Staff
The public is encouraged to attend a meeting regarding the town’s revised official plan tomorrow (Nov. 1) at 6:45 p.m. at the Civic Centre.
Consultant Greg Hynde of Quartek Group and municipal staff will be on hand to provide information and receive public feedback.
There will be a formal presentation of the proposed official plan, then the public will be invited to submit comments.
Municipal planner Faye Flatt said the new official plan takes the existing one and brings it up to date with provincial requirements.
“If you took our existing document and looked at the appropriate sections in the new document, you’d see that our official plan is molded into that,” she noted.
“That’s one of the things we wanted to do because we liked the way that the current official plan was worded so that it allowed us to facilitate pretty much any proposal coming in,” she added.
“That’s why we chose to do it that way.”
Flatt said the new material in the plan reflects the requirements set out by the province.
“So, we’ve taken what the ministry has said you have to have in there, we’ve taken our official plan that we like, and we’ve married the two together,” she explained.
Flatt added she’s hoping the public takes an interest in it, and supports the new plan.
This will be the third and final open house regarding the official plan. Previous ones were held in September, 2009 and June, 2010.
Flatt said the previous open houses drew quite a few people, and the new plan reflects input provided by the public.
The proposed official plan will be considered for adoption by town council at its Nov. 14 meeting and, if adopted, will be submitted to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for final approval.
If approved, it will repeal and replace the existing official plan and all official plan amendments.
The town’s review of the current official plan (1998) has resulted in the preparation of the new proposed official plan that is the subject of tomorrow’s public meeting.
The meeting is a statutory requirement of Section 26 of the Planning Act, R. S. O., Chapter P. 13, as amended, and Ontario Regulation 543/06.
According to the town, “the purpose of the official plan is to provide the municipality’s long-term land use plan.”
“[It] affects how the municipality will look in the future and how the municipality will function, as well as the manner in which the residents live, work, and play.”
The new official plan will “update and refine the policies of the current plan to ensure conformity with provincial plans, have regard to matters of provincial interest, and provide consistency with Provincial Policy Statements.”
“The plan sets out where and what lands can be used for, how lands can be developed, and how lands are connected and interact.”
Its intent is to guide the physical development and redevelopment of the town, the protection and management of natural and cultural heritage resources, and the implementation of the necessary supporting infrastructure over the next 20 years.
The plan is reviewed every five years in accordance with the requirements of the Planning Act and the policies of the official plan.
