Hello everyone
Welcome to all the new people who have signed the petition. We now have over 5900 signatures! Your support is overwhelming.
As we head into the fourth month of social isolation, many of us realize the importance of neighbourhoods and natural areas. COVID-19 has many challenges, but one of the opportunities has been to see neighbours and maybe even meet new neighbours. Certainly my daily walks have allowed me to meet many new people at a social distance.
One of the main issues for the LPAT/OMB appeal is why Lakeshore doesn’t have a Neighbourhood Plan. According to the Town of Fort Erie, Neighbourhood or Secondary Plans “provide detailed mapping of the various components found within their specific Plan Areas such as natural and environmental features, open space and parks, transportation networks (roads, bicycle lanes and trails), as well as more specific land use designations that illustrate type and density of housing, commercial, mixed uses and employment. “ Other areas have Secondary Plans as noted here https://www.forterie.ca/pages/NeighbourhoodSecondaryPlans
One of the key features of a Secondary Plan is consultation and participation, with requirements for extensive public input. An example is the Secondary Plan for Bridgeburg which took five years to complete. According to the Town of Fort Erie web site, “Municipal staff encourage and engage resident or stakeholder groups to solicit feedback and prompt dialogue that will help staff in defining and articulating goals set out at the beginning of the process.” After that, there are multiple opportunities for citizens to participate in this process. Have a look at the Town of Fort Erie’s Official Plan Pages 4–141 https://www.forterie.ca/resource/files/BC0DB371B2627427852583B7004FC28E/%24File/2019%20OP%20FINAL%20-%20Office%20Consolidation.pdf . All the completed Secondary Plans have included comprehensive consultation, which generated the “Neighbourhood Plan Vision.” For examples see pages 96, 97, 108, 179, 217, 262.
You may be interested in knowing that there was a previous Neighbourhood Plan that went through a Neighbourhood Plan process called the Erie Beach Community Plan in 2010 based on community input and expert analysis: https://sites.google.com/view/communityvoicesfe/documents/erie-beach-combined?authuser=0 Why was this Community Plan shelved? Also have a look at this: https://www.forterie.ca/pages/NeighbourhoodPlanLakeshore Why were the residents of the Lakeshore neighbourhood entitled to this process in 2010 but not in 2017/18?
Watch for further details on Neighbourhood Plans in our next update.
In the meantime you can help us!
* Donate to help us cover our legal and expert costs at this link https://www.forterievoices.org/donation or send a donation to Community Voices of Fort Erie, P.O. Box 273, Fort Erie, Ontario L2A 2S0. All donations go towards our legal and expert costs.
* Share the petition with others https://www.change.org/p/ten-story-condo-going-up-in-waverly-woods Can we get to 5700 signatures by May 1st? An alternative is to join our email BLAST list by sending your email and name to cvferie@gmail.com.