ReVISION Plan Review - Council Directed Changes to Draft Documents

At a two part workshop held on July 25 and August 2, staff presented the Third Round Public Engagement Report to Municipal Council. The report is available to view here. Council had discussions on various topics raised during the 14 public engagement meetings held in April and May. Council then gave direction to staff for each topic as to what changes should be made to the draft documents in response to the comments received. Staff will now make the requested changes to produce a Final Draft. Below is a summary of the general direction provided by Council to staff on each of the topics listed in the Third Round Public Engagement Report.

Farm Animals -

Council chose Option D, form an ad-hoc committee of farmers and citizens to deliberate and present revised regulations to Council. Council chose to separate Farm Animal Regulations from the draft documents. The committee will be formed and will work to recommend an approach for regulating Farm Animals which Council can consider as an amendment to the planning documents. This will allow the draft documents to move forward without being significantly delayed by this single topic. Until the new regulations are determined, existing regulations will be carried forward from the current plan (only affects Single Unit Residential and Rural Residential Zones).

Recreational Vehicles -

Council chose to maintain regulations for Recreational Vehicles only on Marvin's Island. Consideration as to whether these regulations should apply to all areas under the Single Unit Residential Zone will be researched further. The draft regulations for Recreational Vehicles will be removed from all other zones.

Yard Sales/Garage Sales -

Council chose Option B, to remove all regulations for Yard Sales from the draft documents.

Solar Collectors -

Council chose Option C, to remove regulations for solar collectors attached to a main structure, permits and setbacks will be required for off-building solar collectors.

Coastal Protections -

Council chose Option B, to await information on the Coastal Protection Act and Regulations proposed by the Province of Nova Scotia. No coastal setback or protections will be included in the draft documents at this time.

Chester Islands (Minimum Lot size) -

Council chose Option D, to distinguish those islands that currently are within the Chester Village Planning Area and to reintroduce the minimum lot size for new lots of 10 acres. Those islands outside the current Village Planning Area, will not have the 10 acre minimum lot size applied and will remain with minimum lot size determined based on on-site septic system requirements as determined by the Nova Scotia Department of Environment.

Exit 6 Zoning (Hubbards Gateway Zone) -

Council chose Option B, to remove the Gateway Zone and replace with the Settlement Residential Two Zone, with a note that further discussion between the Settlement Residential Two and Mixed Use could be had at the joint meeting between Council and CPAC.

Settlement Residential Two Zone (Fox Point Lake & Mill Cove) -

Council chose Option B with some changes, to reduce the area covered by the Settlement Residential Two Zone, by removing the SR-2 Zone from the area south of Mill Cove Park between Highway 329 and the ocean, referred to as the "finger" of SR-2 Zone. This area will be changed to the General Basic Zone so that both sides of the Highway are subject to the same regulations.

Target Hill Road Zoning -

Council chose Option B, to replace the Mixed Use Zone with the Single Unit Residential Zone for properties with frontage on Target Hill Road.

Home Based Business -

Council chose Option B, to remove Home Based Business from the General Provisions Section and insert language for Home Based Business directly into the Single Unit Residential Zone and coastal Island Zone sections of the Land Use By-law.

Non-Conforming Uses (MGA 6-Month Period of Discontinuation) -

Council chose Option B, to add language to extend the 6-month time frame to 12 months for all Non-Conforming Uses. While this would apply to Non-Conforming Farm Animals, that specific aspect can also be addressed by the ad-hoc Farm Animal Regulations Committee discussed in the first section of the workshop.

Hamlet Zone Boundaries (New Ross, Western Shore & Chester Basin) -

Council chose Option C, to revise the Hamlet Boundary in New Ross to exclude some larger lots along Rose Bank Road and Gold River.

Watercourse, Water Bodies, and Wetlands 20m Setback Requirement –

Council chose Option B, to reduce the required setback distance from 20m to 15m. This discussion also resulted in Council providing direction to reduce the Lakefront Overlay from 20m to 15m (noted later in this report).

Outdoor Wood Furnaces –

Council chose Option B, to reduce the horizontal setback requirements for Outdoor Wood furnaces by 50%, the result being that these devices must be setback 22m from property lines and 45m from an existing dwelling on an neighbouring property. In addition, Outdoor Wood Furnaces in the General Basic Zone and Mixed Use Zone will have no regulations and will not require a permit.

Gateway Zone (Reformat and Introduce Maximum Setback) –

Council chose Option C, to restructure the Gateway Zone’s list of permitted uses, add language for “all other commercial/institutional uses”, and implement a Maximum Front Yard Setback to address site design.

Signs –

Council chose Option B, to move forward with staff suggested changes to simplify and lessen regulations for signs: remove smaller size limit in GW & HM Zones, consider awnings as wall signs and allow up to 20% wall area covered by signs, separate Home Based Business signs, remove one sign per lot limit, allow internally illuminated signs and clarify that setbacks for signs are from property lines.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS:

The following topics were not included in the report but were raised during discussion with Council. Direction was provided as follows:

Lakefront Overlay –

Reduce the Lakefront Overlay from 20m to 15m around all lakes.

Kaizer Meadow Zones (Setbacks & Vegetated Buffer) –

Bring forward the existing watercourse setback (25m) and vegetated buffer requirements (25m) for only the Kaizer Meadow Industrial Zone and Kaizer Meadow Zone. This will result in no change to the current regulations in place for these zones.

Business Park Zone –

Council directed staff to apply the Business Park Zone to the area identified. At the time the draft documents were originally prepared, the location of the Business Park was not yet confirmed.

Farm Animals Existing Regulations –

Bring forward existing regulations for Farm Animals. This affects only Single Unit Residential Zone & Rural Residential Zone (to become Settlement Residential One). Only those areas that currently have regulations for Farm Animals are affected. This is an interim measure to maintain existing regulations while the ad-hoc Committee is formed and works to recommend a long-term approach for Farm Animal Regulations for the entire Municipality.

NEXT STEPS:

At the meeting, Council also directed that staff hold a meeting with the Citizens Planning Advisory Committee to discuss the Third Round Public Engagement Report and the process to date. Following this meeting, a joint meeting between Municipal Council and the Citizens Planning Advisory Committee will be scheduled to work toward a recommendation from the Committee to adopt the Final Draft documents. Dates for these meetings will be posted when they are available.

For any questions related to the reVISION Muncipal Plan Review Process, please contact us at 902-275-2599 or email: revision@chester.ca