Consultation - Vision New Minas
On April 17, 2023, the Municipality of the County of Kings received notice from the Provincial Director of Planning that the amendments to the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law were approved without amendment. A notice of passing will appear in the Valley Journal Advertiser on May 2, 2023, bringing the amendments into full force and effect.
Welcome to ‘Vision New Minas’, a project to develop a Secondary Plan for the Growth Centre of New Minas. This Plan will guide how the community evolves over the coming decades. Read on to find out more about this exciting project, and join the email newsletter below to ensure you are kept up-to-date as the project progresses.
New Minas Secondary Plan Amendments
Project News
Market Demand Technical Study Released
2021.02.24
We are pleased to announce the release of the “Market Demand” technical study for the Vision New Minas project. The objective of this study was to forecast opportunities for new retail, office, industrial, accommodation and residential demand in the Growth Centre of New Minas.This will help inform decisions about the types of development that are needed in New Minas and how the Secondary Plan can help fulfill those needs. The study can be found in the “Documents Library” at the bottom of this page.
Preliminary Engagement Report Released
2021.04.20
Thank you to everyone who has participated in this project to date. We have developed a “Preliminary Engagement Report” to reflect what you have told us so far. The report includes feedback up to 2021.03.08. Engagement for Vision New Minas is ongoing and we continue to welcome your input. Please stay tuned for additional structured engagement events in the near future. In the meantime, you can always submit a comment or contact the project team, below. The Engagement Report is a “living” document and will be updated in the future to reflect additional feedback we receive.
Phase 1 of Transportation Technical Study Released
2021.05.17
Thinking about the future of New Minas requires an understanding of how our transportation system functions, and how potential development may affect transportation networks. Harbourside Engineering has been hard at work collecting data on the existing transportation network and developing a computer model to allow testing of future development scenarios. The Phase 1 Transportation Report contains a summary of the existing conditions for transportation in New Minas. The study can be found in the “Documents Library” at the bottom of this page. A future report will explore the impacts of potential development scenarios for New Minas.
Urban Design and Active Transportation Technical Study Released
2021.05.27
The Secondary Plan for New Minas will help shape how our community looks and feels, including both public and private spaces. The Urban Design and Active Transportation Technical Study lays the groundwork for the aspects of the Secondary Plan that will deal with community design and active transportation facilities. The study reviews the existing character of areas within New Minas; provides recommended design guidelines for parking, buildings, and public spaces; provides recommendations for parks and open spaces; and suggests a network of local active transportation infrastructure. The study can be found in the “Documents Library” at the bottom of this page.
Summary and Scenarios Report Released
2021.07.08
A lot of background study and initial public engagement has been done to-date. The Summary and Scenarios report provides a high-level overview of this work. It also includes drafts of the Guiding Principles for the Secondary Plan and three “preliminary development concepts” that test various scenarios for development in New Minas, including the almost 1,000 acres south of Highway 101. The public engagement from the July 7th workshop and the online workshop (see below) will help finalize the Guiding Principles and determine a “preferred development scenario” that will be used as the basis for writing policy in the Secondary Plan.
Phase 2 of Transportation Technical Study Released
2022.01.13
The Phase 2 Transportation Technical Study builds on the modelling work of the Phase 1 report by exploring the implications for transportation as New Minas develops and grows. It includes traffic modelling for the “preferred development scenario” for New Minas South, recommended road network improvements, and suggestions for improving access control along Commercial Street. This report will be used to help understand how policy decisions made in developing the Secondary Plan could impact transportation networks. The report is available now in the document library at the bottom of this page.
Draft Secondary Plan Released
2022.02.25
After a year of analysis, engagement, discussion, and drafting, we are pleased to release the draft of the Growth Centre of New Minas Secondary Plan. The final Secondary Plan will become one part of the larger Municipal Planning Strategy. As a result, it may be difficult to see how all of the ideas we received during initial public engagement were implemented just by looking at the Secondary Plan. We have produced a “summary” document that lays out, in plainer language, what changes the draft Secondary Plan proposes for New Minas. Both the draft Secondary Plan and the summary document are available in the Project Library, below.
Draft Secondary Plan Engagement
2022.02.25
With the release of the draft Secondary Plan we are now inviting public feedback. What does the draft get right? What does it miss? Please see below for engagement opportunities, including a survey, online map, public workshop, and contact form.
About this Project
What is a Secondary Plan?
In 2019, the Municipality of Kings adopted a new Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law. These are the documents that guide how and where development happens throughout the Municipality. They include the high-level policies for how the Municipality will develop over the coming years, as well as the detailed regulations (e.g. zoning) that put those policies into action.
A Secondary Plan is a “sub-plan” within the Municipal Planning Strategy for a specific area or community, in this case the Growth Centre of New Minas. The Secondary Plan provides detailed policies for that specific area on topics that do not necessarily apply in the rest of the Municipality. The Secondary Plan recognizes the unique characteristics of the community, and helps to represent and reinforce those characteristics.
The New Minas Secondary Plan is currently being developed so the exact contents are still to be determined. However, the project team expects to investigate topics such as the following throughout the engagement process and when developing the actual Secondary Plan:
- Housing
- Reinvestment in Commercial Street
- Parks and open spaces
- Active transportation (walking, cycling, and wheeling)
- Development of the lands south of Highway 101, added to the Growth Centre of New Minas as part of the 2019 Municipal Planning Strategy
- Efficient use of municipal infrastructure
- Protection of sensitive environments
- Design guidelines for residential and commercial development
Project Area
Project Timeline
The overall project is expected to take around two years to complete. The project is broken down as outlined in the following graphic:
Working Group
This project is guided by a Working Group made up of two Municipal Councillors, three Village Commissioners, and seven members of the public, and guided by a Terms of Reference.
Working Group Terms of Reference
Working Group Members
- Councillor Martha Armstrong (Chair)
- Deputy Mayor Emily Lutz
- Commissioner James Redmond
- Commissioner Mary Monroe
- Commissioner Dave Chaulk
- Temma Frecker
- John Sutcliffe
- John Owen
- Mark Redmond
- Jaison Sandhu
- Michelle Coleman
- Wade Tibbo
Technical Studies
The development of the Secondary Plan has been informed by four technical studies. These help the project team to better understand the existing conditions in New Minas and the opportunities and constraints for future development. These studies are now complete and are available in the Project Library, below.
- Servicing (water, sewer, stormwater runoff)
- Market demand (commercial, residential, and industrial)
- Urban design and active transportation
- Traffic
Project Library
Technical Studies
Engagement
Summary and Scenarios Report
Draft Secondary Plan