Official Community Plan

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Equity-priority group(s) These are people who often face discrimination or other forms of systemic disadvantage. They include but are not necessarily limited to persons of colour, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, 2SLGBTQIAP individuals, and women. Food security Food security includes at a minimum the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and as an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways. Full cost accounting Method of accounting that recognizes the indirect and direct economic, environmental, health, and social costs of a project, policy, or action. Green infrastructure Broadly defined as a strategically planned network of high quality natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features, which is designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services and protect biodiversity in both rural and urban settings. More specifically green infrastructure, being a spatial structure providing benefits from nature to people, aims to enhance nature’s ability to deliver multiple valuable ecosystem goods and services, such as clean air or water. Ground-oriented building A type of building in which each dwelling unit has a direct entrance at street/ground level. They can include single-detached houses and detached secondary suites, duplexes, triplexes, rowhouses, and townhouses. ICI buildings and land uses Refers to buildings and land uses that are Industrial, Commercial, or Institutional. IPCC This is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations governmental body responsible for advancing knowledge on human induced climate change.

Information Area is the designated area for which Development Approval Information is required, as per Section 485 of the Local Government Act. Density bonusing Is a zoning tool that allows developers to build additional density or floor area in exchange for community amenities. This is permitted under Section 482 under the Local Government Act. assets such as lakes, rivers, wetlands, aquifers, mountains, forests, riparian areas, estuaries, and salt marshes. These features have considerable economic value and provide goods and services (ecosystem services) such as water purification, soil stabilization and fertility, food production, and recreation. They are also critically important to responding to mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change. Ecosystem connectivity opportunity areas Ecological connectivity is the unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on earth. The role of ecological connectivity has become increasingly important in the past decades due to habitat modifications, such as overexploitation and fragmentation, that have led to the consequent decline of biodiversity. Ecological connectivity opportunity areas were identified through Courtenay through the Urban Forest Strategy study and are shown on the Terrestrial Environmentally Sensitive Areas Map APX-6 in Appendix 2 – Maps. Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) Those parcels of land that already have, or with restoration or enhancement could become, natural features. These features contribute to the retention and/or creation of wildlife habitat, soil stability, water retention or recharge, vegetative cover and similar vital ecological functions. Environmentally Sensitive Areas range in size from small patches to extensive landscape features. They can include rare or common habitats, plants and animals. Environmentally Sensitive Areas may overlap hazardous condition areas. Ecological or Natural Assets and Ecosystem Services Ecological assets (eco-assets) are natural

City of Courtenay Official Community Plan