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 By the close of the public review period on January 31, 2006, more than 80 submissions had been received on Draft #2 of the Regional Plan. Most of the submissions were supportive overall, although many suggested additional small changes to consider. Many of the suggested changes were already covered in the draft plan and had been contemplated (for future functional plans). In these instances, clarification was all that was needed. A few errors were picked up and were corrected.
The Regional Planning Committee began reviewing the submissions on February 15th. The review continued on February 22nd, March 1st and March 8th.
In documents prepared by Regional Planning staff (see below), the committee received a response and recommendation to every submission. In response to some submissions, a change to Draft #2 was recommended, in others, no change was recommended. The “Response to Public Input” documents clearly laid out 1) the issue or concern being raised in the submission, 2) discussion on the issue and possible options to address it, rationale and implications, and 3) a recommendation on whether or not Draft #2 should be changed.
Some of the more significant changes requested to be considered were:
- changes to proposed service area boundaries to permit the extension of sewer and water services to lands in the communities of Cow Bay, Hammonds Plains/Sandy Lake, Kearney Lake North, Sackville North/Lucasville and Bayers Lake
- changes to regulation of land use concerning the proposed Natural Resource and Open Space Designation, including replacement of the proposed 20 hectare minimum lot size
- adjustments to the proposed boundary between the Open Space and Natural Resource Designation and Rural Commuter Designation
- changes to the proposed boundary of the Open Space and Natural Resource Designation to allow subdivision of lands within 500 meters from trunk roads (not including 100 series highways). The Rural Commuter Designation would be applied within the 500 meter area (along the trunk roads). The 500 meter setback would not apply along Highways 224 and 357 (on the Eastern Shore); the Natural Resource Designation will permit subdivision on these two trunk roads)
- redesignation of lands surplus to the Birch Cove Lakes Regional Park to Urban Reserve
On Wednesday, March 8th the Regional Planning Committee completed its discussion on the submissions. Following the March 8th meeting, and in response to direction from the committee, amendments to Draft #2 were prepared and a revised draft (Draft #3) circulated to the committee.
On Wednesday, March 22, 2006, the Regional Planning Committee voted unanimously to recommend Draft #3 (the final draft) of the Regional Plan to Regional Council. A final report from the committee was tabled with Regional Council on Tuesday, April 25, 2006. The committee's report recommended Regional Council give First Reading of the Regional Plan and set a date for the public hearing.
***The two “Response to Public Input” documents (plus an addendum) are provided below as PDF files. Click the document name to view the file.
“Response to Public Input” - Feb. 10, 2006  (584KB)
“Response to Public Input (Supplementary)” - Feb. 14, 2006 (477KB)
"Addendum to Feb. 14, 2006" - Feb. 22, 2006 (273KB)
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