reVISION Plan Review - PROJECT COMPLETE

The new Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law have been approved by Council and are now in effect. The previous Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law are repealed and new projects must comply with the new documents.

Copies of the new MPS and LUB can be downloaded at: https://chester.ca/government/plans-reports-and-strategies/municipal-planning-strategy or you may purchase a copy from the Community Development Department.

With the new documents becoming effective Jan. 9 2020, the reVISION Plan Review process is now complete. The Citizen's Planning Advisory Committee, following 5 years of hard work, will disband, and Council has recently given direction to staff to begin a review of the Village of Chester Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law. This review will occur over the coming years, beginning in 2020. A new project page has been created for the Village of Chester Plan Review, if you are interested in following along with that project please follow the link and Sign Up to Register for notices https://www.voicesandchoices.ca/chester-village-secondary-planning-strategy-and-land-use-by-law-review.

If you have any questions regarding the new planning documents please contact the Development Officer at 902-275-2599 or email development@chester.ca. For questions relating to the review of the Village of Chester Plan Review, please contact Planning Staff at 902-275-2599 or email planning@chester.ca.

Following a successful and well attended Public Hearing on November 25, Municipal Council gave 2nd Reading and approved the new Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law at a meeting held on November 28, 2019.

As a result of feedback heard during the Public Hearing, Council requested that the production/capacity limitation of 5 kW and 100 kW for off-building solar arrays be completely removed from the Land Use By-law. This minor change was made and the revised draft was then approved by Council.

The documents have now been sent for Provincial approval and review. Following this review, an advertisement will be placed in the Progress Bulletin, at which time the new planning documents will become effective and the existing Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law will be repealed. It is expected that the documents will become effective in mid to late January 2020, please watch this space as well as the Progress Bulletin for confirmation that the documents have become effective.

If you have any questions relating to the new documents, please don't hesitate to contact Communiuty Development staff at 902-275-2599 or email: planning@chester.ca

As we move toward the Public Hearing for the new Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law (November 25, 2019 at 7:00 pm at Forest Heights Community School), we have heard many questions and some concerns over the new regulations. Council and staff want you to understand the potential changes to your communities so you can provide comments and suggestions, but it is important that the information you receive is accurate.

We are often asked why is any of this needed? Things have worked fine in the past and we don’t need more regulations or rules, this is a RURAL area! In general, we agree that the Municipality is in a good position. BUT, we do regularly get calls and hear concerns about particular issues, such as water quality protection. The purpose of reviewing and re-writing the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law is to update the documents and to develop them as a tool that will address some of these valid areas of concern. For many of you, the new planning documents will not have much, if any, impact on your day-to-day use of your own property.

Every resident and property within the Municipality is already in a zoned area. The new plan is not expanding zoning to areas that are un-zoned. While some zones could be changed, we have heard comments that this plan is an expansion of the zoned area, which is a misconception. All parts of the Municipality have zoning and regulations for development which have been in place since 2004. The reVISION Plan Review is a required update to the existing planning documents and an excellent opportunity to address some of the concerns raised by residents over the last 15 years.

If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to the Community Development Department or your Councillor. We will go through the information with you, describe any proposed zoning for your area, and talk to you about it.

Copies of the Final Draft of the new planning documents are now available in each Council District. These copies are available to borrow at no cost to take home and review. We ask that you use the sign-up sheet and return the copies when you are finished.

Copies are available at the following locations as of Friday October 25, 2019:

District 1: The Deck

District 2: Aspotogan Heritage Trust

District 3: Chester Municipal Office, Annex Building (186 Central Street)

District 4: Petro Canada, Chester Basin

District 5: Richardson's Garage

District 6: New Ross Family Resource Centre

District 7: Bonny Lea Farm

Copies will also be left with the South Shore Mobile Library (as of Wednesday October 30th).

You may also download a copy of the documents from the Voices & Choices document library, or purchase your own copy from the Community Development Department for $10.00.

For further information or questions, please contact the Community Development Department at 902-275-2599.

At a Council meeting held on October 24, 2019, Municipal Council gave 1st Reading to the new Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law.

Council selected a date for a Public Hearing, which must be held prior to Council voting to adopt the documents. The Public Hearing will be held on Monday, November 25, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. The Public Hearing will be held at Forest Heights Community School (847 Highway 12, Chester Basin, NS). There is a Storm Date set for November 27th if required.

The Public Hearing is an opportunity to address Council and speak in favour or against the new documents. If you are unable to attend the Public Hearing or prefer to submit a written submission, these must be received no later than 4:30 p.m. on November 18. Written submissions may be directed to Pamela Myra, Municipal Clerk, PO Box 369, Chester NS, B0J 1J0 or email: pmyra@chester.ca

For further information or questions, please contact the Community Development Department at 902-275-2599.

The Final Draft of the new Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law are now available to download. The MPS and LUB received a positive recommendation from the Citizen's Planning Advisory Committee at a meeting held on October 7th, 2019.

The Final Draft documents will now be brought to Municipal Council for 1st Reading on Thursday October 24. If Council is satisfied with the documents they may give 1st Reading and select a date for a Public Hearing. The Public Hearing will be advertised and is a final opportunity to speak to the documents or submit written submissions. The date for the Public Hearing will be posted to this site and advertised once determined by Council.

To view the FINAL DRAFT of the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law, click "more" on the right hand side of the screen under the Document Library. Navigate to the folder titled "FINAL DRAFT MPS & LUB (Fall 2019)". From here you can download copies of the Municipal Planning Strategy, Municipal Land Use By-law and corresponding maps.

Comments and submissions are welcome during the approval process and should be submitted to the Municipal Clerk no later than 7 days prior to the Public Hearing (pmyra@chester.ca).

For further information or questions, please contact the Community Development Department at 902-275-2599.

After a bit of a hiatus during the summer with focus on several other large planning projects, staff have now completed the Final Draft of the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law. The next step in the process is to bring the Final Draft to the Citizen's Planning Advisory Committee for consideration and to receive a recommendation that Council adopt the new documents.

This meeting of the Citizen's Planning Advisory Committee is scheduled for Monday October 7th beginning at 6:30pm. The meeting is being held in Municipal Council Chambers (151 King St) and is open to the public to attend.

If CPAC is satisfied with the new documents and provides a positive recommendation, the documents will then be presented to Council to receive 1st reading and set a date for a Public Hearing. Once a date has been determined, this information will be posted here as well as copies of the Final Draft documents for review and comments.

Comments and submissions are welcome at any time up to and during the approval process. Comments or questions can be submitted via this site, by emailing revision@chester.ca or via the Municipal Facebook page (www.facebook.com/chestermunicipality).

For further information or questions, please contact the Community Development Department at 902-275-2599.

Happy 2019 to residents and property owners of MODC!

With the start of a new year, being the 5^th year of reVISION Plan Review, we felt that an update would be appropriate as the finishing touches are made to the new Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law. 2018 saw significant work and progress made and Council wishes to sustain this positive momentum with the publication of the final draft documents early in 2019. There are only a handful of items remaining that require a decision from Council. Council plans to consider these items in January so that staff may finalize the draft Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law. Once complete, the draft Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law will be posted to this site and available for review and comment prior to Council giving 1^st reading (the first step in officially adopting the new documents), which is anticipated to take place in February or March.

Comments and submissions are welcome at any time up to and during the approval process. Comments or questions can be submitted via this site, by emailing revision@chester.ca or via the Municipal Facebook page (www.facebook.com/chestermunicipality).

For further information or questions, please contact the Community Development Department at 902-275-2599.

Municipal Council and the Citizens Planning Advisory Committee held a joint meeting on September 17, 2018 to review and discuss outstanding topics and issues related to the reVISION Municipal Plan Review. Due to a lengthy Agenda, the group decided to adjourn the meeting and continue on October 1. The notes from the September 17 meeting were approved on October 1, 2018, and are now available to view by clicking here. Notes from the October 1 meeting will be posted when approved at the next joint meeting of Council and the Citizens Planning Advisory Committee.

For further information, to submit comments or ask a question regarding the reVISION process, please contact 902-275-2599, email: revision@chester.ca or leave a comment on this website.

As an update to the reVISION Municipal Plan Review process, the dates of two upcoming meetings have now been set:

The first is the Citizens Planning Advisory Committee meeting. This meeting is scheduled for September 10th, 2018 at 6:30 p.m. in Municipal Council Chambers at 151 King Street, Chester. The purpose of this meeting is to provide an update to CPAC on recent discussions with Council and on the results of the Public Engagement meetings held in April and May of 2018.

The second meeting is a joint workshop session between Council and the Citizens Planning Advisory Committee. This meeting is scheduled for September 17th, 2018, beginning at 6:30 p.m. and will be held in Tuck's Hall, St Stephens Anglican Church, 54 Regent Street, Chester. The purpose of this workshop is to allow committee members and Councillors to discuss any outstanding aspects of the Draft Documents that require direction.

Both meetings are open to the public to attend, however, time for public comments or presentations is not planned. Any member of the public who wishes to address Council may do so prior to any regularly scheduled Council or Committee of the Whole meeting, held each Thursday at 8:45 a.m. in Municipal Council Chambers, 151 King Street, Chester. Additionally, when the Draft Documents reach the Public Hearing stage, this includes time for presentations or submissions from members of the public.

For further information, to submit comments or ask a question regarding the reVISION process, please contact 902-275-2599, email: revision@chester.ca or leave a comment on this website.