly 27 per cent of the city’s population, the North Shore neighbourhood in Kamloops is a vast tract of land.

“So the North Shore neighbourhood basically goes from the Overlanders Bridge to the Halston, all the way through to the farthest west, taking in the [Kamloops] Golf and Country Club,” North Shore Business Improvement Association (NSBIA) Executive Director Jeremy Heighton explains.

The City of Kamloops is seeking input from residents about how they’d like to see the area grow.

“We have a three-phase process,” Jason Locke, with the City of Kamloops, tells CFJC Today. “The first phase is going out to the community and asking, ‘What is your vision for the North Shore? What are the key issues and opportunities we should address in this plan? And what are the key pinch points?’ A lot of change has happened on the North Shore since 2008 in terms of population growth and new development, and there’s a lot of really good energy. We want to build on that energy.”

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The plan was last updated in 2008, so the city felt the time was right to revisit the document. The purpose of the plan is to look at future land use in the area and address the needs of current and future residents in the neighbourhood.

“The North Shore Neighbourhood Plan is about setting the stage for future growth and future development,” Heighton says. “It’s about looking at zoning and taxation; opportunities to look at development possibilities. It’s about infrastructure and social development. It really is a guiding document about how we move forward as a community over the next ten years.”

On their Let’s Talk website, the City has posted a survey meant for residents, which will be up until the end of September. The data gathered from the online survey will help guide Locke and the rest of the planning department in their next steps as they continue to engage with the public.

“It’s important that we hear from the community because we want to know what their vision is for the North Shore,” Locke says. “Where would they like to see more housing, shops, restaurants, parks and open spaces, recreation opportunities?”

Heighton agrees that citizens need to speak up to help shape the North Shore neighbourhood for several years.

“At the end of the day, it has to be a community plan that drives community needs and helps the North Shore become as vibrant and dynamic as it possibly can,” Heighton says. “That requires our residents to show up and tell us what they really want.”

If you’d like to take the survey or get more information about the plan and the community engagement process, you can visit the city’s Let’s Talk website.