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You may or may not be aware that Perth County is in the process of creating a new Official Plan. As part of this plan, the county has been directed to designate lands in the county as “Natural Environment”. This sounds harmless, until you understand that in a short while (within three years), without further public input, the land will be re-zoned to “Natural Environment” land use. While they will not actually take your land, they will be effectively restricting what you can do on your OWN LAND!

Short summary

What the Perth County website reads: “Nothing in the proposed Natural Environment designation, PPS or the New Official Plan will prevent or interfere with normal farming practices (including cropping and grazing activities).”

Does this mean that I can’t develop in the areas that are within the Proposed Natural Area Designation?

No, it means that when development is proposed there will be a need for the landowner/developer to do an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) to learn whether or not there would be any negative impacts on the natural area or its ecological function and how those impacts can be mitigated.  However, development is not permitted in Provincially Significant Wetlands.  Also, as per the Forest Conservation By-law in Perth County trees protected by the by-law cannot be removed for the purpose of development.

The actual FAQ section of the New Official Plan Natural Area

What will actually happen:

• Farmers: If you have a fence line that has a few trees…. it might have been designated as “Natural Area”. When the rezoning takes effect, you might not be able to maintain this fence line. You might be subject to fines and legal actions for disturbing "Natural Environment" zoned lands.

• Recreational Areas: If your property has been identified as “Natural Area” it will be re-zoned to "Natural Environment" meaning that you might be required to conduct costly Environmental Impact Study (EIS) should you wish to builld a house.

• Property Devaluation: Several Real Estate brokers have all confirmed that a zoning of "Natural Environment" will devalue your property by as much as 70%. One broker claimed that a property worth $900,000.00 with a potential building site would only be worth $150,000.00 when zoned "Natural Environment" due to the more restrictive allowed land use.

 If an acre of land is worth $40,000.00 as farm land, re-zoning this land could devalue it to $12,000.00. 10,000 acres times the $28,000 value reduction is a total that Perth Conunty is taking from it's landowners:

Understand, once your property has been re-zoned to "Natural Environment",  you might have to conduct costly Environmental Impact Study (EIS) as part of the building permit application if you want to build in or around these areas. 

What can you do?

• Visit stopperthlandgrab.com for more information.
• Complete the form on stopperthlandgrab.com to add your name to the list of landowners opposed to this action.
• Contact your council members.
• Contact the Perth County planning office: 519-271-0531 and ask questions, Ask for the "Natural Environment Fact Sheet" to help you understand this process better.
• Attend the upcoming Council meetings - be a delegate to represent the group or just be in attendance to show your support! Dates to be announced! If you want to participate, please email us at: info@stopperthlandgrab.com

We have a very short time to stop this process. Perth County is trying to make this change without anyone knowing. I was only able to “pry” the re-zoning plan out of two separate planners by asking the question directly!