Environmental Planning

The Niagara Escarpment Plan Area is especially well suited for biosphere reserve designation. There is a backbone of heavily protected lands at and near the cliff face. Moving away from this area, there is a series of land use designations with decreasing levels of protection, corresponding to the core, buffer and transition areas of a biosphere reserve. The seven land use designations in the Niagara Escarpment Plan are as follows (percentage of total Plan Area in parentheses):

Niagara Escarpment Plan Designation	Biosphere Reserve Designation
Escarpment Natural Area (26.1%)	Core area
Escarpment Protection Area (36.4%)	Buffer area
Escarpment Rural Area (29.5%)	Buffer area
Urban Area & Minor Urban Centre (2.1%)	Transition area
Escarpment Recreation Area (4.3%)	Transition area
Mineral Resource Extraction Area (1.6%)	Transition area

Core and buffer designations constitute 92 percent of the Plan Area. Transition areas where more intense development is permitted constitute about eight percent of the Plan area.

For each of the land use designations, the Niagara Escarpment Plan outlines the objectives, permitted uses and policies. The Escarpment Natural Area has the most restrictive policies, the Urban Areas the least restrictive.

For example, no new building lots are permitted in either the Escarpment Natural Area or the Escarpment Protection Area, and only one new lot per original 40-hectare parcel is permitted in the Escarpment Rural Area.

The overall objectives embodied in the Plan are stated in the legislation:

(a) to protect unique ecologic and historic areas;

(b) to maintain and enhance the quality and character of natural streams and water supplies;

(c) to provide adequate opportunities for outdoor recreation;

(d) to maintain and enhance the open landscape character of the Niagara Escarpment in so far as possible, by such means as compatible farming or forestry and by preserving the natural scenery;

(e) to ensure that all new development is compatible with the purpose of this Act as expressed in section 2;

(f) to provide for adequate public access to the Niagara Escarpment; and

(g) to support municipalities within the Niagara Escarpment Planning Area in their exercise of the planning functions conferred upon them by the Planning Act. (Section 8, Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act, Revised Statutes of Ontario)

A separate section of the Plan includes development criteria to be applied throughout the Plan Area. These criteria cover matters such as protection of water quality, management of forest resources, restrictions on developing on steep slopes and criteria for approving small-scale commercial uses accessory to agriculture (such as wineries in conjunction with vineyards). They also permit municipalities the flexibility to apply their own planning standards, provided that those standards do not conflict with the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

The third component of the Plan is the Niagara Escarpment Parks and Open Space System. It sets out policies for the parks system as a framework for the establishment and co-ordination of a network of publicly owned lands within the Plan Area. There are 131 existing and proposed public parks and open space areas, linked by the Bruce Trail. This trail is a continuous footpath running the entire length of the Plan Area, largely in the core Escarpment Natural Area. It is administered and maintained by the Bruce Trail Conservancy, a non-government organization composed largely of volunteers.

The land use legislation generally in force in Ontario -- the Planning Act -- authorizes each municipality to plan within its own boundaries. By contrast, the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act deliberately directs the Niagara Escarpment Commission to plan at the provincial level for Niagara Escarpment ecosystems which transcend municipal boundaries.

Given the purpose of the Act, the onus is on those who wish to develop to prove that their proposals are compatible with the Escarpment environment. When commenting on, or making decisions on proposed development, the Commission is guided by the purpose and objectives of the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act and the policies and criteria of the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

Within a geographical "development control" area set out provincial regulation, all proposals defined as "development" require a development permit from the Niagara Escarpment Commission. Examples of such developments include new single dwellings, road construction, sand and gravel pits, installation of irrigation or recreational ponds, altering the grade of the land, and changes in the use of existing structures.

The Niagara Escarpment Commission as a corporate body is an Ontario government agency which reports to the Minister of Natural Resources. Like any other provincial agency, the Commission operates under administrative policies set by the government. However, in carrying out its mandate under the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act, the Commission develops policies and may take positions on land use planning matters which are independent of the host ministry.

The Commission has a staff of 23 full time staff located in two offices along the Escarpment. Land use planners on staff at the Commission are responsible for working with development permit applicants to clarify and, where possible, to improve their proposals. The planner then prepares a staff report with a recommendation to the Commission either to refuse the proposal or approve it with conditions.

The 17 members of the Commission are appointed by the Ontario Cabinet through "order-in-council." The Commission meets for one day every month to render decisions. Its meetings are open to the public and are often attended by applicants or those opposing an application.

The Commission approves a large majority of all proposed developments. These approvals are always accompanied by numerous conditions to ensure that the development meets the environmental standards of the Plan.

Applicants have a right of appeal of a Commission decision to the Minister of Natural Resources. In that case, an independent hearing officer holds a hearing and makes a recommendation to the Minister. In addition to the applicants, all property owners within 120 m of a subject property, and others who may be notified, have the right to appeal a Commission decision; a neighbour may, for example, object to a Commission decision.

A separate process is in place if someone wishes to obtain an amendment to the Niagara Escarpment Plan. An applicant may propose a development that is not a permitted use under the Plan within a particular land use designation; for example, a commercial development outside the confines of an Urban Area or Minor Urban Centre. Other examples include requests to change the land use designation of a property (typically to a less restrictive one); to remove a property from the Plan Area entirely; or to add land to the Plan Area.

The legislation stipulates a lengthy public participation process for Plan amendments, involving a public hearing with expert testimony, recommendations from the Commission, Hearing Officers and Minister and a final decision by the Ontario Cabinet.

The most far-reaching Plan amendment approved was the 1992 amendment which prohibited all future waste disposal sites in the Plan Area (e.g.,landfill sites, incinerators) except through a site-specific amendment to the Plan. Members of the public who proposed this amendment to the Commission believed that the fractured limestone of the Escarpment would provide poor containment for toxic chemical leachate from landfill sites.

Finally, the Commission is a commenting agency for land use proposals outside of its own administrative authority but with the potential for effects on the Niagara Escarpment, for example, environmental assessments of municipal road projects. In addition, Commission staff may be authorized to appear before various land use planning tribunals to represent the Commission's interests in matters affecting the Plan Area.