Do you want to have an impact on the future of your community?
To ensure our future Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law reflects the preferences of our residents, we need your feedback, thoughts, ideas, and participation!
If you prefer to read the following information in PDF format, please 
download a copy here.
Context and Process:
The Municipality of the District of Clare is updating their Municipal Planning Strategy and the associated Land Use By-law to comply with the Province’s Minimum Planning regulations. To do so, we have teamed up with Stantec Consulting Ltd.
All updates concerning this exercise will be added to this page.
The Municipality last updated its Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use Bylaw documents more than a decade ago. The last review of the Municipality of the District of Clare’s Municipal Planning Strategy was completed in July 2010 and the Land Use By-law was last amended in July 2012.
In addition to the review of planning documents, the municipality requires consideration of supporting policies, regulations, and other documents as described further below.
While the immediate requirement for review arises from the province’s recently proclaimed Minimum Planning Regulations, the revision of the plans and bylaws for the Municipality of the District of Clare will provide an opportunity to articulate a new vision reflecting current circumstances related to the growth, sustainability, socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural well-being of people living in our community.
What is a Municipal Planning Strategy?
The Municipal Planning Strategy is the Municipality’s long-term, high-level policy document. The Municipal Planning Strategy describes all aspects of development and land use within the Municipality’s planned area. It sets policy for where growth and different land uses can happen.
The Municipal Planning Strategy also contains policy on the environment and on transportation. All other planning documents must be consistent with the Municipal Planning Strategy. The Province of Nova Scotia requires Municipal Planning Strategies to be reasonably consistent with the five following statements of provincial interest:
- Drinking water
- Flood risk areas
- Agricultural land
- Infrastructure
- Housing
A Municipal Planning Strategy can be characterized as follows:
- A tool that guides the development of the Municipality.
- A visionary and strategic plan that establishes the basis for actions and decisions to protect and enhance the quality of life of all residents, present and future.
- A decision-making tool on which to base land-use interventions that have social, economic, physical, and environmental impacts.
- A dynamic plan that sets out the vision for the Municipality over the next decade, that can be updated as the Municipality continues to change, and that is revised no later than 10 years after it comes into force.
- A tool that aligns all municipal planning policies and by-laws.
What is a Land Use By-law?
Land use by-laws shape development and land use through a set of regulations designed to implement the municipal planning strategy. Land use regulations divide the municipality into zones. Zoning also makes it possible to authorize and prohibit different land uses in order to minimize land-use conflicts. Clear, concise regulations can protect different types of land in different ways, depending on the type of land in question.
A Land Use By-law can be characterized as follows:
- Promotes well-planned municipal development by regulating land use.
- Promotes quality of life, well-being, safety and privacy in domestic environments, while reducing the nuisances that can be caused by living together.
- Respects the unique characteristics and context of a community by ensuring appropriate development.
- Framing the quality of construction, signage, and landscaping.
- Considers the natural characteristics of the land and its physical aspects.
September 2024 Update
Context
The Municipality of the District of Clare is currently reviewing and updating its Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) and Land Use By-law (LUB). To carry out this important undertaking, the Municipality has hired Stantec Consulting Ltd.
The Municipality of Clare needs to complete this work, so it is compliant with the Province of Nova Scotia’s legislation, more specifically the Province’s Minimum Planning Requirements as per Bill 58 of the Municipal Government Act. In addition to the Minimum Planning Requirements, the Municipality needs to present an MPS and LUB that is aligned with five statements of provincial interest. The five statements of provincial interest are: drinking water, flood risk areas, agricultural land, infrastructure, and housing. You can find more information on the Minimum Planning Requirements and the five statements of provincial interest below.
The MPS and the LUB compliment each other and will shape the future of our community. The MPS will become something of a compass for the Municipality as it will outline our community’s priorities, which will guide municipal Council and staff in their priorities. In turn, the LUB will become an effective tool for directing development while the MPS is being carried out.
Quick links
Click here to download the What We Heard Report.
Click here to download the Municipal Planning Strategy Preparation document (includes information on the minimum planning requirements and the five statements of provincial interest).
What has been accomplished so far?
Stakeholder interviews and meetings: In fall 2023 / winter 2024 Stantec completed stakeholder interviews with several private and public sector stakeholders. The respondents, questions and answers from these interviews can be found in the What We Heard Report.
An additional stakeholder meeting with private sector representatives was held in summer 2024 to further discuss the impacts that the updated MPS and LUB could have on our business community.
Public workshop / consultation: A public workshop was held at the Little Brook Fire Hall in January 2024. Approximately sixty (60) people attended and shared their feedback. During the workshop, Stantec presented a community scan focusing on demographic information such as age, income, housing, and employment.
Participants were then broken up into smaller groups to discuss the following:
- Issues and potential identification: participants were invited to discuss what they love, issues, and potentials of our community.
- The vision for Clare: participants were invited to create a vision for our community with the vision sheet they were given during the workshop.
- Existing vision: this was an individual exercise where participants were invited to share their thoughts on what type of community they want Clare to be.
A lot of great ideas and points were brought up during the workshop, and the love our residents have for our community was at the forefront of the ideas and issues we heard about. That said, many workshop participants were opposed to implementing changes to the Municipality’s LUB, because they like things the way they are.
And we understand why people feel that way. Change is never easy, and the residents of Clare do not want overbearing and complex zoning regulations that will limit private land use. Rest assured that this is not the goal of the MPS and LUB review. Rather, the Municipality of Clare needs to complete this work to ensure it is compliant with the Province’s Minimum Planning Requirements (which we’ll go into detail about below), as well as to protect private landowners from the effects of undesirable land use.
The Municipality’s current LUB essentially depicts one zone for all types of land use (residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, etc.). While this means total flexibility, it also means there is no way to control or avoid undesirable land use or growth. Imagine, for example, your neighboring property is sold to an investor who does not have our community at heart, and they open an industrial factory next to your home. Under the current LUB, there are no regulations preventing this (or something like this) from happening.
Online survey: As part of the MPS and LUB review, Stantec launched a public survey during the winter (December 17 – March 3) of 2024. A total of 322 people completed the survey. The survey included 16 questions, which captured a variety of information and opinions of respondents. The survey results can be found in the What We Heard Report.
Meeting with Council: On July 24, 2024, Stantec met with Council to discuss the MPS and LUB review process, as well as Council’s vision for the exercise and implementation of the two documents. Council is with you in that they do not want to pass an MPS and LUB that will be overly restrictive. However, they do understand the need for compliance with provincial legislation and basic zoning regulations to avoid hazardous growth in our communities. Once complete, the MPS will become Council’s compass, as it will outline the Municipality’s priorities.
Major Themes
During all stakeholder engagement events, several key themes emerged. These included:
- Housing and affordable housing are key needs in Clare.
- The municipality has an excellent quality of life.
- Attracting and retaining young families to Clare is important.
- Access and views of the water must be preserved.
- Zoning can be good and bad. It should not be an obstacle to new developments.
- The current environment is very flexible, and it works for the community.
- Clare has an Acadian identity and a heritage that needs to be preserved and enhanced wherever possible.
- Public transportation and active mobility should be a priority in the planning of the municipality for the present and upcoming years.
Minimum Planning Requirements
Let’s jump to the Minimum Planning Requirements. The Minimum Planning Requirements are a requirement of Bill 58, adopted by the Province of Nova Scotia under the Municipal Government Act (MGA). In other terms, to be compliant with the province’s legislation, the Municipality of Clare needs to meet the Minimum Planning Requirements within their Municipal Planning Strategy. The Minimum Planning Requirements that must be reflected in the Municipal Planning Strategy are as follows:
a. A discussion of the background and contextual information that informed the goals and objectives of the municipal planning strategy.
b. A map of the lands within a municipality that depicts the intended future uses of the lands as contemplated by the municipality’s municipal planning strategy.
c. Statements of policy with respect to the lands subject to the municipal planning strategy in relation to all the following:
i. Residential uses,
ii. Commercial and industrial uses,
iii. Institutional uses,
iv. Recreational facilities and public open spaces, and
v. Resource uses, where resources are present within a municipality.
d. A statement of policy describing the procedures to be followed when reviewing a municipal planning strategy that must provide for public consultation and notice.
In short, all municipalities must adopt comprehensive planning documents that apply to their entire area. For more information about the Minimum Planning Requirements, please consult the Municipal Planning Strategy Preparation document here.
Statement of Provincial Interest
The Province of Nova Scotia has declared its specific interests which must be reflected in the Municipality’s LUB. The five statements of provincial interest are as follows:
- Drinking water: whether you get your drinking water from a well or a surface water source (like a lake), some types of land use, like chemicals, hydrocarbons, or agricultural waste, can threaten drinking water quality. This statement of interest requires municipalities to restrict land use that could threaten the quality of drinking water. This usually means restricting land use in the immediate vicinity of a water source. The goal of this statement of interest is to ensure that drinking water supply is not contaminated or threatened.
- Flood risk analysis: this statement of interest asks that municipalities map and identify floodplains (a low-lying area of land, usually near a body of water that is susceptible to flooding). The statement recommends adopting restrictions to limit development in floodplain areas. The goal of this statement of interest is to avoid development in areas that are likely to flood.
- Agricultural land: while the Municipality of Clare is not an agricultural powerhouse, there is agricultural activity in our community. This statement of interest aims to protect agricultural land from urban development. The statement recommends identifying agricultural land so it can be preserved and directing new development to areas with low agricultural value. The goal of this statement of interest is to ensure agricultural lands are not lost to urban development.
- Infrastructure: this statement of interest is geared towards municipal infrastructure such as municipal water and wastewater systems. While the Municipality of Clare does not offer a municipal water system, it does have three (3) wastewater treatment systems in villages of Belliveau Cove, Church Point, and Meteghan. This statement of interest aims to identify service boundaries for each respective system and encourage development within those service boundaries or in areas where they could easily be extended. The goal of this statement of interest is to encourage development in areas that could benefit from municipal infrastructure in a cost-effective manner.
- Housing: housing has become a prominent concern in communities across the country as Canada has confronted a nation-wide housing shortage. Many people have migrated to Nova Scotia, and more specifically to Clare, from higher cost housing markets to seek affordable housing options. In doing so, housing prices have increased while availability and housing options have dwindled. This statement of provincial interest requires municipalities to provide diverse housing types such as affordable housing, special-needs housing, and rental accommodations, as well as to increase housing density. The goal of this statement of interest is to alleviate the current condition of the housing market by encouraging and developing various types of housing.
Consideration and compliance with these five Statements of Provincial Interest are a critical part of the MPS approval process. The Municipality of Clare needs to ensure that the MPS that will be presented to the Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing will reflect these five statements of provincial interest.
What’s next?
Stantec is currently working on the MPS and LUB drafts. Here is an updated timeline for the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law review exercise:
- End of September / beginning of October 2024 – MPS and LUB Drafts
- October 2024 – Staff comments and review
- October/November 2024 Council presentation on first drafts
- November 2024 – Open houses to review drafts
- January 2025 – Council review
- February 2025 – Public hearing and second reading
- March 2025 – Project close out
Contact
If you have any questions about this exercise, you can contact the municipal office by phone at 902-769-2031 or you can send us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..