The Carman Dufferin Grey Planning District in partnership with Landmark Planning and Design hosted a public open house on Oct. 22 to allow community members to share opinions and hear about upcoming plans and by-law changes.
Brennan Johnson, planner, explained district development plans, and details on zoning by-law changes were shared for the town and municipalities. The organization hosted three separate open houses –– Carman, Elm Creek, and St. Claude –– and in total, approximately 25 residents, landowners and business owners attended the sessions.
“The update/review process is partially a formality as regular reviews are required by the Province, but are also to accommodate the incorporation of the RM of Grey into the planning district since the adoption of the existing development plan and zoning by-laws,” Johnson said. “The majority of changes being made are related to formatting, modernization, and creating a consolidated set of zoning categories that will apply district-wide rather than only in individual municipalities.”
Johnson and senior planner, Andrei Friesen, attended on behalf of Landmark Planning and Design. Johnson noted the most common questions they received were in regard to land use and zoning permissions on individual properties. Other questions were related to policy adoption timelines and the next steps.
“It is important to ensure that community members have an opportunity to provide input into how they would like to see their municipality or planning district grow and develop, understand what types of land uses they would like to see accommodated, and be able to support community goals through development plan policies and zoning regulations,” he said.
This was the second round of open houses after initial events took place in 2023. Feedback from previous sessions helped make informed decisions about the plans that were discussed in 2025.
“The purpose of the events held last week was to share the draft plans and demonstrate how earlier feedback has been considered, addressed, and incorporated into these documents,” Johnson added. “The updated documents will make it easier not only for the planning district and municipalities to administer the development plan and zoning by-law, but will also make it easier for landowners to be able to read and interpret zoning regulations that apply to their properties to help them make decisions.”
All draft documents are available for public viewing on the Carman Dufferin Grey Planning District’s website, and comments, questions, or concerns can be submitted through an online survey at www.landmarkplanning.ca/cdgplanningdistrictdevelopmentplanreview.
