WHAT IS AN OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN (OCP)?

An Official Community Plan (OCP) represents a community’s vision for the future and provides a framework to guide growth and decisions about the use and management of land and resources in the municipality. The OCP describes how and where residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and other types of development will occur. It guides the provision of necessary road, water, sewer, and other infrastructure. It also provides policies concerning environmental, economic, and community health and well-being. The purpose behind an OCP is to encourage local governments to prepare long-range plans dealing with future development of their area and deliberately examine their future growth and their financial ability to handle such growth.