Village of Chester Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law Review

Following public meetings in Summer 2023, and discussion with Council in October, direction was provided to staff to make changes based on public input and feedback. This work in now complete and Draft #2 of the Chester Village Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law are now available.

A summary of changes from Draft #1:

• Reverted minimum lot area in R1 (ER) Zone to 40,000 sq. ft. (no change from existing), but maintained new maximum footprint and Gross Floor Area requirements;
• Removed height exemption for solar panels (panels are permitted but must comply with maximum building height);
• Maintained primary residence requirement for Short Term Rentals in Residential Zones. Added language to confirm no "grandfathering" or existing status will be granted to existing Short Term Rentals;
• Removed Corner Vision Triangle requirements for intersections (received good support but determined to be outside of Municipal jurisdiction as vast majority of roads are Provincially owned and maintained);
• Retaining walls 2m or more in height now require a development permit. When deemed necessary the Development Officer may now call for submission of geotechnical report to confirm the work will not create or worsen erosion/hazard;
• In Outer Area, commercial agriculture, which could include keeping farm animals, is now regulated by Development Agreement;
• Shipping containers that are fully clad in appropriate siding and roofing materials shall be viewed as any other structure in the zone;
• Expanded Storm water Standard to apply to developments of 3 or more dwelling units, all commercial and industrial developments, with exception for very small additions;
• Architectural Control Changes:
  • added minimum roof pitch of 2:12 for multi-unit residential and commercial buildings;
  • Vinyl siding prohibited on buildings with footprint over 140 m2;
  • Vinyl siding limited to 25% of public façade for buildings with footprint less than 140 m2;
  • Prohibited use of metal siding, concrete block, unfinished concrete, and stone veneer (faux stone);
  • added maximum height for accessory structures of 6 m;
  • Accessory structures larger than 20 m2 must comply with Architectural Controls;
  • Added provision to prohibit dirt, stone, gravel or other aggregate as being used to replace traditional landscaping and lawn areas;
• LUB Map Changes:
  • Reverted several properties along Highway 3 from R4 to HC, based on submission from Luke MacDonald representing owners of the land;
  • Reverted PID 60093572 from R4 to HC at Owner's request;
  • Small Municipal parcel adjacent Tancook Wharf rezoned to Parks and Open Space;
  • Rezoned two areas from R1 to R2, based on changes to R1 zone to maintain large existing lot size, these lots did not it the criteria of R1 and would have been limited in development potential while under R1. Areas include: Brunswick-Victoria/Regent-Union Streets and Pig Loop-Harbour Vie Lane/Nauss Point - Municipal Sewer Plant.

Draft #2 will be presented to Council on Thursday February 29, 2024. At the meeting a discussion will occur to determine the extent of the final round of public engagement, which will include at minimum one public meeting in March. This page will be updated once the final public engagement schedule has been confirmed.

Copies of the updated documents are now available in the Document Library or by following the links below:

Draft #2 of the Chester Village Land Use By-law

Draft #2 Land Use By-law Maps (Zoning)

Draft #2 of the Chester Village Secondary Planning Strategy

Draft #2 SPS Maps

Following the series of public sessions held in the summer, staff have received a large number of written comments, emails and letters in response to the draft Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law.

These comments have been categorized and documented in the What We Heard Report (available here). Copies of all original written comments (with redactions of sensitive information) are attached to the report as an Appendix.

Council will consider the report this Thursday, October 26th. The meeting begins at 8:45am in Council Chambers (151 King St.) and is open to the public to attend.

Following the meeting, staff will make changes to the documents based on the direction from Council and then produce a Final Draft for consideration and adoption. Note: a Public Hearing will be held prior to adoption which is a final opportunity for members of the public to speak or write in favour or opposition to the documents. More information on the Public Hearing will be posted and advertised when available.

A big thank you to everyone who attended one of the four public sessions, has called, written in and/or stopped into the planning office to learn about and provide comments and feedback on the draft SPS and LUB. We have been very pleased with the turnout and submissions received to date (we had 135 attendees across the 4 sessions).

The next step in the review process is to bring a "What we heard report" to the Village Planning Advisory Committee (VPAC) for discussion and comment before the report moves to Council. This meeting with the VPAC was originally scheduled for September 12, 2023. Due to the amount of feedback received and to ensure that the report contains appropriate options for changes to the draft documents, a decision has been made to postpone the September 12 meeting. The new date for the VPAC meeting is OCTOBER 10, 2023 beginning at 4:00pm in Municipal Council Chambers (151 King Street). The meeting is open to members of the public who wish to attend. Time to speak and address the Committee is determined by the Committee members at the meeting.

Also, while the formal ask was to submit comments and feedback by August 25, 2023, we will continue to accept feedback that arrives and attempt to incorporate this into the report.

Following a series of 4 public meetings held in July and August, staff are now reviewing and processing comments and feedback received to date. In order to proceed to the next steps and discuss the comments and feedback with Council, we are asking that comments and feedback be submitted to planning@chester.ca, dropped off at 186 Central Street or mailed to Municipality of Chester, PO Box 369, Chester, NS B0J 1J0. We will try to incorporate any feedback received after this date, but strongly encourage you to submit by the suggested deadline to ensure your comments are received and considered by Council.

On Saturday July 22, staff held the first public session to discuss the draft Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law for the Village of Chester. Despite the damaging and heavy rains experienced over the previous 24 hours, there was a good turn-out and discussion. In light of the extreme weather and travel implications, we have decided to schedule a 4th public meeting. This will be held on Saturday August 5th beginning at 10:30am at St. Stephen's Community Centre (54 Regent St. Chester).

The schedule of all remaining meetings (held at 54 Regent St. Chester) is:

• Wednesday July 26 - beginning at 2:30pm
• Thursday August 3 - beginning at 6:30pm
• (NEW) Saturday August 5 - beginning at 10:30am

The content at each session will be the same, however, discussion and questions will likely differ. Please feel free to attend one or more sessions and spread the word to friends, family, neighbours and other community members.

Feel free to reach out at any time to ask questions, provide comments or discuss the Village Plan Review by emailing: planning@chester.ca or phoning 902-275-2599.

Copies of the DRAFT Village of Chester Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law are now available! This is the first public draft of the documents. During July and early August, a series of meetings will be held to respond to questions and gather comments. Final changes to the draft documents will be discussed and approved with Council at a meeting expected to occur in late August or September.

To download a copy of the documents, click this link for the Secondary Planning Strategy and this link for the Village Land Use By-law. Or navigate to the Document Library on the right side of the Project page for access to all related documents.

If you would prefer a paper copy of the SPS & LUB, they are available for loan or sale ($10 per set) by contacting the Community Development Department at 902-275-2599 or email: planning@chester.ca

On June 22 Council approved a final engagement schedule to provide information and collect comments and feedback related to the Village Plan Review. In addition to the formal engagement events, members of the public are welcome to reach out to planning staff at any time, by phone (902-275-2599) or email (planning@chester.ca), to provide comments, or request a meeting time to discuss any ideas or concerns in relation to the new planning documents.

2023 is set to be an exciting year in the ongoing Village Plan Review. Planning staff are currently working on a 1st draft of the new Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law. These drafts will be reviewed internally before being presented to Council. We hope to present the 1st public draft of the documents in Spring 2023 (see timeline on the side bar for more details).

Once the 1st draft is presented to Council it will be publicly available for review and comment. We hope to have the draft documents available for comment for at least four weeks, with several public engagement events held during this period. The draft documents will also be presented to the Village Planning Advisory Committee during this time for their comments.

Staff will then prepare a report for Council to summarize the pubic and planning committee comments and discuss with Council to determine what changes are required to the draft documents.

If all goes according to plan, by Fall 2023 we hope to have a Final Draft prepared and brought to Council for approval and implementation by the end of the year. Please reach out if you have questions or comments regarding the Village Review: email: planning@chester.ca or phone 902-275-2599

Summer 2022 has seen a return to public facing elements of the Chester Village Plan Review. The Spring and early Summer focused primarily on the Built Form and Character Defining Elements study. This work was led by FBM Architects (click here for more information), with support from Municipal Staff. A public workshop held on May 18th at the Chester Legion was well attended. The final report detailing the study's findings is expected to be presented to Council and the public by the end of the Summer. The report will provide advice and guidance on the style of development most appropriate for Chester Village. This will be accompanied by suggested regulations and guidelines that will be considered for adoption as part of the Plan Review.

Following this work, staff are planning a public engagement session to focus on the Highway 3 Development Area also known as North Street. The workshop is scheduled for Thursday August 18th, 2022 and will be held at the Chester Legion (14 Union Street). The workshop will include two identical sessions from 2:30-4:00pm and 6:30-8:00pm. The Highway 3 area was not included in the FBM study, which was focused on the core of the Village, including Front and Back Harbors and surrounding properties. The Highway 3 area has some unique attributes and regulations when compared to other parts of Chester Village. As part of the Village Plan Review, staff are seeking to engage and discuss ideas with members of the community. We want to hear how you feel development should be managed along Highway 3 (within the Village Boundary). Staff have recently completed and uploaded a "discussion paper" in advance of the workshop. The paper outlines many of the concepts and ideas we plan to cover in the workshop and is intended to serve as preparation and background for the session on August 18.

Please feel free to review the discussion paper in advance of the workshop and as always, don't hesitate to reach out with questions, comments or suggestions relating to the Village Plan Review by phone: 902-275-2599 or email: planning@chester.ca