By Pamela Wing
The Coastal Protection Advisory Committee is a committee under the Georgian Bay Association. Its mandate is to provide advice and guidance to the GBA Board on GBA coastal protection projects and other coastal projections matters. It will liaise with other member associations and municipalities to seek input on these projects and other coastal protection matters. West Carling Association is a member of this committee and the president is the representative. Other member Associations include Key River, McGregor Bay, San Souci and Copperhead, Cognashene, Wah Way Taysee.
Currently, the projects that have been undertaken or are pending include:
We are working with the Township of Carling to provide a municipal representative to this committee. Also, there is a request to Carling to join in the Official Plan and By-Law Review project that is currently underway. An intern, Cossette Shipman has been hired to undertake the work on this project so there should be minimal participation required from the municipalities. Those municipalities already involved in the project are the Township of the Archipelago, Township of Georgian Bay, Municipality of Killarney, and North East Manitoulin and the islands. Carling has yet to approve this project.
This project will prepare an overview of the official plans and key principles in the environmental planning of our coastal municipalities focusing on the environmental standards and main differences among them. It will also look at zoning by-laws with a focus on Georgian Bay coastal requirements which include land use and restrictions, lot coverage, minimum island size, docks, etc., all from an environmental point of view.
I will continue to update you on this project and others as they move forward.