Loyalist Township Staff Report Official Plan Comprehensive Review Regular Council Meeting Report Number: SR- 996 Meeting: Regular Council - 23 Apr 2019 Type: Regular Council Department: Planning & Development Report Date: April 12, 2019 Author: Bohdan Wynnyckyj Attachments: Yes Number of Attachments: 2 Executive Summary: The Loyalist Township Official Plan is required to be reviewed in accordance with the Ontario Planning Act. This report outlines a draft Official Plan update based upon a review process conducted over the course of 2017, 2018 and early 2019, that included input from Township staff, the County of Lennox and Addington, and various key government agencies and Ministries. We are requesting Council to authorize staff to proceed to share the Draft Official Plan and commence consultation with the public on the proposed changes, following which all comments and input will be reviewed by staff, and brought back to Council for final consideration and approval. Recommendation: That the report from the Supervisor, Planning Services, dated April 12/19, regarding the Comprehensive Review of the Official Plan, be received and the following be adopted: 1. Staff commence consultation with the public on the proposed modifications to the Township Official Plan in accordance with Sections 26 and 27 of the Ontario Planning Act. Background: The Official Plan is a long-range planning policy document that provides the framework to manage land use, growth and development over a 20 year horizon. Section 26(1)(1.1) of the Planning Act requires Official Plans to be reviewed every five years (or every 10 years if a new Plan comes into effect, as opposed to an amendment) in order to ensure that it: (a) conforms with provincial plans or does not conflict with them, as the case may be, (b) has regard to the matters of provincial interest listed in section 2, and (c) is consistent with policy statements issued under subsection 3(1). Therefore, the Township needs to have regard to a number of provincial interest items and be consistent with the 2014 Provincial Policy Statement (PPS). The provincial interest items and policies are discussed further in the analysis section of this report. Section 27 (1) of the Planning Act also requires the Council of a lower-tier municipality to amend their Official Plan to conform with a Plan that comes into effect as the Official Plan of the upper-tier municipality. An Official Plan for the County of Lennox and Addington was approved by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in April 2016. It is also important to note that the approval of the County’s Official Plan results in the County being the approval authority for the Township’s Official Plan, as opposed to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Details regarding the County’s Official Plan and its impact on the Township’s Official Plan review process is discussed further in the analysis section of this report. The Township’s current Official Plan was last reviewed in 2009 through Official Plan Amendments 18 and 19. A review process was initiated in 2013, but during that time a requirement was put in place by the Province for the County to prepare an Official Plan. As a result, it was decided that until the County Official Plan was completed, the Township’s review would be put on hold in order to eliminate a second round of Official Plan amendments. Now that the County Official Plan is in force, the Township is in a position to update its Official Plan to bring it into conformity. Status: Staff received authorization to commence a review of the Official Plan from Council on August 8, 2016, and to begin consultations with key government agencies, municipal departments and provincial ministries regarding potential updates. Since that time, staff have conducted two rounds of consultation with these various bodies, and have prepared a series of Official Plan modifications, which we believe satisfy the majority of comments, recommendations and interests of same. There has also been a special public meeting, as per Section 26 (3)(b) of the Planning Act, where two members of the public provided input on severance policy and the Millhaven Creek Trail alignment. The following parties were circulated, consulted and have commented on the Draft Official Plan: - The County of Lennox and Addington - Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs - Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry - Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs - Ontario Ministry of Transportation Loyalist Township Page 2 of 242 - Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority - Loyalist Township Departments (Engineering, Parks and Recreation, etc.) An outline of the major changes is provided below. Analysis: The Official Plan requires a number of revisions in order to conform with the new County of Lennox and Addington Official Plan, the 2014 Provincial Policy Statement (PPS), additional relevant legislation, and to reflect any local priorities or changing community needs. The following is a summary of the more significant revisions being proposed to the Official Plan. Provincial Policy Statement The PPS provides direction on matters of provincial interest related to land use planning and development. The document was updated in 2014 and includes a number of new policies that the Township is required to be consistent with. A summary of the more significant revisions to the PPS for incorporation into the Official Plan, are as follows: • Consideration of potential impacts of climate change, by encouraging green infrastructure and strengthening stormwater management requirements, including promoting Low Impact Design (LID) where possible. • Encouraging more rural-based businesses (permitting more on-farm diversified uses, i.e. agri-tourism and providing more flexibility for agriculture-related uses). • Directing development outside of lands that are unsafe for development due to the presence of hazardous forest types for wildland fire, unless the risk is mitigated in accordance with wildland fire assessment and mitigation standards. • Recognizing additional elements of healthy communities (i.e. community design, planning for all ages). • Clarifying that municipalities can determine appropriate locations for required intensification and redevelopment opportunities, and that locally determined intensification targets should be based on local conditions. • Further protection for major industries, corridors for goods movement and employment areas in close proximity to corridors and facilities for goods and movement. • Supporting asset management planning. • Requiring identification of natural heritage systems. • Promoting the use of archaeological management plans and cultural plans. • Supporting “community hub” development (encouraging co-location of public service facilities to facilitate service integration and to promote cost savings and accessibility). Loyalist Township Page 3 of 242 County of Lennox and Addington Official Plan It is important to note that having been approved by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, the County’s Official Plan has been deemed to be consistent with the PPS, 2014. Staff, in turn, have prepared a series of modifications / additions to Loyalist’s Official Plan to bring it into conformity with the County’s Plan. These have been done in cooperation with County officials and their planning consultant, and are summarized as follows: • Population and employment growth forecasts for Loyalist Township to accommodate population and employment growth to the year 2036. • Updated intensification targets for Odessa, Bath and Amherstview, and a revised growth management strategy to direct growth to settlement areas to implement these targets. Infill and minor rounding out of development on private services (septic tanks and wells) as permitted in settlement areas, provided there is suitable site conditions with no associated negative impacts. • Respected direction given by the County by maintaining Township consent policy to only permit a maximum of two severances on a lot as of an identified eligibility date, though added one additional severance would be allowed where there was at least 1km of frontage. • New policies and schedule overlay to address select bedrock (aggregate) resource areas. These areas cover a large portion of the Township and new policies closely resemble those in the recently approved Official Plan for Stone Mills by introducing the concept of allowing limited rural development by consent in areas containing existing residential “clusters.” • Updated water quality and quantity policies. • Special policies and mapping on karst topography. Changed to Reflect Relevant Policies and Legislation • New policies to allow for secondary units to be permitted in all existing or new single detached, semi-detached and/or townhouse dwellings, in both the rural and settlement areas. These, together with new policies to promote residential intensification, ensure Official Plan housing policy conforms with the Ontario Housing Policy Statement. • Amending open space acquisition policies as cash-in-lieu of parkland is now only payable at the rate of 1ha/500 units as opposed to the previous 1ha/300 units. To impose the alternative parkland requirement, a parks plan must first be prepared and policies in the Official Plan must be in accordance with that parks plan. • The Human Rights Code requires that policies that involve separation distances between group homes and special care facilities be removed. • New policies and an updated schedule to address source