Do you want to have an impact on the future of your community?
To ensure our future Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law reflects the preferences of our residents, we need your feedback, thoughts, ideas, and participation!
If you prefer to read the following information in PDF format, please 
download a copy here.
Context and Process:
The Municipality of the District of Clare is updating their Municipal Planning Strategy and the associated Land Use By-law to comply with the Province’s Minimum Planning regulations. To do so, we have teamed up with Stantec Consulting Ltd.
All updates concerning this exercise will be added to this page.
The Municipality last updated its Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use Bylaw documents more than a decade ago. The last review of the Municipality of the District of Clare’s Municipal Planning Strategy was completed in July 2010 and the Land Use By-law was last amended in July 2012.
In addition to the review of planning documents, the municipality requires consideration of supporting policies, regulations, and other documents as described further below.
While the immediate requirement for review arises from the province’s recently proclaimed Minimum Planning Regulations, the revision of the plans and bylaws for the Municipality of the District of Clare will provide an opportunity to articulate a new vision reflecting current circumstances related to the growth, sustainability, socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural well-being of people living in our community.
Project Milestones:
- Consultation with stakeholders (fall 2023 / winter 2024)
- Public open house – Key issue identification and online survey (winter / spring 2024) *
- Public open house event(s) – Presentation of study findings report (winter / spring 2024)
- Releasing study findings report (spring 2024)
- Preparation of first draft and online survey (summer 2024)
- Public hearing (fall / winter 2024)
* We are here.
Where are we now?
We are currently at step 2: public consultation – key issue identification and online survey. Thank you to everyone who attended our public consultation on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at the Little Brook Fire Hall. Approximately 50 residents participated and shared their feedback.
The deadline to complete the survey was March 1, 2024. Thank you to all who took the time to complete the survey.
Our partners at Stantec are currently gathering information from the public consultation, online survey and stakeholder interviews. Later this winter / spring, we will host a public open house to present the study findings report. Stay tuned for details!
What is a Municipal Planning Strategy?
The Municipal Planning Strategy is the Municipality’s long-term, high-level policy document. The Municipal Planning Strategy describes all aspects of development and land use within the Municipality’s planned area. It sets policy for where growth and different land uses can happen.
The Municipal Planning Strategy also contains policy on the environment and on transportation. All other planning documents must be consistent with the Municipal Planning Strategy. The Province of Nova Scotia requires Municipal Planning Strategies to be reasonably consistent with the five following statements of provincial interest:
- drinking water
- flood risk areas
- agricultural land
- infrastructure
- housing
A Municipal Planning Strategy can be characterized as follows:
- A tool that guides the development of the Municipality.
- A visionary and strategic plan that establishes the basis for actions and decisions to protect and enhance the quality of life of all residents, present and future.
- A decision-making tool on which to base land-use interventions that have social, economic, physical, and environmental impacts.
- A dynamic plan that sets out the vision for the Municipality over the next decade, that can be updated as the Municipality continues to change, and that is revised no later than 10 years after it comes into force.
- A tool that aligns all municipal planning policies and by-laws.
What is a Land Use By-law?
Land use by-laws shape development and land use through a set of regulations designed to implement the municipal planning strategy. Land use regulations divide the municipality into zones. Zoning also makes it possible to authorize and prohibit different land uses in order to minimize land-use conflicts. Clear, concise regulations can protect different types of land in different ways, depending on the type of land in question.
A Land Use By-law can be characterized as follows:
- Promotes well-planned municipal development by regulating land use.
- Promotes quality of life, well-being, safety and privacy in domestic environments, while reducing the nuisances that can be caused by living together.
- Respects the unique characteristics and context of a community by ensuring appropriate development.
- Framing the quality of construction, signage, and landscaping.
- Considers the natural characteristics of the land and its physical aspects.
For more information, please visit this website. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the municipal office by phone at 902-769-2031 or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..