2 www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Spring 2022 Continued from page 1 3. What has GBA and the CPC done so far? We have done a lot in the past year and there is more to come! ≥ Created a coalition of community members, municipal representatives, and GBA Directors to examine critical issues and propose responsive, measurable actions through our CPC. ≥ Developed an action list of 20 issues and concerns that we want to examine or act upon. ≥ Obtained a grant from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) to fund the work of a recent university graduate to work on our review of municipal planning and land-use standards and other projects. ≥ Hired coastal protection projects coordinator, Cosette Shipman, using the NOHFC grant. Cosette has an outstanding resume, and GBA is thrilled to have her work on these key issues and to benefit from Cosette’s expertise. (Find out more about Cosette on page 4.) ≥ Launched a review of the key elements of the official plans, zoning bylaws, and land-use regulations of area municipalities, for the purpose of sharing information and identifying potential best and sound practices in the field. ≥ Retained an experienced professional planner, Andrea Miller, to write a GBA guide on planning policies and development rules. This will help our members better understand the Bay’s planning systems and how to respond to development applications that do not comply with municipal standards, or that may threaten the environment. Andrea is the former director of planning for the City of Barrie and has extensive experience acting as a consultant on planning and development issues. We aim to issue the guide this spring. ≥ Partnered with the Georgian Bay Biosphere and the Township of the Archipelago to develop clear and accessible materials for a program to educate members and residents on installing and maintaining septic systems. This material will be tailored to the rocky islands and landscapes of the Canadian Shield that dominate our coasts. We expect the materials to be out this spring. The content will be delivered across multiple channels to make the information easy to access and understand. ≥ Retained a communications firm to package the septic systems education program into a range of multi-media presentations, including an e-guide, GBA website pages, GBA UPDATE articles, PowerPoint slides, and posts on Facebook and other social media platforms. ≥ Launched a Coastal Protection Fund to solicit targeted donations to give GBA the resources we need to better promote strong, sustainable planning standards that will protect the natural environment of our coast and respond to developments that threaten those standards and the Bay’s environment. To that end, we are very grateful to two very generous donors who provided significant seed money for this fund, which has enabled GBA to launch this initiative. ≥ Studying site alteration bylaws like the one the Township of the Archipelago is developing (its proposal will be out for comment soon) and the Township of Georgian Bay has in place. These rules aim to protect the natural landscape by regulating changes to the grounds of islands and waterfront lots. ≥ Monitoring the status of major commercial developments on the Bay, such as the Macey Bay development near Honey Harbour. More multi-unit residential developments are likely on the near horizon. The CPC is advising the GBA Board on further actions to respond to them, especially where threats to water quality, shorelines, sensitive fish habitats, species at risk, and wetlands are involved. Continues on page 4 Photo: John Carson
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