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the Conservation Authority area,
permit approval will be required from
your local Conservation Authority as
well as your local Building Depart-
ment. Projects in regulated areas
are reviewed based on their impact
on various aspects such as flooding,
hydrology, wetlands, woodlots and
severe slopes. If the impact to the
area is determined to be too great,
the project application may be de-
clined.
It is best to check with the Conserva-
tion Authority in your area to deter-
mine the location of any regulated
areas and the associated building
requirements. Review of applications
may take up to several weeks and
may require submissions such as site
plans, location maps, building plans
and also require site visits by the
Conservation Authority to assess the
application and lands. Written per-
mission is normally in the form of a
permit or letter of permission.
Most agricultural activities within a
regulated area that generally do not
require approval unless they would
interfere with a watercourse (i.e.
drainage ditch, creek, lake) or wet-
land, typically include:
Existing agricultural uses, including
cropping, pasturing, tilling, fence row and the nature of the proposed de-
clearing, weeding, etc.
Maintenance and upkeep of existing
buildings and structures (e.g. win-
dow repair, siding, etc.)
Non-structural activities/uses that do
not result in alterations to existing
property grades (e.g. gardens, nurs-
eries, timber harvesting, etc.)
Removal of dead, diseased or haz-
ard trees; planting trees; clearing or
burning of brush
Well installation
Fence and gate installation and
maintenance
Beaver dam removal
Pond installation for the sole pur-
pose of watering livestock or Ham-
ilton Conservation Authority before
the works can proceed. Written per-
mission is normally in the form of a
permit or letter of permission.
Conservation Authorities try to set
reasonable review times for all per-
mit applications. Review periods are
usually established on the premise
that a level of pre-consultation has
been conducted and that the guide-
lines and most recent policies of your
local Conservation Authority have
been addressed.
In some cases, re-submissions are re-
quired to address outstanding infor-
mation needs. The review of re-sub-
missions can require significant time
depending on the level of informa-
tion that is added. Each permit ap-
plication is different by virtue of the
specifics of the property, its location,
velopment. Your application may
therefore be resolved in more or less
time depending on the combination
of these factors. Permit submissions
usually follow a process of review
from the initial Planner’s review,
through the review by their technol-
ogists, engineers and ecologists and
in some areas, subject to committee
review prior to the Planner providing
permit approval. During your submis-
Stonecrest Annual 2018
sion, the Conservation Authority may
request additional studies during
the review of a permit application
if the application does not contain
sufficient technical analysis. This can
result in possible delays in time lines
for decision making on a permit.
The involvement of the Conserva-
tion Authority may not be a welcome
impact on your project but the pro-
cess can be relatively easy to work
through when you do your home-
work and ensure their requirements
are met. Review times and re-sub-
missions are directly affected by
the completeness and quality of the
original application. To ensure that
your application is complete, ensure
you contract planning companies
that can navigate you through the
required paperwork and also ensure
you complete a pre-consultation with
Conservation Authority staff before
submitting your application.
Providing all the required documen-
tation and requirements set out by
the Conservation Authority staff have
completed their technical review and
all technical and policy requirements
have been met, your permit should
be issued.