Members of Official Community Plan Community Advisory Group announced

May 21, 2010 ... The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) announced today members of the Community Advisory Group, whose mandate will be provide input in the update of Whistler’s Official Community Plan (OCP)..

The 20-person OCP Community Advisory Group will advise RMOW staff and ensure alignment with Whistler2020, Whistler’s comprehensive sustainability plan. It is comprised of four members appointed by council, along with representatives from each of the Whistler 2020 community task forces and one youth representative.

At its council meeting on May 18, RMOW Council appointed Duane Hepditch, Brent Harley, Johnny Mikes and Steve Anderson after an application process with more than 20 applicants.

Applicants not chosen to fill the four community seats will be contacted by RMOW staff and given other opportunities to engage in the OCP update process. There will be several opportunities for community input throughout the process.

The OCP Community Advisory Group

Whistler2020 community task force representatives:

• Arts, Culture & Heritage – Doti Niedermeyer
• Built Environment – Rod Nadeau
• Economic –TBD
• Energy – Nomination to be confirmed
• Food – Kari Mancer
• Health & Social – Greg McDonnell
• Learning – Andree Janyk
• Materials & Solid Waste – Sue Maxwell
• Natural Areas – Tina Symko
• Recreation & Leisure – Chelsea Walker
• Resident Affordability – Tanya Ewasiuk Goertzen
• Resident Housing – Dave Kirk
• Transportation – Scott Pass
• Visitor Experience – Donna Savage
• Water – Nomination to be confirmed

Community members:

• Steve Anderson
• Brent Harley
• Duane Hepditch
• Johnny Mikes

Youth Advisory Group representative:

• Ali Calladine

The Economic, Water and Energy Whistler 2020 Task Forces are currently confirming nominees. The OCP Community Advisory Group will meet four times over the next year for four hours.

The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) is launching the OCP update with a community event, Après in Action, on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 7 p.m. at the Whistler Conference Centre. The OCP kick-off will offer opportunities for residents to participate in important discussions about Whistler’s future

About the OCP

The OCP is a provincially-mandated regulatory document and set of high-level plans and policies, such as land use designations that guide land use planning, social, economic, and environmental policies, and civic infrastructure investments.

Whistler’s OCP was last comprehensively updated in 1993, although amendments to the document have been made continually, and a vast amount of functional policy has been developed over the last 17 years.

The OCP doesn’t replace Whistler 2020, Whistler’s comprehensive sustainability plan and vision; Whistler 2020 is Whistler’s highest-level policy and guide for the OCP update, and the OCP provides an important tool and a regulatory framework for its implementation. The OCP update will allow Whistler to answer important questions about its future, as it moves forward post-Games.

About the Resort Municipality of Whistler

The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) is Whistler’s local government led by an elected council and administered by an executive team and staff on behalf of 10,000 residents and two million annual visitors. The RMOW manages municipal planning and development, park and Village operations, sports facilities and recreation, public utilities and environmental services, bylaws and enforcement, fire rescue, fiscal planning and financial services, legislative services, human resources, communications and the administration of the Whistler2020 Comprehensive Sustainability Plan and Whistler’s Official Community Plan.

Whistler’s vision is to be the premier mountain resort community as it moves toward sustainability. Whistler was the proud Host Mountain Resort for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.