Neighbourhood Planning
Chilliwack has many distinct neighbourhoods, which generally fall into three categories according to their shared characteristics: urban, hillside, and rural.
A Neighbourhood Plan (NP) is a tool to help residents and the City identify a specific vision for a given neighbourhood, prioritize neighbourhood goals and identify options for achieving them, and convey the types of projects a local community supports. It also helps Council understand how residents want their neighbourhood to develop over time. New NPs and related studies identified in the Official Community Plan (OCP) will be developed with neighbourhood input, as part of OCP implementation.
NPs were reviewed as part of the 2050 OCP, looking at land uses, design objectives, and neighbourhood policy.
Land uses: The 2050 OCP revised land use designations across the city, including all local neighbourhood plans. The land uses in the NPs have been incorporated into city-wide land use designations from the OCP.
Design objectives: The 2050 OCP includes updated development permit guidelines for form and character of building, and design statements in the NPs have been incorporated into the city-wide design guidelines of the OCP.
Neighbourhood policies: Policies in the NPs that apply city-wide were relocated to the 2050 OCP, while neighbourhood perspectives and objectives underlying those policies remain in the NP.
First Nations Communities
The City of Chilliwack is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Stó:lo Coast Salish peoples. More than ten First Nations are part of the community and share borders with the City of Chilliwack. The Official Community Plan sets a path for working in good relationship with local First Nations: Xwchíyò:m (Cheam), Kwaw’Kwaw’Apilt (Kwaw-kwaw-a-pilt), Sqwá (Skwah), Athelets (Aitchelitz), Sq’ewqéyl (Skowkale), Shxwhá:y Village (Skway Village), Th’ewá:li (Soowahlie), Sxwoyehálá (Squiala), Ch’íyáqtel (Tzeachten), and Yeqwyeqwí:ws (Yakweakwioose).
Urban Neighbourhoods
As nearly 70% of land in Chilliwack is in the Agricultural Land Reserve and not available for development, the City’s growth management strategy in the Official Community Plan (OCP) primarily focuses on the redevelopment, renovation, and densification of existing urban areas within the urban growth boundary where a diverse range of services and amenities already exist.
- Chilliwack Proper & Fairfield Island Neighbourhoods Plan
- Downtown Neighbourhood Plan
- Sardis Neighbourhood Plan
- South Vedder Neighbourhood Plan
Hillside Neighbourhoods
The City's growth management strategy directs selective growth to designated hillside areas that are supported by municipal services within the development area set by the OCP.
Rural Neighbourhoods
The City's growth management strategy limits growth in rural settlements through retaining the existing rural settlement boundaries.