The Municipality of Pictou County is hitting the reset button as it works to develop its own Municipal Planning Strategy & Land Use By-law.
A public hearing held before the second reading had several concerns raised by residents and stakeholders, both in writing and in person. One of the biggest concerns was raised by both Antigonish County and the Town of New Glasgow, whose watershed areas overlap onto County land. They said that in its proposed form, the County’s Land Use By-law does not have adequate protections in place for watershed areas.
At the regular meeting of council, it was decided to send the concerns to the Planning Advisory Committee to be addressed, which means it will have to go back to the full Council for first and second readings, as well as another public hearing.
Because the process won’t be complete until May at the earliest, council is sending a letter to the province asking for an extension to the March 31st deadline for a completed by-law: CAO Brian Cullen told council it’s very likely the province will grant an extension.