The Sustainable Official Community Plan (SOCP) is our City’s roadmap towards a more sustainable future over the next 15 to 20 years. The SOCP identifies specific development permit areas to achieve design, environmental, and safety goals. Each Development Permit Area outlines the objectives that justify designation of a Development Permit Area and specifies guidelines for how these objectives must be addressed.

Please review the Sustainable Official Community Plan for maps showing the Development Permit Areas and for Development Permit Area Guidelines.

Development Permit Areas

The City of Powell River has designated the following Development Permit Areas:

1. Form and Character Development Permit Areas for:

Multi-family residential
Uptown mixed-use area
Marine/Willingdon mixed-use area
Townsite Centre mixed-use area
Cranberry Lake mixed-use area
Other commercial areas
Employment areas
Carriage houses
Intensive residential development (residential small lots)
Townsite residential

2. Protection of the natural environment for freshwater riparian areas.

Exemptions

Under the Local Government Act, certain types of development within designated Development Permit Areas may be exempted from development permit requirements. Specific exemption criteria are listed in each set of Development Permit Area Guidelines.

Exemptions for all Development Permit Areas include:

Internal alterations that do not affect the exterior appearance of a building.
Construction of an addition or detached accessory structure of less than 10 square metres (except for Development Permit Area 8).
Replacement or repair of cladding, roofing, doors, windows, or building trim with similar materials.
Painting or minor repairs of a building.