Official Plan Update

On November 29, 2021, City Council adopted the new Official Plan through By-law Number 21-105. The Official Plan was submitted to the Province for final approval and a Notice of Adoption was issued on December 9, 2021.

Supporting information and copies of the written submissions received regarding the new Official Plan will also be sent to the Ministry for review. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing is the final approval authority for a new Official Plan. The Minister may decide to approve, modify and approve as modified, or refuse to approve all or parts of the adopted Official Plan. The new Official Plan or parts of the Official Plan will not come into effect until the Minister has approved, or approved as modified, all or parts of the Official Plan. The Minister’s decision will be final and not subject to appeal.

Purpose and Effect of the Official Plan

The City of Peterborough Official Plan will guide how and where the City of Peterborough grows to the year 2051. It will replace the City’s current Official Plan as well as two former township Official Plans that have remained in effect in areas annexed between 1998 and 2013. The new Official Plan will apply to the entire City of Peterborough with new land use policy and schedules (maps). The Plan identifies where various land uses can be located, such as residential, commercial, institutional, employment and open space, plans for the city’s infrastructure needs, identifies and protects the City’s natural heritage system and water resources, and establishes a vision and policies for growing as a complete, vibrant, sustainable, resilient and equitable city. The new Official Plan will also provide a framework for future zoning by-law regulations.

To view the Council-adopted Official Plan, please visit www.peterborough.ca/planit.

The City would like to thank again the many people who have offered their time and feedback to the development of the new Official Plan.

The City is pleased to announce the release of a revised Draft Official Plan based on feedback received from the community. The Official Plan is a policy document prepared under the Planning Act that will set the vision and direction for growth and development to the year 2051.

Following the July 2021 release of the Draft Official Plan, the Project Team has worked to engage with community and make revisions to the document. Consultation was undertaken as follows:

• Four (4) afternoon and evening public information sessions on September 1st and 2nd, 2021;
• Presentations to the Arenas, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, Peterborough Environmental Advisory Committee and Planning Advisory Committee on September 14, 15 and 16th, 2021 respectively;
• A public open house on October 21, 2021; and,
• Meetings with various agencies, advisory groups and stakeholders throughout July to October.

This version of the Draft Official Plan is available with edits shown under tracked changes. This is to allow readers to easily see where and what edits have been made to the document.

Next Steps

The Council of the City of Peterborough will hold a statutory public meeting on November 1st, 2021, where Council will hear public delegations and will consider the Plan for approval. Should Council adopt the Official Plan in November, the Plan will then be forwarded to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for final approval.

Public Open House

City of Peterborough Planning Division is hosting a Public Open House pursuant to Section 17(16) of the Planning Act for the Draft Official Plan. The Open House will begin with a presentation to summarize the Official Plan review process, public engagement, and the organization and content of the Draft Official Plan. The Open House will finish with time for questions.

Date: Thursday, October 21, 2021
Time: 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Location: On-line via Microsoft Teams

Any person may register to participate in or observe the Public Open House by emailing planit@peterborough.ca or by calling the Planning Division at 705-742-7777 ext. 1880. Once registered, a link to the online meeting will be sent to you by email. For those wishing to participate by telephone, dial-in details for the meeting will be provided at the time of registration.

Public Meeting

The Council of the City of Peterborough sitting as General Committee will hold a public meeting electronically, through the City’s website (www.peterborough.ca) to consider the Draft Official Plan under Section 17 of the Planning Act.

Date: Monday, November 1, 2021
Time: 6:00pm

Any Person may observe the Public Meeting on the City’s website: https://www.peterborough.ca/en/city-hall/livestreams.aspx

Additionally, any person may make written or verbal representation to Council either in support of or in opposition to the Draft Official Plan as follows:

1. Register as a delegate to speak at the Public Meeting by telephone. Delegations must register by 11:00 a.m. on the day of the meeting by phone, 705-742-7777 ext. 1820, or by registering on the city website: https://forms.peterborough.ca/Clerks-Office/Request-for-Delegation
2. Written submissions must be received by 11:00 a.m. the day of the meeting either by mail, by dropping off to the City drop box located outside the main entrance to City Hall, 500 George Street North, or by email to Clerks@peterborough.ca (please quote “Draft Official Plan”).

Due to the nature of the meeting, unregistered delegations are not permitted.

The City is pleased to host a series of online community information sessions for the Final Draft of the City’s new Official Plan. Comments have been received on the first Draft (June 2019) and the Final Draft has been prepared. Each session will begin with a presentation to summarize the process, public engagement, themes of the comments received and the organization of the Final Draft. Each session will include time for questions. You are invited to attend one of the four time slots - content will be the same in each one – by registering at:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/peterborough-official-plan-update-community-information-session-tickets-166507106237

Once registered, a link to the online meeting will be sent to you by email the day before the session.

Wednesday, September 1

3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

Thursday, September 2

3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

The City is pleased to announce the release of a final draft of the proposed new Official Plan for the City of Peterborough. The Official Plan is a policy document prepared under the Planning Act that will set the vision and direction for growth and development to the year 2051. The new draft builds on an initial draft that was released for consultation in June 2019 by incorporating changes to address public, agency, First Nations and provincial comments, and to reflect the results of a Land Needs Assessment that determined the City’s development land requirement to 2051.

The proposed Official Plan and the final Land Needs Assessment are now available for review on the City’s website (https://www.peterborough.ca/planit) and through Connect Peterborough (https://www.connectptbo.ca/official-plan-update) along with a series of matrices summarizing comments received up to June 2021 on the proposed Official Plan and the City’s response.

The City will be organizing a final series of online public information sessions throughout August and September to help build awareness of the proposed Official Plan as it moves forward to approval.

Next Steps

Following completion of a final round of community engagement through upcoming information sessions, the Official Plan will be presented to Council in October and a formal public meeting is being planned for November where Council will be available to hear public delegations and will consider the Plan for approval. Should Council adopt the Official Plan in November, the Plan will then be forwarded to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for final approval.

Information Sessions

The community is encouraged to participate in a series of online public information sessions to be held in August and September. When the details for the information sessions are finalized, they will be posted on the City’s website at peterborough.ca, provided on the project’s engagement page at www.connectptbo.ca/official-plan-update, and distributed to local media. Anyone wishing to participate can also subscribe to the City’s Official Plan blog at https://www.peterborough.ca/planit or to Connect Peterborough https://www.connectptbo.ca/official-plan-update to receive notice of upcoming events.

Planning Division staff are taking the community feedback into account as they update the draft Official Plan. A new version is expected to be released by mid to late November.

See the questions and comments that were submitted on the draft Official Plan and our responses to each subject. View the what we heard report online at peterborough.ca.