Planning Documents

An Official Plan (OP) is a municipal policy document that guides decisions on land use and development. It sets out the vision, goals, and objectives for the municipality, and provides broad direction on matters such as growth management, infrastructure, protecting natural resources, employment lands, housing, natural hazards, parks, and the public realm. The Township's Official Plan must be consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement 2024, the County of Simcoe Official Plan, and other land use plans and strategies, such as the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. The Official Plan outlines land use designations and policies, and maps out a land use structure across the Township.​

The updated Official Plan has been prepared in accordance with the Planning Act and must adhere to all Provincial planning policies, as well as those policies of the County of Simcoe. Council adopted the updated Official Plan in October 2022. The County of Simcoe subsequently approved the Official Plan on November 14, 2023. 

The new Official Plan is now in effect, with the exception of the portions that remain under appeal.

A Zoning By-law is an important tool for the municipality as it promotes compatible land uses and encourages the development in an orderly fashion of a variety of mixed uses throughout the community. The Zoning By-law provides detailed regulations pertaining to each Zone. These regulations include the permitted land uses, maximum building height, minimum setbacks of buildings from property lines, maximum lot coverage, minimum/maximum floor area, minimum lot sizes and minimum on site parking requirements. Issues such as accessory buildings, pool locations and home occupations are also addressed.​

The Township has initiated the preparation of a new Comprehensive Zoning By-law. The new Comprehensive Zoning By-law is required in order to implement the policies of the Official Plan adopted by the Township on October 5, 2022 and to provide updated zoning and development standards that reflect these new policy and regulatory initiatives at the Provincial, County and Township level.​

Visit the Zoning By-law Review webpage.