Policy Planning
Policy Planning at the Town of Georgina is responsible for:
- Maintaining, reviewing and updating Georgina's Official Plan and Secondary Plans
- Evaluation and creation of land-use planning policy, including planning research, data collection, analysis and special studies
- Review, analysis and implementation of legislative changes and provincial and regional land-use policy directives that impact Georgina
- Representing the Planning Division and/or Georgina on various internal and external committees and working groups
- Providing planning information and clarification regarding policy planning initiatives and documents
Learn more below about policy planning projects and intiatives at the Town, as well as municipal, regional and provincial planning documents that apply to land-use planning and development within Georgina.
Keswick Secondary Plan Review
The Keswick Secondary Plan Review webpage contains information and updates about the project.
Cannabis Production Facilities
The Cannabis Production Facilities webpage contains information about producing cannabis in Georgina.
Urban Hens
The Urban Hens webpage contains information about keeping urban hens in Georgina.
Radiocommunication Towers
The Radiocommunication Towers webpage contains information about the municipal process for constructing new radiocommunication towers in Georgina
Town Official Plan and Secondary Plans
The Official Plan and Secondary Plans webpage contains more information about Georgina’s long-range planning policy documents.
York Region Official Plan
The York Region Official Plan, 2010 (YROP) is a long-range policy document which describes how York Region plans to accommodate future growth and development while meeting the needs of existing and future residents and businesses.
The YROP provides direction and policies that guide economic, environmental and community planning decisions. All local municipal official plans and secondary plans must comply with the YROP.
York Region is currently doing a Municipal Comprehensive Review process that will result in a new Regional Official Plan. It will include a review and update of the Region’s population and employment forecasts, land budget and policies to ensure conformity with provincial plans. Visit the Municipal Comprehensive Review webpage for further information.
The Ontario Planning Act
The Planning Act is provincial legislation which establishes Ontario’s land-use planning system and describes how land uses may be controlled, and who may control them.
It grants municipalities the authority to control the use of land through a range of planning tools, including official plans and secondary plans, zoning by-laws, site plan control and subdivision approval.
All Council decisions related to planning matters shall be consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement and shall conform to, or not conflict with, the provincial plans that are in effect.
The Citizen's Guide to the Planning Act contains additional information about the Planning Act.
The Provincial Policy Statement
The Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 (PPS) provides policy direction on matters of provincial interest related to land-use planning and development.
As a key part of Ontario’s planning system, the PPS sets the policy foundation for regulating the development and use of land in Ontario. It provides for appropriate development while protecting resources of provincial interest, public health and safety, and the quality of the natural and built environment.
Provincial Plans effecting Georgina
Below are the provincial plans that affect land-use planning and development in Georgina.
A Place to Grow – Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe
The Growth Plan, 2019 is a policy document that guides decision-making regarding growth management and environmental protection until the year 2041.
While the Provincial Policy Statement provides broad direction for land-use planning, the Growth Plan is a more directive document that provides policies and targets with respect to infrastructure planning, land-use planning and forecasting, natural heritage and resource protection, employment and transportation.
Greenbelt Plan
The Greenbelt Plan, 2017 identifies where urbanization should not occur in order to provide permanent protection to the agricultural land base and the environmental features and functions occurring on the landscape.
The plan contains three geographic-specific policy areas that apply within the protected countryside designation – the agricultural system, the natural system and settlement areas. General policies also exist that apply throughout the protected countryside.
South Georgina Bay Lake Simcoe Source Water Protection Plan
The source water protection plan applicable to Georgina and the Lake Simcoe Watershed is the South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Source Protection Plan, 2015.
The plan identifies key vulnerable drinking water sources (wellhead protection areas, intake protection zones, highly vulnerable aquifers and significant groundwater recharge areas), and protects them from contamination and overuse.
Lake Simcoe Protection Plan
The Lake Simcoe Protection Plan, 2009 consists of targets, indicators and policies to improve water quality and fish habitat within the Lake Simcoe Watershed.
One of the main objectives of the plan is to protect, improve and restore the elements that contribute to the ecological health of the watershed, including water quality, hydrology, key natural heritage features and key hydrologic features and their functions. The plan also looks to reduce the discharge of pollutants, phosphorous and other nutrients of concern into Lake Simcoe and its tributaries.