Community Planning Permit System: Participate in protecting our lakes and shorelines, and simplifying the planning approvals process

If you are a resident or frequent visitor of any of the four townships in Frontenac County, we need your input on the implementation of a new planning application approvals process.

The new system, called the Community Planning Permit System (CPPS), has two major advantages for residents:

• It will help to further protect the natural heritage of our lakes and shorelines for future generations.
• It will make approvals for small waterfront project permits faster, easier, and less expensive for landowners and builders.

We need your guidance and input on the development of CPPS policies to be amended to County and Township Official Plans and for the creation of a CPPS by-law template each township council may use in establishing the rules under which CPPS operates. We need to better understand how you want to see waterfront development in Frontenac occur in the future and which factors you consider most important in managing new development along waterfronts and shorelines.

Please take a few minutes to review this page, plan to attend a local in-person consultation event when they're announced, and subscribe to EngageFrontenac.ca for updates. This project will help shape the future of land development here in Frontenac and your input is critically important.

Background:

In 2023, Frontenac County planning staff received the support of all four Townships to proceed with a CPPS implementation project for waterfront areas across the region. Click here to see an example video of the initial presentation to Township councils.

The CPPS allows zoning by-law amendments, minor variances, and detailed site plan applications to be processed as one application instead of two or three separate processes under the Ontario Planning Act.

It also allows for the regulation of tree and vegetation removal and replanting, as well as regulating other site alteration, which is normally done under separate by-laws under the Ontario Municipal Act.

This system provides:

• An approvals system to create certainty and transparency for the community, landowners, and developers;
• More timely approvals for applications that meet certain standards and guidelines;
• Outcomes that can more closely align with the community vision based on the Official Plan; and,
• A tool that provides approvals that lead to better environmental protection.

To implement a CPPS, each municipality must adopt an Official Plan Amendment for the CPPS area and pass a Community Planning Permit (CPP) By-Law.

In 2023, County planning staff obtained a commitment from the four Townships to share costs and hire a consulting firm to create a CPP By-Law template that can be delivered to each of the four municipalities and then tailored to their specific needs. All four Township councils passed resolutions to allocate funding and a planning consulting firm, Planscape Inc., was retained to create the template and guide the CPPS implementation process to fruition.