OCP Review Phase 1 - What We Heard Report Presentation

Public Engagement Process

• Vision and Guiding Principles Survey & Engage View Royal Website (View Royal 2050: Our Future View)
  • January 24, 2025, to February 17, 2025
• Youth Survey (Shoreline Community Middle School)
  • February 21, 2025 to March 2, 2025

Public Engagement Process

• Project Website: 1,185 Views & 687 Visitors
• Social Media
  • Facebook:
    • Views: 10,174
    • Reach: 4,873
    • Interactions: 64
  • Instagram:
    • Reach: 157
    • Likes: 6
    • Shares: 2
  • Bluesky:
    • Likes: 21
    • Shares: 9
    • Comments: 1
• Stakeholder Email: 250+ emails
• Project Video: 409 views
• Pop-ups: 158 people engaged
• Project Poster: 18 (businesses, parks, Town Hall)
• Newspaper Ad (Goldstream Gazette, Feb 12); News Release (Jan 24); View Royal e-Newsletter (Jan ed.)

Overall Themes – Visioning Survey

Question 1: What do you love most about living, working, or playing in View Royal?

1. View Royal parks, trails, and greenspace,
2. Safe and secure neighbourhoods, and
3. Walkable neighbourhoods.

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

1. Parks, open-space, trails (natural areas),
2. Bus stops, and
3. Grocery stores.

Overall Themes – Visioning Survey

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?

1. Preserving and/or expanding View Royal parks, trails and greenspace,
2. Preserving and protecting View Royal’s Natural environment, and
3. Walkable neighbourhoods.

Question 4: What is missing in our community?

1. Commercial services,
2. Town Centre, and
3. Recreational Centres/Areas.

Overall Themes – Visioning Survey

Question 5: What is the biggest challenge View Royal will face between now and 2050?

1. Traffic Congestion,
2. Growth Management, and
3. Housing Needs.

Question 6: Use a single sentence to describe View Royal in 20 years from now, what does your future View Royal look like?

1. Walkable/Bikeable Community,
2. Commercial/Services/Economic Development; and
3. Diverse & Affordable Housing.

Question 7: If you could change one thing about your neighbourhood or View Royal, what would you change?

1. Transportation infrastructure;
2. Sidewalks;
3. Traffic congestion.

Overall Themes – Visioning Survey

Mapping Questions (8, 9, and 10)

Respondents asked to place pins indicating areas they wish to see Preserve (186), Enhance (185), or Change (100); the following areas saw clusters of pins:

• Thetis Lake Regional Park (Preserve)
• Portage Park (Preserve)
• View Royal Park (Preserve)
• Intersection at Island Hwy and Helmcken Rd (Enhance/Change)
• Intersection at Watkiss Way and Helmcken Rd (Enhance/Change)
• Helmcken Rd bridge over Trans Canada Hwy (Enhance/Change)
• Intersection at Island Hwy and Admirals Rd (Enhance/Change)

Overall Themes – Visioning Survey

Demographics

• 88% of respondents live in the Town of View Royal.
• The three neighbourhoods with the highest percentage of respondents are: 23% Harbour (29), 22% Helmcken (28), and 14% Hospital (18).
• 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
• 26% of respondents have moved here within the last five years
• 52% of respondents learned about the survey via social media or the Town’s website

Overall Themes - Youth Survey

Question 1: Tell us about your favourite place in View Royal.

• 11 home, 8 Shoreline Community Middle School and 8 Portage Park.

Question 2: Can you think of something that might be missing to make View Royal better?

• 11 Shopping, 9 restaurants, and 9 parks.

Question 3: Imagine in 20 years, you are the mayor of View Royal, what are some things you would change?

• 9 housing, 9 parks, and 7 restaurants,

Question 4: What types of housing should we have more of in View Royal?

• 43% single-family home (35) and 21% housing co-ops (17).

Overall Themes - Youth Survey

Demographics

• 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.

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.