County of Lanark Integrated Community Sustainable Official Plan
Type of initiative
FCM Green Municipal Fund - Plans, Studies, Pilots
Sector
Multi-sector (Plans)
Project value$176,000
Project Type
Plan
Sub Sector
Sustainable Regions
Grant amount$88,000
Program type
GMF
Municipality
Lanark County, ON
Status
Fully Disbursed
Population
75,760
Project timeline
2010 - 2012
Project number
10414
Description
To meet Federal Gas Tax Transfer Agreements, the County of Lanark must develop either an Official Plan (OP) or an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP). However, Lanark will go beyond the requirements by following the example of several Alberta municipalities that have successfully combined the two processes (OP and ISCP) in the same exercise to better address the four pillars of sustainability — cultural, social, environmental and economic. The county is a regional municipality in Eastern Ontario comprised of eight rural municipalities that face a range of issues: some are bedroom communities for Ottawa; others have high numbers of seasonal residents; and most face economic challenges associated with deindustrialization and reliance on agriculture and natural resources.
Having already adopted Vision 2025 — their strategic plan which focuses on the need to sustain the natural environment while maintaining a socio-economic balance — the county will develop an ICSOP that will tie this and other sustainability principles to the mandatory OP process and create a more integrated approach to governance within a two-tier municipality. Lanark’s innovative approach will restructure its land use planning framework and provide a sustainable, county-wide approach to brownfields, energy, transportation, water and wastewater, natural heritage features, recreational trails, and agricultural lands while providing the flexibility to choose the strategies and tools that best fit each municipality.
The ICSOP will be developed using the Sheltair Adaptive Management Framework, along with some elements of The Natural Step, and will use a range of methods for consulting with the public, stakeholder groups and municipal departments. An overall vision will be developed and supported by guiding principles or community values, and by the selection of sustainability themes organized around key topics and aligned with service provision within each community.
(Project description from original funding application)
Applicant
Lanark County, ON