Public Meeting January 24 on Lanark County SCOP Amendment #12 – Mississippi Mills LEAR

In September 2022, the Municipality of Mississippi Mills has adopted Amendment No. 29 to the Community Official Plan (COPA #29) to designate Prime Agricultural Areas using a Land Evaluation Area Review (LEAR). LEAR stands for Land Evaluation and Area Review and is a process created by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to evaluate or “score” lands for agriculture based on the land’s characteristics and other factors affecting agricultural potential. LEAR studies are used to identify prime agricultural areas, which is a requirement by the province through the Provincial Policy Statement.

Mississippi Mills underwent the LEAR study to inform the Municipality’s Official Plan. One of the important pieces to guide how the Municipality will grow over time, is determining which areas/lands should be protected because of their agricultural potential.

Any change to the Agricultural designation in local plans with the County of Lanark requires an amendment to the Lanark County Sustainable Communities Official Plan (SCOP).

Lanark County will be hosting a public meeting on the Sustainable Communities Official Plan Amendment (SCOPA) # 12. The purpose of SCOP #12 is to designate lands proposed as “Prime Agricultural Areas” on Schedule “A” to Community Official Plan for the Municipality of Mississippi Mills as “Agricultural Land” on Schedule “A” to the Sustainable Communities Official Plan (SCOP) for the County of Lanark.

The meeting will be held on January 24, 2024, at 7 p.m. during County Council's Economic Development Committee meeting. Livestream of County Council meetings can be accessed through Lanark County’s YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/@LanarkCounty/streams.

To view the notice of the public meeting – SCOPA 12 – Notice of Public Meeting 2024-01-24.

Agendas for meetings are available here – Lanark County - Welcome (civicweb.net).