Beyond the Maple Ridge 2006 OCP

Some Post-OCP Thoughts

1. Discontinue expansion of urban envelope
2. Disallow any further applications for exclusion from ALR for any purpose whatsoever
3. Allow the inventory of single family, small-lot residential homes to dry up in order to reduce availability of homes in Maple Ridge and slow down if not reverse population growth. Do not accept the notion that Maple Ridge is to become a receptacle for future population overflows in the GVRD (one could expand this theory to the province generally, though not to Canada as Canada generally is in desperate need of population through immigration programs)
4. Encourage the restoration of character housing in areas such as Hammond
5. Consider even the prospect of rezoning certain residential neighbourhoods to business districts or at least allow businesses operate in amongst residential areas
6. Encourage local food stores buy from local producers
7. Discourage through traffic by tightening roadways
8. Create a ‘central station’ as a hub for buses, light rail and shared rides
9. Reduce commercial sites and business parks to brownfield locations such as old mill sites or redevelop existing industrial parks
10. Scrap the North Connector scheme
11. Allow for a handful of high rise office towers (mixed office/residential) in the Maple Meadows station area
12. Allow for the liquidation world site to become a pseudo Newport Village and include moderate office space
13. Relocate the Caring Place to where its negative impacts don’t outweigh its positive impact (uncaring though it may sound I firmly believe that the decision to establish the Caring Place where it currently sits was the worst decision ever made by the District and that the serious impact it had on regenerating the downtown has cost the District dearly in terms of what it now has to spend in order to deal with the results)
14. Focus the District’s energies on culture and the arts, education, sports and recreation
15. Let Maple Ridge be the only town in the Fraser Valley to turn its back on past planning practices