What Does a Municipal Plan Do?
A municipal plan is a land use planning tool that helps a community set goals and strategies about how it will grow and develop. It balances the interests of individual property owners with the wider interests and objectives of the whole community. Municipal plans become a vision of where the community wants to see itself in the future. They generally try to achieve the following:
- Guide future development in a planned manner;
- Guide infrastructure development and planning;
- Set policy for areas anticipated to host new urban or rural population growth;
- Set policy for local land use priorities that affect social conditions, the economy and the environment;
- Minimize the potential for conflicting land uses; and,
- Establish a process for public consultation regarding proposed land use changes to the area.
Contents of a Municipal Plan
As outlined in section 25 of the Community Planning Act, a municipal plan must set out the local government's policy direction on the following matters:
- development and use of land in the municipality,
- conservation and improvement of the physical environment,
- climate change adaptation and mitigation,
- control and abatement of all forms of pollution of the natural environment,
- development of communication, utility and transportation systems,
- reservation and projected use of land for municipal purposes,
- the provision of municipal services and facilities, including
- sewage collection, treatment and disposal,
- water supply and distribution,
- solid waste disposal,
- educational and cultural institutions,
- recreational facilities, parks, playgrounds and other public open spaces,
- fire and police facilities,
- cemeteries and crematoria,
- urban renewal,
- housing,
- preservation of buildings and sites of historical interest, and
- facilities for the provision of health and social services,
- housing, including affordable housing and rental housing,
- the co-ordination of programmes of the council relating to the economic, social and physical development of the municipality, and,
- any proposal that is, in the opinion of the council, advisable for the implementation of policies referred to in the plan.
Another way that the policies of of the municipal plan are implemented is through the zoning by-law. A zoning by-law will have zoning provisions and a zoning map that prescribe how development may occur in each zone. These zones can regulate the types of land uses, buildings, and structures that that zone may allow and prohibit other uses of land, buildings, and structures that do not comply with the overall municipal plan. For example, a designated rural settlement zone may prohibit the use of land for a large-scale fish processing facility that would negatively impact nearby homes. Or, an industrial zone or a zone permitting livestock operations might prohibit large-scale residential development within it to avoid odour complaints.
How is the Municipal Plan created?
Like any by-law, a rural plan is a by-law adopted by Council. But unlike some local by-laws, municipal plans are required by the province, and they can only be made on the basis on research by professional planners. Plan-making is a public process that involves the whole community; this process is facilitated by the professional planning staff at the Southwest New Brunswick Service Commission (SNBSC). During the plan-making process, information is shared widely to encourage all community members to participate in the municipal plan. This will involve a combination of in-person meetings and mail-in/online surveys. Later in the process of developing a municipal plan and zoning by-law, a formal public hearing will take place so the public can weigh-in on the plan prior to its adoption (or not). Before the hearing, a complete draft of the rural plan is circulated to various Provincial agencies and First Nations for comments. If the MDSS Council is satisfied with the proposed municipal plan, it may be adopted as a by-law.
Public Participation - Help Make the Plan
- Click here to read the Municipal District of St. Stephen Municipal Plan Background Study.
- Click here to fill out the Community Survey for a New Municipal Plan.
- Click here to register for the Zoom public open house on Thursday, November 28th at 12:00 noon.
Attend an Open House:
- November 12, 2024, at 6 p.m., Old Ridge Hall (8993 Route 3), public open house in Ward 1.
- November 13, 2024, at 6 p.m., Oak Bay Memorial Hall (611Route 170), public open house in Ward 3.
- November 28, 2024, at 6 p.m., Garcelon Civic Center, 3rd floor, (22 Budd Ave.), public open house in Ward 2.