Town of Yarmouth Planning Review

Project Update!

The What We Heard Report for the first phase of engagement has now been released. You can view the report in the Documents section on the right hand side of your screen.

The next round of engagement will take place in Winter 2025. Thank you to everyone who participated so far!

About the Project

The Town of Yarmouth Planning Review is a project to review the Municipal Planning Strategy, Land Use Bylaw and Subdivision Bylaw for the Town of Yarmouth. The Municipal Government Act, which governs how municipalities operate in Nova Scotia, requires planning documents to be reviewed at least once every 10 years. The Town of Yarmouth's planning documents were last reviewed in 2016.

The planning documents include:

1. The Municipal Planning Strategy is the primary planning document that guides growth and development in Yarmouth. It lays out the vision, goals, and policies that guide how growth and development are managed within the Town.
2. The Land Use Bylaw is the companion document to the Municipal Planning Strategy, and puts the vision, goals, and policies into action through specific regulations that have to do with development activities. This includes where certain types of buildings can be built and what kind of land uses (like commercial, residential or industrial) can happen where.
3. The Subdivision Bylaw is a planning document that guides how a parcel of land can be divided into two or more lots, or how multiple lots can be combined to create one parcel. It also guides the construction of new services in new subdivision developments, such as streets, sewers, water lines, parkland, and sidewalks.

Together, these documents guide the Town of Yarmouth by determining what types of development can happen, and where.

The Town of Yarmouth Planning Review presents an exciting opportunity to establish a vision for the Town and to ensure our planning and development processes better serve our residents and businesses.

Your input will help to inform future changes to the Town's planning bylaws and policies.

How Can I Participate?

The Initial Engagement Phase is now complete. Thank you to everyone who shared their vision for the future of the Town with us! You can now read the What We Heard Report, detailing the results from the engagement activities, including the public survey. Check out the report in the Documents section to the right hand side of your screen.

The next phase of engagement will take place this coming Winter where we will delve deeper into the issues that are most important to Yarmouth residents and look at the possible options for policy and regulations to address those issues.

If you missed our public meetings to introduce the project, check out the recording in the "Videos" menu on the right hand side of your screen. The video is less than 20 minutes and gives an overview of the project, explains what planning is and how it works, and lets you know how you can participate throughout the duration of the project. If you have any questions, you can email the project team at planningreview@townofyarmouth.ca