Village of Chester Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law Review

On June 22 Council approved a final engagement schedule to provide information and collect comments and feedback related to the Village Plan Review. In addition to the formal engagement events, members of the public are welcome to reach out to planning staff at any time, by phone (902-275-2599) or email (planning@chester.ca), to provide comments, or request a meeting time to discuss any ideas or concerns in relation to the new planning documents.

2023 is set to be an exciting year in the ongoing Village Plan Review. Planning staff are currently working on a 1st draft of the new Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law. These drafts will be reviewed internally before being presented to Council. We hope to present the 1st public draft of the documents in Spring 2023 (see timeline on the side bar for more details).

Once the 1st draft is presented to Council it will be publicly available for review and comment. We hope to have the draft documents available for comment for at least four weeks, with several public engagement events held during this period. The draft documents will also be presented to the Village Planning Advisory Committee during this time for their comments.

Staff will then prepare a report for Council to summarize the pubic and planning committee comments and discuss with Council to determine what changes are required to the draft documents.

If all goes according to plan, by Fall 2023 we hope to have a Final Draft prepared and brought to Council for approval and implementation by the end of the year. Please reach out if you have questions or comments regarding the Village Review: email: planning@chester.ca or phone 902-275-2599

Summer 2022 has seen a return to public facing elements of the Chester Village Plan Review. The Spring and early Summer focused primarily on the Built Form and Character Defining Elements study. This work was led by FBM Architects (click here for more information), with support from Municipal Staff. A public workshop held on May 18th at the Chester Legion was well attended. The final report detailing the study's findings is expected to be presented to Council and the public by the end of the Summer. The report will provide advice and guidance on the style of development most appropriate for Chester Village. This will be accompanied by suggested regulations and guidelines that will be considered for adoption as part of the Plan Review.

Following this work, staff are planning a public engagement session to focus on the Highway 3 Development Area also known as North Street. The workshop is scheduled for Thursday August 18th, 2022 and will be held at the Chester Legion (14 Union Street). The workshop will include two identical sessions from 2:30-4:00pm and 6:30-8:00pm. The Highway 3 area was not included in the FBM study, which was focused on the core of the Village, including Front and Back Harbors and surrounding properties. The Highway 3 area has some unique attributes and regulations when compared to other parts of Chester Village. As part of the Village Plan Review, staff are seeking to engage and discuss ideas with members of the community. We want to hear how you feel development should be managed along Highway 3 (within the Village Boundary). Staff have recently completed and uploaded a "discussion paper" in advance of the workshop. The paper outlines many of the concepts and ideas we plan to cover in the workshop and is intended to serve as preparation and background for the session on August 18.

Please feel free to review the discussion paper in advance of the workshop and as always, don't hesitate to reach out with questions, comments or suggestions relating to the Village Plan Review by phone: 902-275-2599 or email: planning@chester.ca

The preliminary results of the Village of Chester Resident Survey are now available (click here). This survey was prepared and distributed to all property owners in the Village of Chester to solicit comments and input on a variety of topics. The topics included in the survey were identified by staff and the Village Planning Advisory Committee as needing additional input and feedback from members of the community. The results of the survey will be used to help inform policies and regulations in the new Village of Chester Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law. A big thanks goes to our Summer Student Planner, Jordon, for his hard work and effort to draft, administer and analyze the survey project!

In total 753 surveys were mailed to property owners. The results presented here include 251 completed and returned surveys, giving a response rate just above 33%. We are thrilled with the response rate thus far and encourage anyone who has received a survey and not yet returned it, to mail or drop off the completed survey as soon as possible.

Although many of the planned public engagement activities, such as workshops and town hall style meetings, were not possible this summer due to public health restrictions, the survey has gathered valuable information and input. Staff are currently reassessing and expect to schedule additional in person engagement activities in 2023.

If you have any questions regarding the survey or anything else related to the Village Plan Review, please do not hesitate to reach out to staff.

It may be hard to believe, but the review of the Chester Village Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law has now been underway for over a year! To recognize this milestone, staff recently presented a "check-in" report to Municipal Council. The purpose of the report was to update Council on the work done to date by the Chester Village Planning Advisory Committee. The report can be viewed here, and begins on page 9 of the Council package. The report also provided Council with an opportunity to make comments, suggestions or provide direction to guide the review. The draft minutes from the meeting are also available to view here.

As discussed in the report, the Village Planning Advisory Committee continues to meet monthly to oversee and guide the Village Review. Plans for public engagement in 2021 are beginning to be made and will be adjusted to follow all public health guidelines and circumstances. Please watch this page for updates and engagement schedules.

If you have any questions, ideas, suggestions or wish to discuss the Village Review , please get in touch with staff (902-275-2599), email: planning@chester.ca or stop in at the Central Street office (186 Central Street). We are always happy to answer questions or receive feedback or ideas that can be implemented within the Village Review.

As part of ongoing efforts to seek input and opinions from members of the public on a wide variety of land use concepts and ideas, staff have recently completed and posted a new survey to the site. This survey is seeking input and feedback on the level and type of regulations that should be developed to regulate design controls and the types of building materials that are permitted to be used within Chester Village. Please CLICK HERE to complete the survey!

The Chester Village Planning Advisory Committee has been meeting regularly to begin the review and update of the Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law. In addition to the online public engagement tools offered through this site, staff are now looking for opportunities to engage with members of the public in person. At this early stage in the review, staff are seeking any and all comments, suggestions and ideas. Although it is never too late to share ideas with staff, this is an ideal time to have your comments considered and utilized in helping to shape the new planning documents.

Two dates for upcoming engagements have now been confirmed:

• Tuesday, August 25th, 2020 at 5:30 pm in Lordly Park (weather pending). Staff will have a display setup adjacent to the Central Street entrance. This coincides with the weekly "Picnic in the Park" (Picnic in the Park schedule or Picnic in the Park Facebook page). Feel free to stop by on your way to the Picnic to discuss land use and planning regulations with staff. Share your thoughts, ideas, concerns by leaving a comment card or speaking directly with staff.
• Saturday, August 29th, 2020 at 1:30 pm on Pleasant Street. This engagement will take place before the "Playhouse on Pleasant Street" (Playhouse on Pleasant event details). Staff will have a display setup on Pleasant Street and are hoping to engage with community members prior to the start of the concert.

Staff will continue to organize and plan additional public engagement events in accordance with Public Heath Guidelines. As more engagement events are scheduled we will be updating this page so please stay tuned. In the meantime, feel free to explore the site, complete a survey, watch a video presentation on Secondary Suites or removing minimum parking requirements in the Central Commercial Zone, ask us a question or reach out to staff via phone (902-275-2599) or email (planning@chester.ca).

The Chester Village Planning Advisory Committee meets regularly via Zoom Videoconferencing and is making substantial progress in the review and revision of the existing planning documents. Now the Committee and staff need your input!

As summer gets into full swing, we want to begin our public engagement by reaching out to the community to hear what topics, issues or concerns you have that may be able to be addressed during the Plan Review process. We have a wide variety of engagement methods and activities planned, so please keep checking back with us as we will continue to update this site. The best way to stay informed is to Register with the site by clicking the “Get Involved - Sign Up Here” banner.

Currently we have two Surveys available, the “Priority Topics Survey” and the “Heritage Conservation Survey”. Both surveys contain a few questions to get your thoughts and input on some current topics of discussion in Chester Village as well as questions around the type and level of protection offered for heritage properties. Both surveys can be found by clicking the “Surveys” tab located next to the “News Feed”.

As the summer progresses, we will be adding additional engagement activities. More surveys and Quick Polls will be added to the site and we are actively monitoring Public Health directives as we plan for potential in person or virtual engagement sessions.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact staff if you have any questions or comments regarding the Chester Village Plan Review, call 902-275-2599 or email planning@chester.ca

Municipal Council has now confirmed the membership of the Chester Village Planning Advisory Committee (CVPAC). This Committee is responsible to advise Council on planning matters and applications relating to Chester Village. The Committee is also responsible to oversee the review of the Chester Village Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law. This Committee replaces the previously existing Chester Village Area Advisory Committee.

If you have questions on the CVPAC or the review of the Chester Village Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law, please contact us for more information.

The Committee is composed of the following members:

Citizen Members:

• Ray Cambria
• John Carroll
• Syd Dumaresq
• Carol Nauss

Village Commission Representative:

• Nancy Hatch

Councillor for District 3:

• Danielle Barkhouse

Council has recently announced a change in the Committee structure for providing advice to Council on planning matters. The result of these changes is that two new Committees are being formed. Applications are now being accepted for the Municipal Planning Advisory Committee and the Chester Village Planning Advisory Committee.

The mandate of these groups is to provide advice relating to planning matters and the Heritage Property Act to Council. The Municipal PAC provides advice on issues that affect the Municipality outside of Chester Village, while the Chester Village PAC provides advice relating to the Chester Village Planning Area. In addition, the Chester Village Planning Advisory Committee is now tasked with overseeing and guiding the review of the Chester Village Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law.

Appointments to either Committee are for a 2 year term.

Applications will be accepted until March 6, 2020 and should be submitted to:

Pamela Myra, Municipal Clerk
151 King Street, PO Box 369
Chester, NS B0J 1J0
Fax (902) 275-4771
Email pmyra@chester.ca

If you have questions or would like further information, please contact us at 902-275-2599 or email: planning@chester.ca