Essex residents had an opportunity Wednesday night to learn more about the town's draft Official Plan and provide feedback on what they'd like to see in the future.
The Town of Essex held the second of three public open house events last night, where officials invited residents to review and provide input on the plan.
The first open house was held on August 28 in Colchester, which was more focused on the Colchester Secondary Plan.
Officials say these drop-in style open house events are a great opportunity for members of the community to engage with the planning process and contribute to the future development of Essex.
The Official Plan is a long-range planning document containing goals, objectives, and policies to guide land use, development and growth in the Town.
It was originally adopted in 2009, and updated in 2015, and is required to be reviewed and updated regularly under the Planning Act to ensure it is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement and conforms with the County of Essex's Official Plan.
Director of Developer Services Lori Chadwick says it's important to get the community actively involved in the process and informing residents of some of the policies that are being proposed.
"Being able to look at maybe some new land use designations that set the tone for the vision for the next 25 years. We've already been at this for about a month, we've got another month to go, and we could extend the consultation period a little bit longer. We would like to hear from the community what do you like and what is it that you would like us to reconsider or maybe revise," she said.
Chadwick says they have to work through and be consistent with mandates through the County of Essex and provincial legislation as well, so they have to balance the needs of the community with what binds them legislatively.
How the process works is administration will receive the public comments, the comments are gathered, officials look for common themes, and then everything that's been put together would be presented to council.
"What we are toying with at the moment is presenting council in the form of either a public meeting or an information meeting before we ask for adoption of the Official Plan or Colchester Secondary Plan. We want to inform council of what the proposed revisions are going to be as a result of direct consultation with the public."
She says through the two meetings so far they've been receiving some great feedback from the public, and they're happy with how the process has played out thus far.
"Lots of questions and really curiosity behind what does a policy mean, and these are the questions we want them to ask as residents and landowners in our community. As well as people saying 'hey we'd like you to consider this' because of potentially things that we didn't think of," Chadwick said.
Anyone who is interested in learning more but wasn't able to attend on Wednesday can find the information online, and also submit written comments on the plan by Monday, September 30, 2024 by filling out the online feedback form.
The third open house being put on by the Town of Essex will be held in Harrow at the arena on Wednesday, September 11 between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.