Northumberland County Natural Heritage System Plan

Public Information Centre #2

North-South Environmental Inc. Meridian Planning Consultants Inc.

November 21, December 2 and 3, 2019

Project Overview

- Purpose of this project: - Map the County’s NHS and update the relevant OP

policies based on NHS mapping and updates to Provincial policies

- Major components of ourwork plan:

- Prepared background report - 1st Point of Engagement - Criteria, Rational and

Options Report - 2nd Point of Engagement - Prepare final NHS and revise

policies based on feedback received through engagement

What is a Natural Heritage System?

• Network of interconnected natural features and areas • Features: forest, wetlands,

watercourses, etc.,

• Functions: ecosystem services(e.g., pollination, clean water,soil erosion control), wildlife habitat

• NHS as a planning tool • Mitigation • Legacy for future generations • Recognition of a systems approach

Best Practices for Developing an NHS: Natural Heritage Features and Areas

• Guidance from Provincial documents • >30% forest cover • % interior forest habitat • >10% wetland • Grassland patch area ≥50 ha and at least one 100-ha patch • Diversity and representation of habitat types • 75 % naturally vegetated riparian areas • Streams min. 30 m nat. veg. buffer

• Linkages 50-500m width (depends on functions tomaintain and length of linkage)

• Enhancements increase function and resiliency of features

• Linkages provide connectivity to increaseresilience of the system and support arange of community and ecosystemprocesses

Best Practices for Developing an NHS: Linkages and Enhancement Areas

PROPOSED VISION FOR THE COUNTY’S NHS

County’s Vision for the NHS: “A resilient, interconnected Natural Heritage System that preserves and enhances natural features, ecological functions and native biodiversity, contributes to healthy watersheds, recognizes the important role the agricultural and rural landscape plays in the system, and maintains the unique natural landscape and geography of the County for future generations”.

Components of County’s NHS

• NHS Categories: • Key Natural Heritage Features • Supporting Features and Areas

Components of County’s NHS

• Key Natural Heritage Features • Provincially significant wetlands (inland and coastal)*; • Regionally important wetlands*; • Habitat for endangered and threatened species; • Significant Wildlife Habitat; • Confirmed Life Science Areas of Natural and Scientific

Interest (Provincial and Regional)*; • Significant woodlands*; • Regionally important woodlands;* • Significant valleylands; • Fish habitat; and • Watercourses*.

Components of County’s NHS

• Supporting Features and Areas • Other wetlands*; • Confirmed Earth Science Areas of Natural and

Scientific Interest (Provincial and Regional)*; • Other wildlife habitat; • Other woodlands; • Other valleylands; • Conservation-oriented lands*; • Shoreline Features*; • Linkage Areas*; • Enhancement Areas*; • Vegetation Protection Zones (VPZ) or buffers to

Key Natural Heritage Features*.

Options for NHS

• Option 1: Basic NHS• Option 2: Comprehensive NHS• Option 3: Enhanced NHS

• Differences:• Size-based thresholds to identify KNHF (woodlands,

wetlands);• Proximity-threshold(s) to identify KNHF and SFA;• Identifies county-scale linkages between large core areas

(>100 ha) and medium core areas (>50 ha)• Varying sizes of enhancement areas.

Differences Between Options – Significant Woodlands outside Growth Plan NHS

Option 1 - Basic Option 2 - Comprehensive

• 4 ha in Urban/RuralSettlement Areas; or

• 10 ha in Agricultural/RuralAreas; or

• 6 ha within 5km of Lake Ontario or the minimum size criteria for the underlying land use, whichever is smaller; or

• Smaller sizes within 30 m of a KNHF or overlappingwith a supporting feature or area

• Smaller sizes and haveunique/significant attributes

• 2 ha in Urban/RuralSettlement Areas; or

• 10 ha in Rural Areas; or• 6 ha in Agricultural areas;

or• 6 ha within 5km of Lake

Ontario or the minimum size criteria for the underlying land use, whichever is smaller

• Smaller sizes within 30 m of a KNHF or overlappingwith a supporting feature or area

• Smaller sizes and haveunique/significant attributes

Option 3 - Enhanced

• in Urban/RuralSettlement Areas; or

• 4 ha in Agricultural areas• 6 ha in Rural Areas; or• 4 ha within 5km of Lake

Ontario or the minimum size criteria for the underlying land use, whichever is smaller

• Smaller sizes within 30 m of a KNHF or overlappingwith a supporting feature or area

• Smaller sizes and haveunique/significant attributes

1 ha

Differences Between Options – Regionally Important Wildlife Habitat

Option 1 - Basic Option 2 -Comprehensive

Option 3 - Enhanced

A definable h abitat area (e.g. one or more contiguous ELC communities) that:

• Is a minimum 0.5 ha insize and occurs within30m of a Key Natural Heritage Feature

Same as Option 1 or:

Is a minimum 2 ha in size, occurs within 60m of a Key Natural Heritage F eature and meets one of the following criteria:

• Is within 5km of Lake Ontario; or

• Is within 1km of Rice Lake

Same as Option 2 or:

Is a minimum 4 ha in size, is within 60m of a Key Natural Heritage Feature and meets at least one of the following criteria: • Is an underrepresented

vegetation community in the County;

• Is hydrologically connected to theadjacent feature;

• Provides habitat for Species of Conservation Concern;

• Provides habitat for two or more locally rare or uncommon species

Differences Between Options – Linkages

Option 1 - Basic

County Scale Linkages: • Between Large Core

Areas (>200ha): 300-400mwide

Option 2 -Comprehensive

County Scale Linkages: • Between Large Core

Areas (>100ha): 300-400mwide

Option 3 - Enhanced

County Scale Linkages: • Between Large Core

Areas (>100ha): 300-400mwide; and

• Between Medium CoreAreas (>50 ha): 100-200 mwide

Differences Between Options – Enhancement Areas

Option 1 - Basic Option 2 -Comprehensive

Option 3 - Enhanced

Enhancements will be achieved within the Growth Plan NHS as a result of requirements in policy to return a proportion of the developable area to self-sustaining vegetation.

• All or portions of ‘baysand inlets’ that are < 60mwide; or

• Interior ‘holes’ in featureswhere the hole is < 0.5ha;

• Gaps between featureswhere the gap is < 60m

• All or portions of ‘baysand inlets’ that are<120m wide; or

• Interior ‘holes’ in featureswhere the hole is < 1 ha;

• Gaps between featureswhere the gap is < 120m

AREA OF NATURAL HERITAGE SYSTEM FOR EACH OPTION

Natural Heritage System Component

Option 1 Basic NHS

Option 2 Comprehensive NHS

Option 3 Enhanced NHS

Area (ha) % Cover Area (ha) % Cover Area (ha) % Cover Key Natural Heritage Features Provincially Significant Wetlands 8,375.56 4.23 8,375.56 4.23 8,375.56 4.23 Regionally Important Wetlands 20,212.92 10.21 20,212.92 10.21 20,212.92 10.21 Life Science ANSI 4,173.00 2.11 4,173.00 2.11 4,173.00 2.11 Significant Woodlands 57,146.72 28.88 57,267.77 28.94 57,930.61 29.27 Regionally Important Woodlands 5,218.36 2.64 5,339.41 2.70 6,002.25 3.03

*Sub-Total 66,503.13 33.60 66,624.18 33.66 67,023.05 33.87 Supporting Features and Areas Other Woodlands Other wetlands 792.38 0.40 792.38 0.40 792.38 0.40 Conservation Oriented Lands 18,151.89 9.17 18,151.89 9.17 18,151.89 9.17 Earth Science ANSI 2,979.35 1.51 2,979.35 1.51 2,979.35 1.51 Shoreline Features 3,088.02 1.56 3,088.02 1.56 3,088.02 1.56 Linkages 5,112.34 2.58 5,601.89 2.83 6,095.54 3.08 Enhancement Areas - - 3,448.78 1.74 8,604.46 4.35 Buffers 28,419.21 14.36 28,541.52 14.42 28,866.50 14.59

*Sub-Total 34,681.67 17.52 35,074.12 17.72 36,293.62 18.34 County NHS Area 101,184.80 51.13 101,698.30 51.39 103,316.67 52.21

AREA OF NATURAL HERITAGE SYSTEM INCLUDING GROWTH PLAN NHS

Natural Heritage System Component

Option 1 Basic NHS

Option 2 Comprehensive NHS

Option 3 Enhanced NHS

Area (ha) % Cover Area (ha) % Cover Area (ha) % Cover

Growth Plan NHS 115,564.06 58.39 115,564.06 58.39 115,564.06 58.39

TOTAL NHS (County + GP) 138,418.41 69.94 138,776.84 70.12 139,772.31 70.63

REVISIONS TO COUNTY’S OFFICIAL PLAN

To implement Provincial policy and our work completed to date, proposed revisions to the County Official Plan (OP) include: • Establishing a new dedicated section in the OP on

natural heritage and water resources and including a more robust series of County objectives;

• Establishing a new Natural Heritage Area designation that replaces the Environmental Protection Area designation – this new designation will apply to known significant natural heritage features, key natural heritage features and key hydrological features

REVISIONS TO COUNTY’S OFFICIAL PLAN (CONT’D)

• Establishing a new Natural Heritage System overlay designation

• Clearly identifying the core components of the Natural Heritage System that are subject to development prohibitions and restrictions;

• Clearly identifying the supporting components of the Natural Heritage System;

• Incorporating specific policies on development and site alteration in and adjacent to key features as per the Growth Plan (while carrying forward those policies from the PPS that still apply);

REVISIONS TO COUNTY’S OFFICIAL PLAN (CONT’D)

• Incorporating new policies on the developed shoreline of Rice Lake as per the Growth Plan;

• Updating the requirements for environmental impact studies;

• Including policies that require the consideration of cumulative impacts; and

• Establishing new policies on enhancement areas.

Public Information Session #2 November 21 – Cramahe December 2 – Cobourg

December 3 – Campbellford Final NHS Report, mapping and February 2020

policy recommendations

Final OP policies March 2020

Presentation to County and local Q2 2020 municipalities

Next Steps

Task Approximate Date

Thank you!