Sault Ste. Marie North Official Plan November 2013 Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 APPLICATION ............................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 THE PLANNING ACT ................................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 VISION FOR SAULT STE. MARIE NORTH ........................................................................................ 2 1.4 GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.0 Natural Heritage, Environmental Protection and Hazard Policies ......................................... 7 2.1 WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY .................................................................................................... 7 2.2 NATURAL HERITAGE FEATURES AND AREAS ......................................................................... 12 2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT POLICY AREA .................................................................. 30 2.4 MINING AND OTHER HAZARDS ....................................................................................................... 36 3.0 Economic, Community Development and Infrastructure ......................................................... 39 3.1 SOCIAL AND HUMAN SERVICES....................................................................................................... 39 3.2 PUBLIC STREETS AND FACILITIES................................................................................................. 44 3.3 ECONOMIC BASE ..................................................................................................................................... 45 3.4 EFFICIENT USE OF LAND, INFRASTRUCTURE AND PUBLIC FACILITIES .................... 47 3.5 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS ........................................................................................................... 49 3.6 PLANNING FOR SEWAGE AND WATER SERVICES ................................................................. 57 3.7 GROWTH AND SETTLEMENT ............................................................................................................ 61 3.8 ACCESS TO PUBLIC LAND AND WATERBODIES ...................................................................... 95 3.9 LANDSCAPES, VISTAS AND RIDGE-LINES................................................................................... 96 3.10 CULTURAL HERITAGE, LANDSCAPES, BUILT HERITAGE RESOURCES AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCES ................................................................................................................... 98 3.11 TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE CORRIDORS ......................................... 101 3.12 LAND USE COMPATIBILITY ........................................................................................................ 104 4.0 Housing Policies ......................................................................................................................................... 109 4.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 109 5.0 Agricultural Land Policies ..................................................................................................................... 115 5.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 115 6.0 Conservation Policies .............................................................................................................................. 117 6.1 CONSERVATION OF ENERGY, WATER AND BUILDING MATERIALS .......................... 117 6.2 TRANSPORTATION MODES ............................................................................................................ 118 6.3 WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ................................................................................................ 119 7.0 Mineral Aggregate and Mineral Policies ........................................................................................ 123 7.1 MINERAL AGGREGATE RESOURCES ........................................................................................... 123 SAULT STE. MARIE NORTH PLANNING AREA OFFICIAL PLAN P-1875 - i - November 2013 7.2 MINERAL RESOURCES ....................................................................................................................... 128 .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 135 8.0 Implementation and Interpretation ................................................................................................. 135 8.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 135 SAULT STE. MARIE NORTH PLANNING AREA OFFICIAL PLAN P-1875 - ii - November 2013 SAULT STE. MARIE NORTH PLANNING AREA OFFICIAL PLAN 1.0 Introduction The Sault Ste. Marie North Planning Area was established in 1976 and a Planning Board appointed in April of that year. The first Official Plan for the Planning Area was prepared in 1978 and approved on January 16, 1979. Subsequent to this the Planning Board received consent granting authority in October 1978. Although there have been a number of amendments to the Official Plan, including a series of four secondary plans, the plan has never been formally reviewed. In January, 1995, the Planning Board initiated the preparation of a new Official Plan and Zoning By-law to replace the 1978 plan and associated Minister's Zoning Order. The plan will cover the 31 unincorporated township Planning Area extending from the Sault Ste. Marie City boundary in the south to Montreal River on the north and will guide land use decisions for the next 15 to 20 years (see Map 1 - Planning Area). As part of the preparation of the Plan, a series of community workshops were held in the Planning Area (August 21 - 24, 1995) in the communities of Searchmont, Heyden, Goulais and Batchawana. The Plan was approved with modifications on November 1, 1999. The review of the Official Plan in 2009 was undertaken to be consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement, 2005. The preparation of the plan was done in conjunction with Ontario's new planning system as embodied in amendments to the Planning Act. This new system which is led by policy, imposes an obligation on the Planning Board to prepare an Official Plan which "has regard for" the Provincial Policy Statement. Extensive consultation was undertaken with various Ministries in collecting data and information relevant to the Provincial Policy Statement. This information was incorporated into a Community Profile. The preparation of the Community Profile followed the format of the Provincial Policy Statement. The objective of using this format is to facilitate the preparation of the new Official Plan by correlating the background information to the preparation of policies. While the Community Profile endeavoured to provide the best available information, it is recognized that some of the features of the landscape have not been studied or investigated to the same extent as areas of Southern Ontario. For this reason, the process of information gathering will continue to be incremental and it is expected that over time, the data base will improve. The best available information was used to formulate policies. Where data was missing, the policies developed are more general but do set out an opportunity to adapt as information becomes available. SAULT STE. MARIE NORTH PLANNING AREA OFFICIAL PLAN P-1875 - 1 - November 2013 The preparation of the Official Plan is geared to an incremental approach since the mapping component will be based on a geographic information system (GIS) in which layers of information may be added or existing information modified as better information becomes available. Additions to the Geographic Information Base that will result in changes to land use characteristics, policies or the Land Use Schedules will, however, require an amendment to this Plan. 1.1 APPLICATION This Official Plan applies to all lands within the limits of the Planning Area as identified on Map 1. 1.2 THE PLANNING ACT Section 14 of the Planning Act gives responsibility to The Planning Board of a territory without municipal organization to prepare a plan suitable for adoption as the Official Plan of the Planning Area. Section 14(1) of the Planning Act also requires that The Planning Board shall provide advice and assistance in respect of such planning matters affecting the planning area as are referred to the Board. The Planning Board, as a body corporate, is obliged to appoint a secretary-treasurer and such employees and consultants as are considered appropriate. 1.3 VISION FOR SAULT STE. MARIE NORTH The Sault Ste. Marie North Planning Area is made up of a diverse mix of communities and landscapes. Each community has a unique identity given its location, the scope of community services it provides, the size and make-up of its population and its seasonality. Some communities are clusters of development (built-up communities)