The Town of Essex’s Official Plan came into force on July 15, 2009, and was subsequently revised in 2015. Some more recent amendments were made to address matters like the accommodation of second dwelling units in accessory buildings on farm properties or the operation of a brewery in combination with an agricultural use. The Province requires municipalities to ensure that their Official Plan has regard to matters of provincial interest and is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) and such other mandates binding the municipality such as, Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, 2015 and Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017, and the Clean Water Act.
The primary purpose of this project is to develop a new Official Plan to address matters of consistency and conformity with applicable Provincial and County policies and legislation, our Strategic Plan and such matters dictated or desired by our Council.
Further, one of the preliminary steps in the Official Plan review process by the consultant will require a complete urban land needs assessment within existing settlement areas to determine any recommendations for shifting of land use designations to be justified by the background Official Plan review work.
