The City of Cambridge Cambridge • Ontario • Canada

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The Official Plan affects all land within the City of Cambridge. It provides a vision for future growth and generally guides where new homes, schools, businesses and parks should be located. The Official Plan includes policies with respect to the construction of new services such as roads and sewers as well as protecting our natural and built environment.

The City has been updating the 1999 Official Plan to ensure it reflects, evolves, improves and realizes the City's full potential in all matters related to planning for now and into the future. In addition the update of the Cambridge Official Plan is intended to be in conformity with revised Provincial and Regional policies and plans.

Extensive work has been completed on the Official Plan Review. This has included a series of public open houses in June, 2011 with formal public meetings on September 12, 2011 and October 17, 2011. The City has released two previous versions of the Draft Revised Cambridge Official Plan (June, 2011 and February, 2012) for public review and input. At the February 21, 2012, meeting Council instructed staff to proceed with preparing the Revised Cambridge Official Plan based on Version 2 Draft Revised Cambridge Official Plan and the responses to public comments contained in staff report P12/09.

The Revised Cambridge Official Plan (May 7, 2012) along with the staff report (P12/27) which analyses public input on Version 2 Draft Revised Cambridge Official Plan (February, 2012) is now available.

All of this material is also on complimentary compact upon request from the Cambridge Planning Services Department. A printed copy of the Revised Cambridge Official Plan (May 7, 2012) is also available for review in the Cambridge Planning Services Department (3rd. Floor of City Hall, 50 Dickson Street).

The Revised Cambridge Official Plan (May 7, 2012) and staff report P12/27 will be considered for adoption at the May 7, 2012 meeting of the City of Cambridge Council. This meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers, Historic City Hall, 46 Dickson Street. Anyone interested in appearing as a delegation at the May 7, 2012 Council Meeting needs to register in advance by contacting:

Clerks Division
City of Cambridge
50 Dickson Street, 2nd. Floor
P.O Box 669
Cambridge, ON
N1R 5W8
(519) 740-4680
clerks@cambridge.ca

Should the City of Cambridge Council adopt the Revised Cambridge Official Plan (May 7, 2012) on May 7, 2012 it would be then forwarded to the Region of Waterloo for approval. Under the Planning Act, the Region, as the approval authority for the City's Official Plan, has 180 days to review and issue a decision. Following approval by the Region, possibly with modifications to some of the policies and maps, there is an opportunity for people to appeal and request that the appeal be decided by the Ontario Municipal Board.

If you have any questions regarding the new Official Plan please contact the Policy Planning division in one of the following ways:

• by email to planning@cambridge.ca
• by mail to: City of Cambridge

Policy Planning Division
50 Dickson Street, 3rd Floor
P.O. Box 669
Cambridge, ON N1R 5W8

• in person at the above address
• by fax to 519.622.6184

If you wish to be notified of any future information on this matter make a written or email request to the City of Cambridge Policy Planning Division at the above contact information.

If you wish to be notified of any decision by the approval authority (Region of Waterloo) regarding the Revised Cambridge Official Plan you will have to submit a request for notification to:
Ms. Kris Fletcher
Director, Council and Administrative Services / Regional Clerk
Region of Waterloo
150 Frederick Street
Kitchener, ON
N2G 4J3


Public Consultation

Several Public Open Houses were held in June 2011 to provide additional information and receive comments on the new Official Plan.

The following information was provided for public information at the open houses: Public Open House Information

Formal Public meetings were held on September 12, 2011 and October 17, 2011.

Public and agencies were requested to submit their comments on the first draft Official Plan by October 31, 2011. These comments were analyzed by staff and individual responses to each comment are included in an overall report to Council provided below:
Report to Council Feb 2012 and Appendix 1 (163 Pages)

Appendix 2 Map Package A (75 Pages)

Appendix 2 Map Package B (10 Pages)

Appendix 3 Public and Agency Comments (219 Pages)

Appendix 4 Comment Response Forms (577 Pages)

Appendix 5 Draft Official Plan, Version 2, 2012 (336 Pages)

In addition Policies Proposed to be Deleted from the 1999 Official Plan are included as a separate document here.

An information session was held with Council on February 13th in Council Chambers. Members of the public were welcome to attend, but delegations were not be received at this session. A special General Committee meeting was held on February 21st at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers.

Any additional comments on the 2nd draft of the Official Plan were requested by February 24, 2012 and these are addressed in report P12/27.

What is the Official Plan?

The City of Cambridge Official Plan is a policy document that sets out the City's general land use direction for long-term growth and development in a coordinated way to meet the community's needs. It also provides a way to evaluate and settle conflicting land uses while meeting local, Regional and Provincial interests.

The Official Plan is made up of text and maps. The text typically includes policies describing the land use designations within the City along with a general list of permitted uses in each of the designations. The policies also generally deal with matters such as: Housing; Commercial; Industrial; Heritage; Agricultural; Parks and Open Space; and Transportation and Infrastructure. The maps divide lands in the city into different land use designations which are read in conjunction with the policies to determine which uses are permitted in certain parts of the city.

An Official Plan is a legal document. It is periodically reviewed to ensure that it continues to meet the changing economic, social and environmental needs of the municipality and address Provincial and Regional policies. Occasionally, it is necessary to amend certain policies and/or map designations which are called Amendments. The Planning Act set out procedures that must be followed by municipalities in preparing and reviewing an Official Plan and in processing changes to the Official Plan, including opportunities for public input.

Opportunities for public review and input are provided prior to the City adopting any changes to the Official Plan.

When Zoning By-laws, site plans, city budgets and other programs are implemented, they incorporate and reflect the intent of the Official Plan. An over-arching document that guides these local processes.

What is the Planning Act?

The Planning Act is a legal document which is passed by the Province and sets out the ground rules for land use planning in Ontario and describes how land uses may be dealt with.

What is the difference between an Official Plan and a Zoning By-law?

The Official Plan sets out a municipality's general policies for current and future land uses. The by-law sets out the permitted uses (e.g. commercial or residential) and the required standards (e.g. building size and location) in each area. Zoning by-law regulations must follow the policies of the Official Plan.

Most municipalities such as Cambridge have a comprehensive zoning by-law that divides the municipality into different land use areas referred to as zones on detailed maps. Construction of new development that doesn't comply with a Zoning By-law is not permitted, and a municipality cannot issue a building permit for development that does not meet the regulations in its Zoning By-law.

To see an example of how the Official Plan and Zoning By-law work together, please click on the links below.

Map of City showing subject area in the red box.
CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE


Air Photo of subject area (north part of Hespeler), east of Highway 24, south of Blackbridge Road
CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE


Same area displaying the Official Plan Designations. Notice that the Official Plan Designations are quite broad in classifying lands as Residential (Class 1, Urban), Open Space (Class 1, Significant Natural Features), and to the north, Agricultural Resource District (Class 1, Prime).
CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE


Same area displaying the more detailed Zoning Classifications of Low Density Residential, Medium High Density Residential, Open Space, Industrial and Agricultural.
CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE


Same area showing the subdivision plans.
CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE



What is the status of Cambridge's current Official Plan?

Cambridge's current Official Plan was approved in 1999. The City's Official Plan is currently under review.

Please click on the link below for the 1999 City Official Plan:
City of Cambridge Official Plan (1999)

Why is the Official Plan being reviewed?

An Official Plan review provides the opportunity to address new developments and changed circumstances. In addition, the Official Plan review will deal with recent changes to Provincial policies and the recently approved Region of Waterloo Official Plan.

The Region of Waterloo is made up to two levels of government - Regional and area municipalities. The City of Cambridge is an area municipality within the Region. The City of Cambridge Official Plan is required to conform to the Region of Waterloo's Official Plan. The recently approved Regional Official Plan has been appealed. The timing of dealing with those appeals is still to be determined and may affect the final timing for completion of the City of Cambridge's Official Plan review.
The following background information has been prepared by the City of Cambridge:

Official Plan Review - Background work as of May 2011

Official Plan Review Draft Policy Papers as of May 2011

Official Plan Review Draft Maps as of May 2011

Official Plan Review - Background Work as of January 2011

Growth Management Strategy: Land Inventory and Capacity Analysis, October 2009

The City of Cambridge hired Hemson Consulting to examine land capacity and future residential and employment demand in Cambridge; explore where and how future residential, industrial and commercial growth should occur; evaluate if Cambridge is able to meet the Provincial Growth Plan targets and Regional Official Plan requirements; and make suggestions about Official Plan policies to ensure that Cambridge can meet these requirements.

Please click on the link below:
Hemson Report

Cambridge Intensification Study, May 2010

The Planning Partnership prepared the Cambridge Intensification Design Concepts Study for the City of Cambridge in May 2010. The study applied the conclusions of the Hemson Growth Management Strategy: Land Inventory and Capacity Analysis (Oct. 2009) regarding the location and proposed densities for different areas of the city. Among the objectives identified in the Hemson Growth Strategy is the desire to assist the Region of Waterloo in achieving an overall target of at least 45% new residential development annually within the built boundary by 2015 and beyond. Working with staff members of the Planning Services Department, the consultants identified three key sites that were appropriate to meet the targets in the Growth Strategy Report (in Preston at King Street East; Hespeler Road at Can-Amera Parkway; and in Hespeler, Queen Street West at Goebel Avenue). The three sites were selected because they demonstrate typical conditions that can be found in other areas of the city.

Cambridge Intensification Study

Discussion Papers

Discussion Papers have been prepared about various topics. Each discussion paper sets out the changes that have occurred to Provincial policies and the Regional Official Plan related to the topic. Also a summary of studies and work completed by the City of Cambridge over the last few years is also included. The Discussion papers also outline the potential issues that need to be addressed in the review of the Official Plan related to each topic.

Discussion Papers

Official Plan Review Community Advisory Committee (OPRCAC)

The OPRCAC held regular meetings to provide advice to City staff on the various components of the Official Plan Review. The Committee has a range of members including:

• Three members of Council (Councillors Keifer, Price and Tucci);
• Three residents at large;
• Cambridge Environmental Advisory Committee (CEAC);
• Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC);
• Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee (MHAC);
• Core Areas Revitalization Advisory Committee (CARAC);
• Development Industry representative; and
• Cambridge and North Dumfries Social Planning Council.

Where can I direct questions or comments?

If you have questions or comments at any time during the process, please contact:

Elaine Brunn Shaw, MCIP, RPP
Director of Policy Planning
City of Cambridge
50 Dickson Street, 3rd Floor
Cambridge, Ontario N1R 5W8
(519)740-4650 Ext 4574 Fax (519) 622-6184
brunnshawe@cambridge.ca

Information Sources:

This summary is adapted from various sources including the following websites, which provide additional information and links to other sites that may be of interest.

www.mah.gov.on.ca

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing's website provides useful information particularly if you enter the "Land Use Planning" pages. The Citizen's Guides to Land Use Planning are recommended to anyone who wants an overview of the planning process in Ontario in plain language.

www.e-laws.gov.on.ca

This site is helpful to search and browse all current provincial statutes and regulations including the Planning Act.

Related Documents

DOCUMENT	DESCRIPTION	DATE POSTED
Official Plan Information
Report P12/27 and Appendices 1-5	Report P12/27 and Appendices 1-5	2012-04-26	PDF 9247Kb
Appendix 6	Comment response forms for version 2 draft revised Cambridge Official Plan	2012-04-25	PDF 2208Kb
Appendix 7	Revised Cambridge Official Plan (May 7,2012)	2012-04-25	PDF 18950Kb
Report to Council Feb 2012 and Appendix 1	Report to Council Feb 2012 and Appendix 1	2012-02-02	PDF 566Kb
Appendix 2 Map Package A	Report to Council Feb 2012 Appendix 2 Map Package A	2012-02-02	PDF 22241Kb
Appendix 2 Map Package B	Report to Council Feb 2012 Appendix 2 Map Package B	2012-02-02	PDF 2756Kb
Appendix 3	Report to Council Feb 2012 Appendix 3	2012-02-02	PDF 5681Kb
Appendix 4	Report to Council Feb 2012 Appendix 4	2012-02-02	PDF 62635Kb
Appendix 5	Second Draft Official Plan 2011	2012-02-01	PDF 20145Kb
Policies Proposed to be Deleted	Policies Proposed to be Deleted from Official Plan	2011-07-15	PDF 209Kb
1st Draft Official Plan 2011	1st Draft Official Plan 2011	2011-06-23	PDF 11637Kb
1999 Official Plan	City of Cambridge Official Plan (1999)	2005-06-01	PDF 2226Kb