Prince Edward County is preparing some updates to their official plan.
During a special council meeting on Wednesday, council discussed making some changes to their official plan in order to align with the 2024 provincial planning statement. The discussions took place as part of a statutory meeting on those changes held during the meeting.
The proposed changes include allowing two additional dwelling units in the rural areas, recognizing the approved Picton Main Street Heritage Conservation District and the new Wellington Heritage Conservation District, and clarifying that new lots on private services need to be supplied water by one single on-site private well.
The proposal would also allow settlement area boundary changes and changes to employment areas outside of a comprehensive review. Usually those reviews would take place once every 10 years, and the new update would allow those changes to be done at council’s discretion instead of waiting for the next comprehensive review.
During council’s discussion, Councillor Roy Pennell voiced some concerns about allowing easier expansions to settlement areas.
“We keep going back and every time, let’s expand into prime agriculture land, that’s land lost forever,” said Councillor Pennell. “We’re getting into thousands of acres in this county that agriculture is gone and houses are not necessarily going to keep the farming community active.”
With the public meeting concluded, the proposed changes will come before council again, at a later meeting.
