Senior planning staff delivered some disappointing news to Huntsville\u2019s Planning Committee on October 12. They informed committee that due to staff shortages in the planning department, hopes of completing Huntsville\u2019s Official Plan review this year will not happen.<\/p>\n
Why does the Official Plan (OP) matter?<\/strong><\/p>\n Huntsville\u2019s Official Plan may not be the sexiest material you\u2019ll ever read, but it is important. It determines how and where your community will grow, and where industry, services and commerce will be located. It helps residents understand how their land may be used now and into the future. It provides guiding principles for establishing municipal zoning bylaws, which determine things like the size of building lots, boathouses and building heights. The OP is also often used to evaluate and settle conflicting and controversial land uses \u2013 especially at the Ontario Municipal Board.<\/p>\n The last time the Town of Huntsville conducted a comprehensive review of its OP was in 2006, with some minor amendments taking place in 2011\/2012. Manager of Planning, Kirstin Maxwell, gave committee an overview of the work that has been done to date on updating Huntsville\u2019s OP. She said the initial background work was completed between 2012 and 2014. A committee was then established to identify priorities for the OP update, which included things like Hwy 60 design guidelines as well as active transportation requirements. In 2015 Marshall, Macklin, Monaghan (MMM) Consulting Ltd. was hired to proceed with the review. They provided public engagement with a video (see below) and a vision, and a goals and objectives report was completed; there are some additional background reports that are still in progress, Maxwell told committee.<\/p>\n