GBA’s Coastal Protection Committee launched the Municipal Planning Comparison Protection at the end of 2021, with the addition of Coastal Protection Project Coordinator, Cosette Shipman, who facilitated the project. The project continued throughout the 2022/23 year which involved collaboration within the GBA and outside partnerships.
The MPCP examines the Strategic Plans (SP), Official Plans (OP), and Comprehensive Zoning By-laws (CZB) of each municipality along the north and east shores of Georgian Bay where GBA members are located (“GBA Area”). These are (alphabetically): Township of the Archipelago (TOA), Township of Carling (TOC), Township of Georgian Bay (TGB), Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands (NEMI), and Municipality of Killarney (MOK) (collectively the “Coastal Municipalities”). The comparison focused on development in waterfront zones (residential and commercial), environmental protection zones and general development.
The MPCP outputs consist of:
- An executive summary: here
- The full comparison: here
- A presentation which has been used for delegations to the municipalities: here
- Watch a video of the MPCP presentation:
In addition to the comparison, an overall goal of the project is to initiate discussion amongst GBA Area municipalities on understanding how they align and differ on their policies related to waterfront and island development and land use standards. Providing the coastal municipalities with this comparison allows collaboration and discussion on developing sound practices and set standards of development on the northern and eastern shores of Georgian Bay, with the goal of coastal protection and sound development.
GBA’s Coastal Protection Committee (CPC)’s mandate is to support the protection of the natural environment, biodiversity and ecology of the lands and waters of the eastern and northern coasts of Georgian Bay. The CPC aims to benefit the public by promoting and defending sound planning standards and protecting the integrity of municipal planning regulations in order to ensure that development is sustainable and environmentally responsible. The development of the MPCP was a key component to the CPC’s strategy, as we believe understanding the planning regulations along the eastern and northern coasts of Georgian Bay is a key concept to coastal protection.