Official Community Plan

1. The Official Community Plan: Purpose, Scope and Definitions, Policies and Implementation

The purpose of this Official Community Plan is to provide guidance to the Council of the Rural Municipality

A Plan comprises policies, guidelines and implementation measures.

The goals and objectives stated within the Plan are primarily to be implemented by Council through the adoption of a Zoning Bylaw.

This Plan affects and is legally binding upon the entire Rural Municipality of Three Lakes No. 400.

2. Municipal Issues for the Rural Municipality of Three Lakes No. 400

Recreational Land Use

Source Water Protection

Agricultural Land Use

Land Subdivision

Country Residential Land Use

Environmentally Sensitive Areas and Hazard Lands:Other Residential Land Uses

Heritage Sensitive Areas

Highway Commercial and Light Industrial Use

Transportation and Utility Corridors

3. Lakeshore Residential Objectives

To ensure that lakeshore development occurs in a manner, and at locations which are compatible with each other and with surrounding land uses.

To minimize land use and access conflicts and prevent incompatible land use of shoreland.

To promote safety for all lake users.

To maintain, protect and where possible, enhance water quality and Source Water protection.

To protect the amenities and environmental quality of the municipality’s lakes and shoreland.

To encourage cooperative planning between Council, other jurisdictions and the public.

To promote cooperation with provincial, federal and other municipal jurisdictions in the administration of municipal land use policies.

4. Environmental Protection Objectives for Lakes and Watercourses

To protect an adequate supply of surface and groundwater for the benefit of all residents and landowners.

To ensure that the lakes and watercourses in the RM are protected from erosion and pollution due to new excavations and unnecessary placement of fill.

To protect the shorelines of lakes and watercourses from encroachment by uses which may either interfere with natural drainage patterns or would be adversely affected by flooding.

5. Municipal Management Objectives

To ensure that the sustainable development of all land and water resources (such as agricultural, fishery and wildlife resources) within and adjacent to the municipality’s boundaries occurs in a manner, and at locations which are compatible with each other.

To minimize land use and access conflicts.

To promote developments (including consideration of the RM’s costs for new or upgraded roads) at locations which conform to the municipality’s land use policies.

To protect the amenities and environmental quality of the municipality’s land and water resources.

To encourage cooperative planning between Council, neighbouring RMs & Villages

To promote cooperation with provincial, federal and other municipal jurisdictions and to administer municipal land use policies in compliance with any applicable Provincial Interests and Federal Regulations.

To ensure the orderly and appropriate subdivision, development of land and of cost-efficient services to support that development, the applicant for all new development or subdivision shall pay for whatever municipal services must be improved or expanded to service the proposal, unless specifically exempted (in whole or part) from this requirement by Council under Section 5.2.

6. Agricultural Land Use Objectives

To avoid land use conflict between new, non-agricultural uses which may be allowed in the RM and all current types of agricultural uses, which exist in the area.

To ensure that agriculture remains the primary land use in the balance of the municipality. To support agricultural operations, a maximum number of farm-related dwellings will be allowed on each farmstead. This will also be achieved by ensuring that the potential impact of all new or expanding non – agricultural land uses in the RM do not negatively affect existing agricultural uses. To allow new intensive agriculture developments (intensive livestock operations – ILOs) only at appropriate locations. This Objective will also include any expansion proposed for existing ILOs. Such uses must still be located to avoid or at least minimize land use conflict with nearby existing or potential uses (e.g. residential dwellings) which have already been fully approved by Council, and where required, by Provincial or Federal authorities.

Council supports the preservation of traditional agricultural operations and farming within the Municipality and to manage the long term development in this District in that context. Developments which are predominantly agricultural in nature or are supportive of the agricultural industry shall be encouraged throughout the RM. Other developments which are compatible with agricultural production and accessory uses shall be allowed by Council as either permitted or discretionary uses.

7. Recreational Resource Objectives and Policies

To ensure that the recreation resources of the RM can to be sustained through environmental protection of the lakes and watercourses associated wetlands.

To maximize the benefits and minimize the costs to the landscape and residents of the municipality which may result from recreation activities.

To avoid disturbance of fisheries habitat, critical wildlife habitat, hazard lands and other environmentally sensitive areas.

To allow new recreational activities in environmentally sensitive areas, heritage sensitive areas and hazard lands only to the extent that these lands are not detrimentally affected by recreational users.

8. Country Residential and Hamlet Objectives

To provide for farm-related and non-farm related residential development in agricultural areas at low densities which will compliment but not supersede the agricultural and business function of the municipality.

To allow limited numbers of non-farm related residential development by specifying the financial and locational Policies in this OCP which will be mandatory for all multi-parcel proposals to comply with, in advance of Council agreeing to amend the Zoning Bylaw to allow the subdivision.

When any conflict arises between these Country Residential Objectives and the Agricultural Objectives in Section 6.1, it shall be resolved by Council giving priority to the Agricultural Objectives in making their decision.

The existing Villages of Middle Lake, Pilger, and St. Benedict are now outside the limits of the RM and each operates as separate Municipal Corporations. The latter two Villages each contain less than 100 residents and may choose to request that their Villages revert to a Hamlet or Organized Hamlet status. This is considered a “restructuring” under the procedure outlined in Division 3 of The Municipalities Act. If such requests were to be granted by the Minister of Municipal Affairs, it means that the former Villages would become part of the RM.

The RM does not intend to promote or initiate any such process, (since that should be initiated by the Villages themselves), but prefers to have an Objective and Policies in this Plan to prepare for the possible creation of new Hamlets in the RM. The primary Objective for this matter is to ensure that the RM Council and the residents of any existing Village which choose to make a restructuring request to become part of the RM, will have some Policies in this Plan to assist in the restructuring.

9. Highway Commercial/light Industrial

Proposals for these uses should meet the following Objectives by ensuring that they:

are in areas which will not be affected by, or would cause land use conflict as shown on the two Constraints Maps;

will conform to current Plan Policies, or would be beneficial to the RM and adjacent landowners; and

either conforms to the possible development areas shown on the Land Use Concept Map, or would benefit the environmental, social and economic attributes of the RM without causing land use or servicing problems as noted above.

10. Implementation Policies, Requirements, Plan Maps

The following Policies outline the actions (which are either required by the Act or have been selected by Council) for use in implementing this OCP. Other actions which are available to Council pursuant to other Provincial Legislation also may be used to assist in the administration of this Plan.

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