The Official Community Plan: Purpose, Scope and Definitions, Policies and Implementation

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Section 29 of The Planning and Development Act, 2007 (the Act) enables council to prepare and adopt an Official Community Plan. An Official Community Plan (also referred to as the Plan or OCP) is a statement of the Rural Municipal Council’s Goals and Objectives for future planning and development, and establishes policies to address current and expected development issues identified in the Background Report or by Council and RM residents.

1.2 PURPOSE OF AN OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN

The purpose of this Official Community Plan is to provide guidance to the Council of the Rural Municipality in making decisions regarding proposed new or expanding land uses. To accomplish this, the Plan will:

a) serve as a framework to guide council in making development decisions;
b) identify issues and concerns which affect the use and development of land;
c) establish objectives and outline policies for future development; and
d) list the objectives to be accomplished by a Zoning Bylaw.

1.3 SCOPE OF THE OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN

The objectives and policies stated in this Plan apply to the entire area within the boundaries of the Rural Municipality of Three Lakes No. 400. All development within the limits of the municipality shall conform to this OCP.

1.4 DEFINITIONS

a) The words “shall” or “will” identify a mandatory action or decision, as the case may be. The words “should” or “may” identify a voluntary action or decision, as the case may be.
b) Metric measurements take precedence in this Plan. Imperial distances are shown only for ease of interpretation.
c) Some words used in this Plan are defined in this section. These definitions form part of this Official Community Plan and also apply to the Zoning Bylaw, which accompanies and implements the Plan.
d) Unless otherwise specified, the definitions found in Zoning By-Law shall also apply to this Plan. e) The term “Developer” shall mean an applicant for either a proposed Subdivision, Plan or Zoning Amendment or a proposed “development” as defined in the RM’s Zoning Bylaw.
f) The term “flood plain” (as used in The Statements of Provincial Interest Regulations) means the area prone to flooding from a water body or watercourse that comprises the combined area of the flood way and flood fringe.
g) The term “flood way” (as used in The Statements of Provincial Interest Regulations) means the portion of the flood plain adjoining the channel where the waters in the 1:500 year flood are projected to meet or exceed a depth of one metre or a velocity of one metre per second.
h) The term “flood fringe” (as used in The Statements of Provincial Interest Regulations) means the portion of the flood plain where the waters in the 1:500 year flood plain are projected to be less than a depth of one metre or a velocity of one metre per second.

1.5 POLICIES WITHIN AN OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN

A Plan comprises policies, guidelines and implementation measures. Policies are statements which determine how decisions will be made in the future, that is, and express the current positions of Council on future decisions. There are three kinds of policies in an Official Community Plan: regulatory policies, implementation policies and advocacy policies.

Regulatory policies deal with the control and management of land and resource use over which a municipality has direct jurisdiction. For example, regulatory policies would address the appropriate type, location and intensity of various kinds of development within a municipality. Implementation policies identify specific actions needed to achieve objectives desired by a municipality. Advocacy policies express the position of Council on matters which may be beyond its direct jurisdiction, but which may affect its operations. Such advocacy policies could be directed towards neighboring municipal jurisdictions or senior levels of government or may clarify Councils’ preferences on certain issues.

1.6 IMPLEMENTATION OF AN OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN

The goals and objectives stated within the Plan are primarily to be implemented by Council through the adoption of a Zoning Bylaw. They may also be implemented through Council’s long term plan for capital works and servicing policies.

1.7 AREA AFFECTED BY THE OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN

This Plan affects and is legally binding upon the entire Rural Municipality of Three Lakes No. 400.

1.8 STATEMENTS OF PROVINCIAL INTEREST

Council wants to ensure consistency between this Plan and the Statements of Provincial Interest (adopted as Provincial Regulations in March, 2012). To assist in this process, the Plan specifically identifies where these Statements (SPIs) appear in Councils’ opinion, to be appropriate for consideration within the Plan’s Policies and Implementation. All fourteen SPIs (see Appendix 2 of this Plan) are listed according to the Section numbers of those Provincial Regulations.