Target passed 13 years early

Vernon has exceeded population growth estimates 13 years ahead of schedule.

The accelerated growth adds urgency to a review of the city's Official Community Plan.

Mayor Victor Cumming says the expected growth rate was about one per cent when the OCP was drafted, which held steady for the first five or six years.

Then, growth increased to about two per cent, or about 900 additional residents a year.

Initial estimates had Vernon hitting 45,000 residents by 2036, but by the end of 2023, the city was already hovering at that number.

Cumming expects the population to continue growing at that two per cent rate for at least the next decade.

The rapid growth will have an impact on city infrastructure, but Cumming says the city is keeping ahead of it.

“We're well ahead of it on the water side, drinking water and irrigation water. Greater Vernon Water has been ahead of that for a long time,” said the mayor.

“We were finding we're hitting the limits of our wastewater treatment, and we knew that three or four years ago, and it takes that long to plan, finance and construct and commission. We've done that, and we've added another 15 years of capacity to our water treatment plant.”

Roads are currently in good shape, says Cumming, but the city is conducting a joint review of its OCP and Master Transportation Plan.

He points to the coming Active Living Centre, additional community parks, more police, and firefirefighters as ways the city is addressing a population outgrowing its services.

Alongside that growth comes more tax increases.

“We will have cost increases related to our new pool and gymnasiums, etc., in the Active Living Centre. So they'll see increases and we'll see how it goes. The denser we can be, the smaller the increase. The more spread out we are, the higher the cost per household.”

Rapid growth has been experienced throughout the Okanagan, but Cumming says in 2011, when the previous OCP was being reviewed, the city expected slower increases.

Creating enough housing to keep pace with new residents has been a challenge To keep up with continued growth, Vernon will need to add at least 450 new units each year.

“We've matched up the last few years, but during COVID we didn't because the growth of construction really settled down. So we had a bit of a dip,” says Cumming.

The city will be seeking public input in the spring on the OCP and transportation reviews.