Lambton County Official Plan
This consolidation of the Official Plan for the County of Lambton has been prepared by the Lambton County Planning and Development Department. The Plan was adopted by County Council by By-law No. 70 of 1997 on September 3, 1997, and forwarded to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for approval. A decision to approve the Plan with 12 modifications was issued by the Minister on December 12, 1997, and the Plan came into effect as the Official Plan for the County of Lambton on January 3, 1998. The new Official Plan replaces the first County Official Plan which was adopted in 1981 and approved in 1982.
The Official Plan is a key planning document that outlines County policy for land use, environmental, social and economic matters. Background research for the new Plan began in the Spring of 1995 and was completed in early Spring of 1997. During the research phase, a series of background issue papers were prepared and released for review by a Public Focus Group, a Technical Advisory Committee, the County's Municipal Clerks, the Planning & Development Committee and by County Council.
The background issue papers generally follow two work streams, the natural environment and the built environment. The natural environment work stream addresses topics such as woodlots, environmentally significant features, shoreline management, natural resources such as mineral aggregates and oil and natural gas, and agriculture. The built environment work stream addresses population growth, housing needs, employment, economic development, municipal servicing and other aspects of growth. The issue papers amended as a result of the review process, were adopted by County Council and used to guide the preparation of the Plan.
Between March and September, 1997, a Draft Plan, a Proposed Plan and a Final Plan were prepared. Throughout this process an intensive campaign was conducted to obtain comments from the general public, the Public Focus Group, the Technical Advisory Committee, Municipal Clerks and Local Councils and were held in all local municipalities in the County. Meetings and open houses were extensively advertised in local newspapers. Radio announcements, and a phone-in cable television program hosted by members of the County Planning and Development Committee were also used to obtain public input. Submissions and comments from this process were used to further refine the Plan which evolved into the Council adopted Final Plan.
Lambton County has a two tier planning system in which planning responsibilities are divided between the County and the local municipality. The approach and content of the County Official Plan anticipates an additional level of planning policy detail. In order to reduce duplication, streamline the development of local plans, and to ensure a basic level of comprehensive planning policy throughout the County, it is intended that in addition to this new County Official Plan, a General Local Official Plan will be used to provide a common set of local planning policies. Local municipalities will have the option to vary the extent to which the General Local Official Plan policies will apply, in whole or in part, in their respective municipalities, to more precisely reflect their local circumstances and needs.
Special recognition is due to all of the individuals and organizations whose efforts were invaluable contributions to this project. The following are a few of the organizations: Lambton Wildlife Inc., Lambton Federation of Agriculture, Christian Farmers Federation, Lambton Woodlot Owners Association, Lambton District Health Council, Sarnia Downtown Association, all School Boards, Sarnia Lambton Housing Authority, Sarnia Planning Advisory Committee, Sarnia Planning and Development Department, Lambton County Junior Farmers, Community Legal Assistance, Lambton Seniors Association, Provincial Ministries, Conservation Authorities, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Council for Economic Renewal, Sarnia Homebuilders Association and Local and County staffs.
For Your Information - Government of Ontario, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing - Official Plans
Hard copy map attachments forming part of the County Official Plan can be obtained from the Planning & Development Services Department upon request or downloaded from the attached PDF files.
OP_Review_Public_Meeting_Presentation_-_Dec._8_2011.pdf