Land Use

History of the Site

• May 28, 1996 the Council of the day was in the process of rezoning the site from R-1 (residential) to a public use zone.
• August 2, 1996 the Village became the owner of the lands under review.
• Lots 1 and 19 were purchased with funding from the Parkland Acquisition Reserve Bylaw No. 677,1996 and reserved for park purposes by Bylaw 679, 1996.
• On July 30, 2019 Council directed staff to prepare an OCP and Zoning amendment bylaw for the site.
• During the August 2019 Council meeting, staff were authorized to set up public hearing which has not been put in motion.
• During a Committee of the Whole meeting held on September 29, 2020, Council directed staff not to move forward with a public hearing at this time but that a small placemaking and public consultation exercise should proceed and that a summary report be presented to Council for consideration.
• This leads us to today, where we are seeking public input on the use of the lands under review.

Past suggested uses

Upon a review of the files for this site, it seems that the site was once zoned as R-1, prior to Zoning Bylaw 672, 1996. Some of the other suggested past uses of these lands have included discussions on:

• Civic/Community facility
• Public works compound
• Parking Lot
• Multi-purpose recreational

What parts of the site are we looking at?

• 435 Hot Spring Road – Lot 2
• 445 Hot Springs Road – Lot 3
• 455 Hot Springs Road – Lot 4
• 456 Poplar Street – Lot 16
• 446 Poplar Street – Lot 17
• 436 Poplar Street – Lot 18

Please note that Lot 1 and Lot 19 (shown in green) are the two areas that have been purchased with the Village’s Parkland Acquisition Funds. These two Lots are not a part of the placemaking exercise directly, but they do play an indirect role.

Site Attributes

• Highly visible from Hot Springs Road
• Located at the gateway to the downtown commercial core
• Easily serviceable and is accessible from both Miami River Drive and Poplar Street
• Adjacent to a BC Transit covered bus stop

The site is bounded by Hot Springs Road, Walnut Avenue, Popular Street and Miami River Drive. Based upon their function and capacity Hot Springs Road functions as an arterial road, Popular Street and Walnut Avenue function as local roads and Miami River Drive functions as a collector road. Direct access to Hot Springs Road may be restricted, by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Lots 2, 3 and 4 front onto Hot Springs Road and range in size from 637M² to 676M² and Lots 16, 17 and 18 front onto Poplar Street and all three lots are 676M² in size. The site is relatively flat and is currently used as an overflow parking lot area, that has a grass surface. There is a limited volume of various tree types and shrubs dispersed across the site.

Located between Lots 2, 3 and 4 and Lots 16, 17 and 18 is a lane that is approximately 161M (530 ft) long and 6M (20ft) wide.

Public Transit Services

• The Agassiz-Harrison Connector provides services between Agassiz and Harrison Hot Springs. At a connector point located in Agassiz, residents of Harrison Hot Springs can commute into Hope or Chilliwack. This service is provided by BC Transit.
• A privately owned, Harrison Lake Shuttles provides service between Richmond and Harrison Hot Springs.

Official Community Plan Designation and Zoning Information

Upon a review of the Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 864, 2007, the site is currently designated as a Public Use area, and upon a review of Bylaw No. 1115, 2017 the site is zoned Community (P-1)