Salmo Residents Invited to Provide Input on Action Plan
Selkirk College second-year Integrated Environmental Planning (IEP) Program students will hold a public open house to present their Salmo Livable Village Action Plans. The event will be held on Monday March 12, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Salmo Valley Youth and Community Centre (206 Seventh Street). The meeting is an opportunity for citizens to familiarize themselves with the draft plans and provide valuable input.
Topics to be featured on the evening will include: public spaces, natural assets, Erie Creek, downtown residential infill, main street design strategies, village art and cultural garden, dog relief area and alley site plan, downtown design and revitalization, village benches walk, historic preservation, trails and pedestrian connections, complete streets, village gateway, EV charging, tourism capture, storm water management, aquifer protection, and biomass energy systems.
These plans are being prepared by 16 students in Selkirk College’s IEP Program. They are being prepared on a pro bono basis for the Village of Salmo. The plans are intended to help Salmo further some of the many goals and initiatives identified in their Draft Sustainable Salmo Official Community Plan.
Proven Record of Assisting Kootenay Communities
The students have been working under the supervision and leadership of Selkirk College IEP instructor Peter Holton (MCIP, AICP) in association with the Village of Salmo. The involvement of Salmo citizens, relevant government agencies, businesses, and non-governmental organizations has been actively solicited throughout the planning process with direction from the City. The March 12 open house is part of that strategy.
Selkirk College’s Integrated Environmental Planning Program students have a 16-year history of preparing pro bono plans for a variety of agency and interest group clients throughout the West Kootenay. Previous planning efforts and their associated clients include:
- Selkirk College Land Use Plans – Selkirk College Grounds Committee
- Brilliant Flats and Terraces Land Use Plans – RDCK
- Cottonwood Creek Protection Plan – Friends of Cottonwood Creek
- Rossland Trails and Laneways Plan - City of Rossland
- Rossland Sustainability and OCP Plan Implementation - City of Rossland
- Castlegar OCP Implementation Plan (two years) - City of Castlegar
- City of Nelson OCP Implementation Plan - City of Nelson
- Lower Columbia Corridor Plan (two years) - Lower Columbia Community Development Team
- RDCK Integrated Sustainability Support Plans - Regional District Central Kootenay
- Kootenay Lake Partnership Stewardship Plans – Kootenay Lake Partnership
- Village of Slocan OCP Implementation Plans – Village of Slocan
- Lower Columbia Action Plans 2015 - Lower Columbia Community Development Team Society
Salmo’s various plans and studies have identified numerous areas for future study, research, plan development, and implementation. The purpose of the Livable Village Action Plans is to aid in this process. During the plan preparation processes, Selkirk College Integrated Environmental Planning students are:
- Compiling existing data on each selected topic in order to define the relevant issues and guide the development of a focus plan;
- Gathering information, input and ideas from the public, agencies, residents, landowners, businesses, and elected and appointed officials;
- Developing a set of planning goals and objectives for each individual topic;
- Researching how other entities and jurisdictions address similar issues throughout North America and document technologies and practices appropriate for Nelson;
- Outlining discrete action steps that can be taken to address issues and identify the parties that would be responsible for each action step;
- Providing order of magnitude cost estimates.
Final plans will be completed in April and presented to the Village of Salmo later this spring.
For more information, please contact Peter Holton at pholton@selkirk.ca or 250.354.3559.