Maple Ridge’s population isn’t growing as fast as expected, with the population to only reach 118,000 by 2041.
Previous projections pegged the population by 132,000 by then.
That’s a difference of 14,000, council heard last week as it ensured its long-term plan fit with Metro Vancouver’s.
The new numbers are based on statistics from the 2011 census, the first to be done using the short-form, voluntary requirements approved by the federal government the year before.
District planning director Christine Carter told council that some cities in Metro Vancouver will exceed projections, while others, such as Maple Ridge, will not.
Coun. Bob Masse is worried that some agencies, such as post secondary institutes, may see the lower numbers as disincentives for investing in Maple Ridge.
The numbers are considered guidelines only for planning purposes for both the district and Metro Vancouver.
That census has been criticized by dozens of organizations because of questions about accuracy.
Maple Ridge is tweaking its plan to accord with Metro Vancouver’s new Regional Growth Strategy.
That has to be done by the end of July.
One adjustment is changing the regional designation on the Kanaka Business Park from industrial-conservation-recreation to simply rural.
The latter would accord more closely with the suburban-residential and rural resource designation in Maple Ridge’s official community plan.
The rural label would allow for non-urban residential, commercial or industrial uses that don’t require sewer or transit, although current zoning is industrial.
Maple Ridge is one of seven regional city centres in the Lower Mainland intended to focus growth, population density, jobs and transit service.