What is Land Use Planning?
What’s on this page?
Overview
The role of planning includes creating and implementing a vision to help build a healthy, inclusive community, balance population growth with the environment and ensure that the land use choices now reflect the needs for the future of our community and future generations. Our goal is to harmonize community needs with environmental stewardship and sustainable growth.
The Blueprint of Land Use in Lennox & Addington
Our County varies in the context of agriculture, economics, culture, geography and tourism. What happens in rural Addington Highlands is different from what happens along the waterfront in Loyalist Township. We work to support economic growth and enable healthy, liveable, safe and accessible communities while ensuring a delicate balance between development and preservation.
In the County of Lennox & Addington, land use planning is guided by the County Official Plan, which sets out the goals, objectives, policies and strategies for developing within our community.
The County of Lennox & Addington is composed of four lower tier municipalities. Each municipality has its own council and mayor, and have established their own Official Plans and Zoning By-law Policies. Check with your local government for more information on planning applications.
What does the County Planning Department Do?
- Develops policies that guide land use across the County.
- Planning advice to the CAO and County Council.
- Resources, support and information to local municipalities and the public.
- Reviews planning applications and makes recommendations to local and County Councils and Committees.
- Conducts special studies in support the County’s Official Plan, such as Growth Management Study and the Natural Heritage Study.
- Responds to general and property-specific inquiries from the public, municipal partners and other stakeholders.
The County of Lennox & Addington is also the approval authority for Plans of Subdivisions and Condominiums and local Official Plan Amendments for the Township of Addington Highlands. The County is also the approval authority for any County Official Plan Amendments and Local Official Plan Five-Year Reviews.
How does Development Planning Work in Ontario?
Planning in Ontario is guided by the Planning Act, which serves as the principal document governing land use planning across the Province. The Province issues a Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) under the Planning Act to promote Provincial interests such as providing for a full range of housing options and protecting and managing natural resources. The PPS is a key document that provides policy direction on matters of Provincial interest related to land use planning and development.
The County Official Plan sets out the vision for our shared future, land use planning goals and policies to guide future land use.
Each municipality has its own Official Plan which guides land use at a more detailed level than the County Official Plan.
Each local municipality also has its own Zoning By-law which puts the policies of the County and the local Official Plans into effect. The Zoning By-law divides the municipality into zones and specifies what land uses are permitted, where buildings and structures may be located and the development standards for each zone (e.g. lot size, heights, setbacks…)
Read More: The Government of Ontario (Ministry of Municipal Affairs) has produced a Citizen’s Guide to explain the land use planning process in Ontario.
