Statutory Plans & Amendments (Municipal Development Plan & Area Structure Plans)
A Statutory Plan is a legal document that conceptually guides the development of an area of a municipality. Municipalities are required by the Municipal Government Act (MGA) to approve these documents as Bylaws of the Municipality through the Public Hearing Process. Additionally as a member of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board, all of our Statutory Plans are required to be in alignment with the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Growth Plan. Within the planning context in Parkland County we have two levels of Statutory Plans and policy direction:
- The Municipal Development Plan (MDP)
- Area Structure Plans (ASPs)
Why do I need to amend a Statutory Plan?
In Parkland County, because of our size all of our Statutory Plans are developed and maintained by the County therefore any changes to these plans would be amendments. Should a developer wish to introduce a new Area Structure Plan, the County would consider this in the same way as an amendment proposal and application. Amendments to either the MDP or an ASP would be required when a proposed development does not match the policies within one (or both) of these statutory plans. Often when a Statutory Plan is amended it is apart of a larger development concept and may be submitted along with a Land Use Bylaw Amendment, Conceptual Scheme or Subdivision.
Pre-Application Process
If a County Planner has identified the need for an amendment to a Statutory Plan for your subdivision or development proposal, pre-application discussions between your consultant and the County should be expected. After an initial consultation with a County Planner, they will provide you with a letter that outlines the technical (engineering and planning) requirements of the proposal. Once this has been received your next step, will be to contract with an accredited Land Use Planning Consultant. A planning consultant will work through the planning process with you and can coordinate the technical aspects of an application and will be in regular contact with County Planners as they prepare the application. It is recommended that a number of quotes for professional services be obtained, it is important for a landowner entering into a contract with third party consultants understand the deliverables and the payment schedule expected by the consultant(s). If you have further questions please contact a County Planner at 780-968-8888 or subdivision@parklandcounty.com
Application Preparation and Submission
The scope, scale and complexity of planning applications vary greatly depending on the project and can take you and your consultants’ months or even years to complete. Timelines at this phase are at the discretion of the applicant and landowner. Once an application is formally accepted as complete by the County, the Planner assigned to your file will follow a standard procedure to process the application which included the following steps:
- Formal referral for review and comment by relevant stakeholders including adjacent landowners, provincial agencies, utility companies and other County departments.
- Comments from the various stakeholders will be collected by the County Planner and presented to the applicant. The applicant will be notified if any additional work or revisions are required to the application documents.
- The applicant will undertake the additional work and revisions if required and resubmit the documents for a second review. This cycle continues until the stakeholders accept the documents as complete.
- Once all stakeholders notify the Planner of no objections, the application is prepared for Council Presentation and Processing in a formal Public Hearing.
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