A strip of land on the western edge of Bloomfield is no longer subject for a new designation thanks to
Council. (Supplied Image)
Provincial mandates that urge municipalities to prepare for population growth while protecting farmland have made their way into the Official Plan.
The Planning Committee has approved a series of amendments to bring the Official Plan into line with the 2024 Provincial Planning Statement. The PPS contains parameters for everything from rules on heritage designations to settlement area boundary changes.
The County will now permit up to two additional dwellings on rural properties. Farmers who have been dreaming of creating lots next door for their children will soon have that option, provided they can meet the Official Plan’s requirements for well and septic systems.
“You can have one new building and then the second one can be within one of those units, a basement apartment for instance,” Planning Coordinator Scott Pordham said at the Statutory Public Meeting in February.
Under the new PPS, the County may remove lands from “employment areas” outside a comprehensive review process. These are industrial zones, or Provincially Significant Employment Zones for projected job creation.
Previously, comprehensive reviews examined zoning and land use once every five to ten years. Now, conversion of employment areas can occur anytime, as long as the criteria are met. Under the OP land owners still need to show the employment land is no longer needed for economic development or the movement of major goods.
The new OPA recognizes the Picton Main Street Conservation District and the new Wellington Conservation District, and serves as a planning and development guide to promote and maintain heritage value.
While this policy is aimed at strengthening heritage conservation, amendments from the PPS further demarcate requirements for heritage designation. While a property was qualified for designation under the Heritage Act if it met one of the nine criteria, the province now requires it to meet two.
The new PPS allows municipalities to develop a system to protect agricultural lands and assets. According to the PPS, these systems “maintain and enhance a geographically continuous agricultural land base and support and foster the long-term economic prosperity and productive capacity of an agri-food network.”
In addition to designations such as Prime Agricultural, protected in an OP, an agricultural system includes ancillary businesses such as abattoirs and seed facilities.
Mr. Pordham suggested a subcommittee of the Agriculture Advisory Committee. Councillor Sam Branderhorst wished to see input from the Prince Edward Federation of Agriculture and members of the local wine industry to ensure all voices were represented.
The OP also recognizes the importance of local commercial fisheries. At the Statutory Public Meeting on the OP amendments, Rosalind Adams proposed that the policy direction on commercial fisheries be distinct from the Agricultural System. The new OP contains a provision to “permit infrastructure and facilities such as docks and fuel pumps to directly support the commercial fishery.”
One of the provisions in the amendment didn’t pass muster with Council. A proposed realignment of the Bloomfield boundary on the village’s west end was proposed to remove a deterrent to future development as the village expands westward.
While the affected property is zoned Prime Agricultural, approximately two thirds of it is inside the current urban boundary, meaning it could be developed.
Property owner Harry Veenstra objected to the development prerogative.
“I have a problem with the way we are losing our farmland. If this becomes part of the Village, it’s one step closer to being lost forever.”
Council unanimously struck the proposed amendment to realign Bloomfield’s boundary.
The OPA comes before Council March 25 for final ratification.
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