NEWS

Message from the CAO

Larry

Baran

And it’s already February...

Most everyone knows that I was the CAO in Faro before, and I can honestly say that 2023 Faro is quite different from 2004 Faro. The community is growing, so there is a demand for housing. There is a demand for more residen al lots. There is a demand for more commercial property. There are regular inquiries about industrial land, so I’m working with YG Lands Branch to bring more parcels to market. Council also wants to see both vacant residen al and commercial property on the market before summer.

I learned years ago that a community is a living, breathing organism that is either growing or dying. There is no middle ground. Many of us have been bi ng our tongues about the underground infrastructure work taking place in Faro, but that work is a posi ve indicator to business and investors that this community is preparing to be here for another 50 years.

Some people may be nervous about Faro growing again. While Mayor & Council don’t foresee Faro having a popula on of 2,500 people any me soon, they are preparing for a popula on of 600 or 700 in the next 5 to 10 years.

Official Community Plan Retreat

Remember: Growth is healthy. Children and young families are a posi ve sign for any community I’ve worked in a few NWT Northern communi es where the communi es offered no future for their youth, so their youth stayed long enough to get their local educa on, then moved out, never to return and live there again. Faro needs to look at ensuring that there is a future for families here or suffer the same fate. As a resident of Haines, Alaska once told me, “Sure, it’s beau ful here, but you can’t live on sunsets. We need jobs for our kids.”

Last Fall, Mayor & Council started a process to review and update Faro’s Official Community Plan (OCP). That document, coupled with a review of the Zoning Bylaw, will determine where and how Faro will grow in the future. The last OCP review was completed in 2013 ten years ago. This new OCP should be completed this coming summer and, as I men oned earlier, much has happened in Faro in just the last few years. The old plans from 2013 do not reflect what is happening now. Mayor & Council will need the par cipa on of the community in developing the plans for the coming years. I know that there will be more community engagement ini a ves in the coming months, so I hope that everyone will take the opportunity to provide your comments and input at those mee ngs.

At the same me that the community residents have been consulted about what the residents would like to see in the new Official Community Plan (OCP), Mayor & Council have also needed an opportunity to provide their own comments and concerns. So, on Saturday, February 4, Mayor, Council, and the CAO gathered with the consultants for a full-day session to discuss what they wanted to see Faro look like in 10 years from now in 2033.

Interes ngly, most of the discussions focused not on where to put the developments (residen al, commercial, and industrial lots), but how to encourage and support community growth over the longterm. So, yes, Council will be preparing to bring some commercial lots to market this summer, but this year more emphasis will be placed on economic development, tourism, and suppor ng private enterprise in the community. There will be more community consulta on in the coming months with the intent of having an Official Community Plan completed by late summer. If you have not already spoken with the Team from Elevator Yukon, make sure you take a few minutes to speak with the when there are in Faro in the Spring.