The protection of our…

The protection of our environment and natural heritage is of utmost importance when considering all aspects of development in Ontario. Land Trusts are one of many organizations committed to land protection, primarily through the donation of land by conservation minded landowners.

Often these lands contain a house which the landowner wishes to retain use of, or which is not within the Land Trusts' mandate to manage. Unfortunately in these situations it is often beyond the ability of the land trust to navigate the various planning elements required to facilitate a severance - elements which are presumably in place to prevent bad severance, not to prevent a severance for the purposes of conservation.

Several individual official plans across Ontario provide some relief from this issue, smoothing the way for severances that are for the purposes of conservation. An example from the draft Peterborough County official plan and another from the Peel Regional Official Plan are below. The inclusion of language similar to this in the new provincial panning policy instrument would provide an Ontario-wide solution to the issue and allow more good conservation work to happen more quickly across the province.

Peterborough County
n) Notwithstanding any other policy of this Plan to the contrary, the creation of new lots or the assembly of land through lot additions for conservation purposes by a recognized non-profit organization may be permitted within the boundaries of key natural heritage features and key hydrologic features without the need for a Natural Heritage Evaluation. This exception recognizes the intent to protect the feature and its functions for the long term. Lots created for such purpose will be placed in a separate zoning category, recognizing the lands for a conservation use. For clarity, the zoning may permit passive recreational uses, as well as buildings and structures outside of key features and vegetation protection zones provided they are used for conservation education purposes.

Peel
7.4.9 Lot Creation and Lot Adjustments:
7.4.9.5 Support consents to enable the securement of lands for natural heritage conservation purposes by a public authority or by a non-government conservation organization, provided that:
a) the consent will avoid fragmentation of the Greenlands System's natural heritage features and areas, where possible;
b) in the Prime Agricultural Area, the consent will not create a lot permitting an additional residential dwelling or other additional non-farm development beyond that which was permitted on the original lot to be severed prior to the consent;
c) the acquired and retained lots are in compliance with the local municipal official plan and zoning by-law; and
d) when deemed necessary, a restrictive covenant or conservation easement is placed on title of the land to be held for conservation purposes prohibiting development of the land for non-conservation uses in perpetuity.

7.4.9.6 Encourage the local municipalities to include appropriate lot standards and provisions in their official plans and zoning by-laws to recognize and permit non-complying lots to be created as a result of an acquisition of land by a public authority or a non-government conservation organization for natural heritage conservation purposes.