Land Use Planning & Conservation
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Land
use planning by municipalities is an
important tool for communities to decide how their future will be
shaped, what areas are developed and which remain in a natural
state. Nowadays, land use plans should include natural heritage
systems plans that plan systems of natural areas and connecting
habitat corridors for each municipality or watershed. Carolinian
Canada's "Big
Picture" system of core natural areas and connections is
a natural heritage system that stretches across the entire
ecological region.
Official Plans and All That
An Official Plan for your municipality sets out
the broad direction for land use in your municipality for 10-20
years. Official plans usually include policies about natural
heritage features like wetlands, woodlands, wildlife habitat and
rare species. The Provincial
Policy Statement under the Planning Act (see the Planning
Act at E-Laws) guides the development of Official Plans and
other planning documents. Zoning by-laws, site plan control, plans
of subdivision, severances and other land use decisions by
municipal councils are guided by Official Plan policies. Official
plans are reviewed every five to ten years.
You can find information on your municipality's
land use planning approach on their web site. The Association of
Municipalities of Ontario maintains links to all Ontario
municipalities. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
also publishes information on citizen's
guides to land use planning and the Federation of Ontario
Naturalists has an excellent stop
urban sprawl web page.
Citizen participation in municipal land use
planning provides excellent opportunities to advance natural
heritage conservation. Many municipalities have Environmental
Advisory Committees that assist in providing sound scientific
advice on natural heritage conservation. Conservation
authorities actively participate in the review of municipal
planning documents.
Natural Heritage Planning
The Planning
Act guides municipal planning across Ontario. The Provincial
Policy Statement under the Planning Act includes natural
heritage policies, water resource management policies and
natural hazard policies that all support natural heritage
protection and good environmental management. The natural
heritage policies (2.3) are shown in the box on the right.
The natural heritage policies in the Provincial Policy
Statement are supported by the Wetland Evaluation Manuals,
Natural Heritage Reference Manual and the Significant
Wildlife Habitat Technical Guide.
The best approach to natural heritage protection is one
that views all wildlife and habitat as a system that should
work together to protect and enhance ecological diversity in
the region. The "natural heritage system" approach
identifies a regional system of core natural areas and the
linking habitat corridors. Potential areas for restoring and
enhancing natural areas and corridors are also identified.
Carolinian Canada's Big
Picture natural heritage analysis offers a comprehensive
approach to natural heritage system planning.
Illustration
of a Natural Heritage System
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2.3 Natural Heritage Policy
2.3.1 Natural heritage features
and areas will be protected from incompatible
development.
a. Development and site
alteration will not be permitted in:
- significant wetlands south
and east of the Canadian Shield; and
- significant portions of the
habitat of endangered and threatened species.
b. Development and site
alteration may be permitted in:
- fish habitat;
- significant wetlands in the
Canadian Shield;
- significant woodlands south
and east of the Canadian Shield;
- significant valleylands
south and east of the Canadian Shield;
- significant wildlife
habitat; and
- significant areas of natural
and scientific interest
if it has been demonstrated
that there will be no negative impacts on the
natural features or the ecological functions for
which the area is identified.
2.3.2 Development and site
alteration may be permitted on adjacent lands to a)
and b) if it has been demonstrated that there will
be no negative impacts on the natural features or on
the ecological functions for which the area is
identified.
2.3.3 The diversity of natural
features in an area, and the natural connections
between them should be maintained, and improved
where possible.
2.3.4 Nothing in policy 2.3 is
intended to limit the ability of agricultural uses
to continue.
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Some key components of a natural
heritage system are Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest and
wetlands. Lists and maps of these areas and others are available
from the Natural heritage Information Centre.
The Niagara
Escarpment Plan is a special environmental provincial land
use plan for the Niagara Escarpment, which includes a portion of
the Carolinian zone in Niagara, Hamilton, Halton and Peel.
Carolinian Canada also has made
recommendations on how land use planning in Ontario could be
improved. The report "Practical
Options for the greening of Carolinian Canada"
provides these suggestions. The Provincial Policy Statement is
currently undergoing a five-year review which provides
opportunities for improvement,
Watershed Planning
Watershed planning is an approach
to land use and water resource planning that takes a comprehensive
view of land use in an entire river basin or watershed. This
approach recognizes that land use will affect water quality and
aquatic and terrestrial habitat and should be planned to avoid
loss of habitat and water quality. Conservation
authorities in the Carolinian ecoregion advocate this
approach as has the recent Walkerton
Inquiry. Watershed and subwatershed plans usually also
identify a natural heritage system.
The province also promotes
watershed planning with three guidance documents published by the Ministries
of the Environment and Natural Resources.
Smart Growth
Smart Growth is a term coined to
describe a new approach to land use planning that emphasizes
efficient use of land, supports transit, compact community design,
and natural heritage protection. The Ontario government has
appointed a number of advisory panels to examine a "smart
growth" strategy for Ontario. Ontario government's Smart
Growth web site and reports.
Federation of Ontario Naturalists
has published reports on smarter approaches to community
development on their stop
urban sprawl web page.
You can read Carolinian Canada's
comments on the Central Zone Panel report in PDF
format. One key
comment provided was that a natural heritage system for southern
Ontario should be developed based on the "Big
Picture" natural heritage analysis, watershed plans,
environmentally significant areas and other natural area
inventories.
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