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Statutory Plans

Land Use Planning
The Municipal Government Act (MGA) is the legislative framework in which all municipalities across the Province of Alberta operate. It provides the governance model for municipalities and lays the foundation of how we function, including areas in planning and development.

Planning decisions are guided by statutory plans, bylaws, and policies adopted by County Council. These adopted statutory plans must be consistent with each other. For any conflict or inconsistency between statutory plans: the intermunicipal development plan will prevail over a municipal development plan; the municipal development plan will prevail over an area structure plan. These statutory plans help guide the regulations in the land use bylaw. Additionally, non-statutory plans are other policy documents that help guide decision making; they are often developed to provide guidance for development in an area.

Intermunicipal Development Plans (IDP)
All municipalities sharing a common boundary will be required to adopt an IDP by March 31, 2020 (IDP’s between rural municipalities are required by March 31, 2021). An IDP is a statutory plan that establishes any conflict relating to planning activities within and around another municipality; and ensures orderly development by reducing any unnecessary costs and negative impacts on either municipality.

Intermunicipal Collaboration Frameworks (ICF)
An ICF is a tool to facilitate cooperation between neighbouring municipalities to ensure municipal services are provided to residents efficiently and cost effectively. The goal is to enable municipalities to collaborate regarding service delivery and cost-sharing.

Municipal Development Plan (MDP)
The MDP is a statutory plan that establishes policies for land use and other matters for the entire municipality. It is a high level document that provides leadership and direction in the conservation of agricultural land, preservation of environmentally sensitive areas, and provisions for the infrastructure necessary to encourage sustainable and economic development.

Area Structure Plans (ASP) and Conceptual Schemes
The purpose of ASPs and Concept Schemes is to provide a framework for subdivision and development (build-out) of a previously undeveloped area of land. ASPs and Concept Schemes describe the orderly phasing of development, the land uses to be developed and their densities or intensity of development, and sets out the general location of major transportation routes and public utilities. These plans would influence development permits and subdivisions applications. 

Land Use Bylaw (LUB)
The LUB is a planning tool that helps implement the goals in the land use plans and regulates development within the County. All parcels of land are divided into different districts; each district consists of development regulations and permitted or discretionary uses to be considered.