COUNCIL REPORT: OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN REVIEW, VISION AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES SURVEY – WHAT WE HEARD REPORT

OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN REVIEW, VISION AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES SURVEY – WHAT WE HEARD REPORT

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Senior Planner’s March 25, 2025, report titled “Official Community Plan Review, Vision and Guiding Principles Survey – What We Heard Report” be received.

PURPOSE:

This report is to present Council with a summary of “what we heard” from the online Vision and Guiding Principles Survey that launched on January 24, 2025, and closed on February 18, 2025 and the Youth Survey which ran from February 21, 2025 to March 2, 2025.

BACKGROUND:

On January 24, 2025, the Town launched its Official Community Plan (OCP) review and update, “View Royal 2050: Our Future View”. As part of this project launch, the Town also published its Vision and Guiding Principles Survey, and its project webpage Engage View Royal¹.

The project is being completed in three phases and is expected to be completed in 2027/2028. The project is currently in Phase 1, the focus of which is to review the vision statement and goals, housing policy, land use designations, and special planning areas. Phase 1 must be completed by December 31, 2025, in compliance with the provincial housing legislation. Phase 1 will include four engagement touchpoints, the first of which focuses on reviewing the existing vision.

The vision is a statement and collection of goals, values, needs and wants for the future. Reviewing the vision is an important first step in updating the OCP as it sets clear direction for how the community envisions its future.

The project team shared a draft Vision and Guiding Principles Survey with the OCP Review Advisory Committee at its January 13, 2025 meeting and with Council during its January 21, 2025 meeting. Both the Committee and Council had opportunity to provide feedback and suggested edits prior to survey publication on January 24.

To raise awareness and encourage participation in the survey, staff conducted six pop-up events during the period the survey was open (January 24 – February 18) as summarized below:

In addition to the pop-ups, the Town utilized a wide range of engagement tools, both online and in-person, to facilitate interest and participation in the survey:

• Town’s official website;
• the project webpage (engage.viewroyal.ca/view-royal-2050);
• social media;
• “Inside View Royal” monthly e-newsletter;
• stakeholder emails;
• posters;
• newspaper ad;
• news release; and
• project video.

A comprehensive analysis of the engagement completed is available for review in the introduction of the What We Heard Report, attached to this staff report (see Attachment 1).

ANALYSIS:

Vision and Guiding Principles Survey

The Vision and Guiding Principles Survey consisted of 18 questions, 10 of which were focused on the vision and guiding principles and included both open-ended (qualitative) and close-ended (quantitative) questions. The survey was open to anyone that lives, works, or plays in View Royal. All questions were voluntary, and personal information was not collected that could be used to identify an individual. The survey also asked respondents to provide some general information about themselves so that the project team could better understand who was filling out the surveys. For example, the survey asked which neighbourhood respondents lived in, whether they owned or rented, and their age. This information is important to understand, as it can help to identify potential gaps in the engagement.

Overall Themes

Section 1 – Demographics: Who are we hearing from?

The following is a summary of the voluntary information that was provided by respondents in the ‘tell us about yourself’ section of the survey.

• 88% of respondents live in View Royal;
• The neighbourhoods with the highest percentage of respondents are Harbour (23%), Helmcken (22%), and Hospital (14%);
• 65% of respondents live in a single-detached house;
• 83% of respondents own the home they live in;
• 31% of respondents were between the ages of 35 to 44 years old;
• 29% of respondents identified as being a caregiver for children;
• 26% of respondents identified as having moved to View Royal within the last five years;
• 21% of respondents identified as being born outside of Canada;

Respondents also indicated how they heard about the survey:

• 38% of respondents said they learned about the survey by social media;
• 22% said they learned by ‘other’ methods, with the majority saying they learned about the initiative from their children’s school;
• 17% of respondents learned about the project through the Town’s website; and
• 15% of respondents learned about the project by word-of-mouth.

Section 2 – Topics of Interest

The following is a snapshot of the overall themes identified through the Vision and Guiding Principles Survey.

Question 1: What do you love most about living, working, or playing in View Royal? The top five responses are:

1. View Royal parks, trails, and greenspace;
2. Safe and secure neighbourhoods;
3. Walkable neighbourhoods;
4. Actions to preserve and protect View Royal’s natural environment; and
5. Safe and sustainable transportation choices.

Question 2: What are the most important things to have within walking distance (10 min) from your home? The top five responses are:

1. Parks, open space, and trails(natural areas);
2. Bus stops;
3. Grocery stores;
4. Playgrounds; and
5. Schools.

Question 3: What are the most important aspects of ensuring that View Royal is a great place to live, work, and play in the next 20 years? The top five responses are:

1. Preserving and/or expanding View Royal parks, trails, and greenspace;
2. Preserving and protecting View Royal’s natural environment;
3. Walkable neighbourhoods;
4. Safe and secure neighbourhoods; and
5. Diverse and affordable housing options.

Question 4: What is missing in our community? The top five responses are:

1. Commercial services;
2. A Town centre;
3. Recreational Centres/Areas;
4. Diverse and Affordable Housing; and
5. Meeting places.

Question 5: What is the biggest challenge View Royal will face between now and 2050? The top five responses are:

1. Traffic congestion;
2. Growth management;
3. Housing needs;
4. Population growth; and
5. Climate change.

Question 6: Use a single sentence to describe View Royal 20 years from now, what does your future View Royal look like? The top five responses are:

1. Walkable/Bikeable community;
2. Commercial/Services/Economic Development;
3. Diverse and affordable housing;
4. Green space; and
5. Strong sense of identity/community.

Question 7: If you could change one thing about your neighbourhood or View Royal, what would you change? The top five themes identified are:

1. Transportation infrastructure;
2. Sidewalks;
3. Traffic congestion;
4. Walkable/bikeable community; and
5. Better traffic flow.

Questions 8, 9, and 10 asked participants to place pins and leave a comment on a map of View Royal, identifying features or areas they would like to see preserved, enhanced, and changed.

The top themes that emerged from these maps are outlined below with respondents providing the following feedback:

• there is a strong desire to preserve Thetis Lake Regional Park, Portage Park, and View Royal Park, and that these parks remain protected as a local green space and recreation area;
• there is interest in the Island Highway and Helmcken Road intersection to see additional services, as it is believed to be underutilized, suggestions included grocery store or a café at this location; and
• there is concern that the Watkiss Way and Helmcken Road and the Admirals Road and Island Highway, and the Helmcken Road and TransCanada Highway intersections are not safe for pedestrians and cyclists and action needs to be taken.

Youth Survey

In addition to the main Vision and Guiding Principles Survey, the project team also coordinated with Shoreline Community Middle School to complete a Youth Survey, which was available online via the project webpage and was open between February 21 and March 2. A total of 86 surveys were completed; those that participated were in grades 6-8 (ages 10 to 14). A summary of the overall themes from the survey are presented below. A comprehensive summary of all comments is available for review in Attachment 1.

Section 1 – Overall Themes

• The top three favourite places for youth in View Royal are: home (11), Shoreline Community Middle School (8) and Portage Park (8).
• The top three responses provided for what respondents thought was missing from View Royal are: Shopping (11), restaurants (9), and parks (9).
• The top three responses provided for what respondents would like to change in View Royal are: housing (9), parks (9), and restaurants (7),
• The top three housing types that respondents thought there should be more of are: single-family homes (35), housing co-ops (17), and apartment buildings (12).
• 61% of respondents live in View Royal.
• 24% of respondents live in the Craigflower neighbourhood, and 19% in the Helmcken neighbourhood.
• 62% of respondents live in a single-family home.

Section 2 – Topics of Interest

The following is a snapshot of the overall themes identified through the Youth Survey:

Question 1: Let’s start by getting to know what makes View Royal special to you! Tell us about your favourite place in View Royal. The five themes identified are:

• Home (11)
• Shoreline Middle School (8)
• Portage Park (7)
• Parks (7)
• Thetis Lake (7)

Question 2: Now that you have written about your favourite place in View Royal, can you think of something that might be missing to make it even better? The five themes are:

• Shopping (11)
• Restaurants (9)
• Parks (9)
• Playgrounds (8)
• Recreation Centre (6)

Question 3: Now imagine that you are 20 years older than you are now and you are about to become the Mayor of View Royal. You have some big decisions to make! As Mayor, what are some things you would change about View Royal? The five themes are:

• Housing (9)
• Parks (9)
• Restaurants (7)
• Shopping (7)
• School improvements (6)

Staff have shared the feedback collected through the surveys with the consultant, Urban Systems, so that they may review and provide suggested edits to revise and enhance the existing vision statement and guiding principles (goals). This will ensure the 20-year vision aligns with how people see View Royal changing over the next 20 years.

Impacts and implications can be summarized as follows:

Community Impact: Engagement during an OCP review and update provides an opportunity for the public to be involved in a critical municipal policy and land use decision making process.

Financial Implication: The survey was within the project scope and budget.

Inter-governmental Relations Impact: The Town is expected to complete required inter-governmental referrals to neighbouring municipalities and provincial ministries as the project advances further.

ALIGNMENT:

The recommended option aligns with the Town’s following core guiding documents as follows:

Strategic Plan:

• Enhance Liveability
  • Goal 5: Build strong relationships and engagement through community events and celebrations
• Community Engagement and Good Governance
  • Goal 1: Strong and active citizen participation in community engagement in Town of View Royal meetings, open houses, surveys, budget development

Official Community Plan: Community Vision and OCP Framework, Goal 9:

Ensure that all citizens of View Royal have opportunities to be informed and meaningfully involved in planning and decision-making processes.

Other Policy Documents: N/A

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION GOAL:

The desired level of public participation for the recommended option is:

[x] Inform [ ] Consult [ ] Involve [ ] Collaborate [ ] Empower
[ ] N/A

TIME CRITICAL:

The review of the themes and comprehensive feedback provided in the surveys is not time sensitive, but it does inform Council of the community sentiment and feedback on the vision and guiding principles. Staff will be presenting a draft vision for Council’s consideration in the Spring.

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Official Community Plan What We Heard Report – Vision and Guiding Principles Survey, January – February 2025

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¹ https://engage.viewroyal.ca/view-royal-2050