What is Sustainability? Our Social & Economic Development Plans

Designating a large portion of park land and blending into the landscape are only part of OCEANWEST’s approach to creating a sustainable community. Read on to find out how OCEANWEST is building a sustainable community in Ucluelet.

What is sustainability?

Sustainable development seeks to achieve continuing economic prosperity while protecting the natural systems of the planet and providing a high quality of life for its people. The approach includes three factors: planning/development, economic impacts and social impacts.

Sustainability helps relieve poverty. It creates equitable standards of living. It satisfies the needs of all people. It produces sustainable economic growth. And it reconciles development with the regenerative capacity of the natural environment.

Planning/Development

• Add new parks and trails – OCEANWEST is providing a minimum of 48 acres of parks and trails. This will include a major upgrade to the current Wild Pacific Trail system and result in a total of approximately 7 km (4 mi) of looped trails on the site. These loops will lead to a variety of West Coast experiences – crashing surf, pocket beaches and spectacular old-growth forest.
• Protect riparian areas – OCEANWEST is protecting onsite streams, oceanfront and other riparian areas with setbacks that mostly go above and beyond the required minimums.
• Provide mix of housing – OCEANWEST is providing housing that will meet a great variety of needs. It is mostly aimed at local residents but also will allow for vacation use. It ranges from affordable and employee housing and small single-family lots to magnificent waterfront estates larger than an acre.

Economic

• Create jobs – OCEANWEST will create an estimated 300+ direct jobs onsite at full build-out, mostly in the three hotel sites, with many more spin-off jobs within the community. During the lengthy construction phase (7-10 years), the site will provide many additional jobs.
• Provide income opportunities – OCEANWEST’s plan, as with all other housing in Ucluelet, gives residences the capability to operate B&B rooms or have long-term suite rentals. In addition, OCEANWEST’s zoning has many sites that allow daily suite rentals to tourists, or allow for guest house use. They can provide income or mortgage-helpers for owners and also create jobs. The development’s commercial/retail space will also provide additional income opportunities.

Social

• Donate cash for community centre – OCEANWEST donated $2.3 million toward Ucluelet’s proposed community centre.
• Donate cash to Ucluelet – OCEANWEST donated an additional $220,000 to a variety of other causes in town, including the Child Care Society, Westcoast Community Resources Society (affordable housing initiative), facilities for a new multi-purpose sports field, a new highway rescue vehicle, and bursaries for post-secondary forestry studies.
• Donate land to Ucluelet – OCEANWEST has agreed to donate 10 acres of land to the District of Ucluelet for community amenity use. This could be for a fire station, library, swimming pool, school or whatever community use the district chooses. Alternatively, five years after taking title to this land the district may sell it and use the proceeds for community amenities elsewhere in town.
• Provide employee housing – OCEANWEST’s plan commits that hotel operators must provide one employee housing unit for every 6.66 hotel units built.
• Provide affordable housing – OCEANWEST’s plan commits approximately seven acres of land for affordable housing. It also ensures that affordable housing is built at least at a ratio of one affordable housing unit for every five units of market multi-family housing or resort condominiums that are built.
• Give locals purchasing priority – OCEANWEST’s plan commits that all single-family lots 7,000 square feet or less are offered for sale exclusively to local residents for 60 days before they are available to the public.