Residents, landowners and other stakeholders are invited to complete the online version of the Community Survey. There is also a hard copy of the survey available, if you would like to review the survey before completing it online – or print it and return to the Council office. Paper copies of the survey are in the February Community Newsletter. Those who return completed surveys by February 28, 2021 will have their names entered for $50, which will be awarded through a random draw.
More information about the review can be found on the Official Plan and Development Bylaw Review 2021 page of the website.
The Municipality has hired SJ Murphy Planning and Consulting, along with associates Mitch Underhay and Greg Morrison to lead the municipality through the required five year review of the Official Plan and Development Bylaw -and resident input is crucial.
Official plans and land use bylaws are developed according to the requirements of the Planning Act. Municipalities develop their planning documents under the direction of Council, in consultation with community members, and with the assistance of technical experts, staff, and a council committee called the Planning Board. Official plans set out the policies for land use for the coming 15-year period. Land use bylaws set out the formalized rules for subdivision and development.
- The Planning Act contains the overall framework, authority, powers and processes according to which a municipality provides land use planning services. Under the Planning Act, and before a municipality takes on responsibility for land use planning, it develops an official plan and land use bylaw that are approved by the provincial government.
- The Official Plan (July 29 2019) creates the vision for the use of the land in the municipality. It directs the use of land in the future based on considerations such as the physical, social, environmental and economic effects of past, existing and projected land use and development trends. Through policies, maps and tools for its implementation, an official plan addresses matters such as:
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- the protection of resource land and natural areas;
- the location of housing, community facilities, commercial offices and industrial activities; and
- the need for essential services such as water supply, sewage disposal, roads, and parks.
- The land use bylaws provide for the day-to-day implementation of the official plan. They contain the requirements that must be met for land use and development to occur in the municipality as well as the processes that the municipality follows to decide whether or not proposed land use or development will allow it to meet the priorities in its official plan. For instance, a land use bylaw addresses matters such as:
- the types of land uses and development permitted or restricted in a certain location;
- the standards that apply to each type of land use and development permitted;
- the criteria to consider different types of applications for land use or development; and
- the processes and requirements according to which applications are assessed.