TOWNSHIP OF ESQUIMALT STAFF REPORT
MEETING DATE: December 8, 2025 Report No. DEV-25-062
TO: Committee of the Whole
FROM: Bill Brown, Director of Development Services
SUBJECT: Impact Assessment - Major Review of the Official Community Plan
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That the Committee of the Whole recommends to Council that staff be directed to initiate a major review of the Official Community Plan based on the Impact Assessment attached as Schedule "A" to staff report DEV-25-062, subject to funding approvals in the 2026 budget process.
Body
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Council's 2023-2026 Priority Plan includes a project to prepare a "project scope document" for the "Official Community Plan Major Review". There has not been a major review of Esquimalt's Official Community Plan for almost 20 years. Between 2015-2018 Council did a major recalibration, however, there were no significant changes to heights and densities for lands designated Commercial/Commercial Mixed-Use, or High Density Residential. In 2025 Council updated the Official Community Plan to bring it into conformity with recent amendments to the Local Government Act. In addition, there were new policies and guidelines related to small scale multi-unit dwellings added along with updates to statistical data based on the 2021 Federal Census as well as significant editing of various design guidelines. Details of all the amendments made in the 2025 recalibration can be found in Staff Report DEV-25-060 and its attachments (from December 1, 2025). Notwithstanding these two recalibrations, the Township and the many factors that govern planning in Esquimalt have changed significantly over the past 20 years, warranting a major review of the Plan.
BACKGROUND:
Council's 2023-2026 Priority Plan includes a project to prepare a "project scope document" for the "Official Community Plan Major Review". The attached "Impact Assessment" (Appendix "A") contains a broad-based scope of the project along wit...
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